Mike Johnson is still fighting for his job because Donald Trump no longer has the juice

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Mike Johnson is still fighting for his job because Donald Trump no longer has the juice
GOP civil war: House speaker vote is just the first of many tough battles for a GOP with only a razor-thin margin

By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published January 3, 2025 9:40AM (EST)


(Salon) After a brief hiatus for the holidays, the circus is back in Washington, D.C., and the high-wire act of Speaker Mike Johnson and the Flying Republicans will attempt a dangerous new stunt. By the time you read this, it may be all over but the shouting or we may have already embarked on yet another House GOP spectacle as they struggle to cobble together a majority to elect someone to the most powerful job in the House of Representatives — again.

After his near faceplant before the break, in which Johnson had struggled to keep the government from shutting down (as it probably would have if it weren't for the fact that it was just days before Christmas), the speaker is again in a very precarious position. Contrary to Republican braying about a mandate, the GOP actually lost a seat in the House last November. So with the resignation of Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., Johnson can only lose two votes or he will lose the speakership. He's already lost one vote, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who told the Wall St. Journal, “If they thought I had no Fs to give before, I definitely have no Fs to give now." He's always been an eccentric libertarian and an unreliable team player so no one should expect him to change his mind.

....(snip)....

If I had to guess, I'd bet he'll squeak out a victory. President-elect Donald Trump has tepidly thrown his weight behind Johnson, telling reporters at his New Year's bash at Mar-a-Lago that "he's the one that can win right now," more or less acknowledging that there is no plan B. If Johnson fails, it's one more sign that Donald Trump just doesn't have the juice anymore. And if he wins, all it means is that Trump and Johnson managed to eke out a temporary victory and avoid the doomsday scenarios of a protracted fight leading into Jan. 6 and revealing an inability to certify the presidential election.

What this shows is that for all of the GOP's swaggering braggadocio about their alleged landslide, Trump's win was razor thin in Congress, indicating once more that he has no coattails. Yes, he threatens and intimidates "RINOs" and others who defy him, and he likes to endorse MAGA primary opponents against them but his record of success in those cases is spotty at best. ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/03/mike-johnson-is-still-fighting-for-his-job-because-donald-no-longer-has-the-juice/