Mike Johnson's Problems Are Getting Worse

Despite Mike Johnson passing a Congressional funding deal on Thursday, the House speaker is still facing political pressure from within his party.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted for a short-term funding extension to avoid a government shutdown. It is a temporary fix while Congress decides on details of a $1.66 trillion deal that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who became House speaker in October, agreed to earlier this month.

However, more Republicans voted against the bill than voted against a similar bill to avoid a government shutdown in November, with 106 opposing Thursday's continuing resolution and 93 opposing the November deal, meaning 13 more Republicans were against it than last time.

Newsweek reached out to representatives for Johnson via email for comment.

22 Republicans who flipped their votes to no were:

Jodey Arrington, Texas,

Brian Babin, Texas

James Baird, Indiana

Jack Bergman, Michigan

Gus Bilirakis, Florida

Michael Burgess, Texas

John Curtis, Utah

Neal Dunn, Florida

Scott Fitzgerald, Wisconsin

Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin

Andy Harris, Maryland

Ronny Jackson, Texas

Celeste Maloy, Utah

Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa

Troy Nehls, Texas

August Pfluger, Texas

Pete Sessions, Texas

Pete Stauber, Minnesota

Elise Stefanik, New York

Bryan Steil, Wisconsin

Derrick Van Orden, Wisconsin

Bruce Westerman, Arkansas

Republicans who changed their vote from no to yes were:

Jon Carter, Texas

Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee

Garret Graves, Louisiana

Greg Murphy, North Carolina

Andy Ogles, Tennessee

Mike Rogers, Alabama

Michael Waltz, Florida

Rob Wittman, Virginia

Ryan Zinke, Montana

George Santos, who formerly represented New York before his expulsion from the House, voted no in November but, given his expulsion, did not vote yesterday.

"It's a loss for the American people to join hands with Democrats, form a governing coalition to do what Schumer and the Senate want to do," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, who opposed both votes, told reporters after the vote.

While the temporary bill passed, Johnson may encounter further problems down the line. Republicans are concerned about the levels of spending in the overall deal, which includes additional aid to Ukraine, with some arguing it brings spending in line with the deal struck last year between Democratic President Joe Biden and the previous House speaker, Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy was ousted in October 2023 over his deal with the Democrats.

Some GOP representatives have also called for changes to security at the southern border in light of increasing encounters tracked by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Before the Senate approved the bill in an earlier vote on Thursday, the influential conservative group of Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus asked Johnson to consider adding border security policies to the bill, but Johnson refused.

Meanwhile, there are already moves to potentially oust the speaker. Before the vote, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene told Axios reporter Andrew Solender on Wednesday: "I would introduce the motion to vacate myself" if Johnson passed the funding to Ukraine.

"If Republicans had a spine, and if our conference stuck together, we have all the power that we need to solve the border crisis right now. I completely disagree with [Speaker] Mike Johnson that we aren't going to be able to do it. I think if we just refused to fund anything, and we stood our ground, that we would come out winning that," Greene told the Washington Examiner's Washington Secrets on Monday.

Following the vote, Donald Trump's former strategist, Steve Bannon, called for Johnson to be removed as speaker.

"I mean, it's disgusting," said Bannon on his War Room podcast. "Johnson...suspended, you know, the two-thirds, he had to suspend the rules. He's done everything McCarthy's done. To me, he's got to go, he's finished. He's proven his weakness. Not one iota of change on the southern border. You fund it. You agreed to fund the play."

"Here's the thing that galls me," said Bannon. "You ran, you guys ran against and took money from this audience and had him work and, and, knock on doors and walk precincts, and you lied. You, you ran on getting rid of the [former House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi spending on the woke and weaponized securing the southern border, all of it and all of it's in this bill."

The fact that it's only a four-week extension doesn't matter at this point, Bannon continued. "No, no, no, no, no. We're five or six months into this thing. Now you had all the leverage. You gotta force Biden to the table and not take a snow day. It's disgusting. You people are leaving town."

"Talk about the collapse and the surrender of the House today under the Biblical worldview," Bannon said. "If this is what the Christians do, let me try Islam."

The bill will extend funding deadlines for agencies like the Veterans Affairs Department and Transportation Department to March 1 and March 8.

Congress must now turn to passing 12 bills to provide the full-year budget.

Correction 1/19/24, 5:50 p.m. ET: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Representative Russ Fulcher of Idaho voted yes for the continuing resolution. Congressman Fulcher did not vote on the measure.

Correction 1/22/24, 3:08 a.m. ET: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Representative Eric Burlison of Missouri flipped his vote to no for the continuing resolution. Congressman Burlison voted no in both votes.