Mike Johnson's Christmas Is Off to a Terrible Start

House Speaker Mike Johnson is heading into the Christmas holiday facing some of the same problems that plagued former GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and led to his ousting.

McCarthy was vacated as speaker on October 3 after a small group of House Republicans led by Florida Representative Matt Gaetz said the California congressman's capitulation with the Biden administration on budget talks was a bridge too far. Johnson, who has represented Louisiana's 4th District since 2017, was given the gavel on October 25 via a 220-209 vote following a three-week period of GOP turmoil.

Johnson, with the help of 209 Democrats, passed a clean stopgap spending measure that will fund the federal government until February—viewed by Gaetz and other prominent conservatives like Steve Bannon as the wrong course of action to reduce the nation's debt rather than add onto it.

The speaker, who serves on the Judiciary and Armed Services committees and previously served as chair of the Republican Study Committee, now must deal with wrangling conservatives as part of an even smaller majority in his conference after New York Congressman George Santos was expelled on Friday.

More than 100 Republicans joined nearly every House Democrat to remove the congressman representing Long Island. A House Ethics Committee report last month said that investigators found "substantial" proof that Santos broke federal criminal laws. However, he has not officially been convicted of any federal crimes charged against him and has maintained his innocence.

Santos is the sixth House member in U.S. history to be expelled, and the third since the Civil War.

Lisa Parshall, a political science professor at Daemen University, told Newsweek via email that by publicly expressing reservation on the expulsion of Santos but freeing members to vote their conscience, Johnson sidestepped blowback from the outcome.

"To his credit, he has shown a willingness to anger some of his members in order to lead the chamber," Parshall said.

But the situation will still remain potentially untenable should he not go a different route than McCarthy, especially given the leverage the extreme right has over him.

"What is different is that Johnson lacks McCarthy's legislative experience and track record as a fundraiser," she said. "And whatever honeymoon or grace period he has been given as a new speaker does not seem likely to last much longer.

"Given the political dynamics, it is hard to see how he can successfully negotiate the territory of appeasing the extreme members of his party and still try to find a way to effectively govern and produce legislative accomplishment to help the GOP retain control of the House."

Some of the anger towards the Santos expulsion is already in full view.

"Speaker Johnson can't even get Republicans to decide not to shrink their own majority," Turning Point U.S.A. founder Charlie Kirk wrote Friday on X (formerly Twitter).

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who along with other House Republicans has tried to impeach President Joe Biden and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, said Santos' expulsion is only hurting the Republican Party.

"Republicans refuse to impeach any of the Democrats who are responsible for destroying our country and have so far thrown out a Republican Speaker and now expelled a Republican member," Greene wrote on X following the floor vote for Santos.

She added: "We now have a 3 seat majority and have another Republican resigning soon, and will have a 2 seat majority, as long as every Republican shows up when we are in session. Republican voters want us to stop the communist Democrat's agenda and hold Democrats accountable, NOT destroy our majority and do nothing to hold Democrats accountable. Shameful!!"

House Representatives Ken Buck of Colorado and Kay Granger of Texas, both who opposed Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan's bid for speaker, are not running for reelection.

Green is also one of the most outspoken members of the GOP in terms of discouraging continued funding for Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022 and has battled for over 21 months.

She said she disagrees with Johnson's "exchange" of Ukraine aid for more funding on the southern U.S. border.

"Democrats will never enforce our strong secure border policies, they would just use them as a win at the polls," Greene said on X. "And Ukraine is a losing war racked with corruption that a majority of Americans do not support. This is a bad strategy. Ukraine is not the 51st state and not a member of NATO. Stop funding Ukraine!"