House Republicans are struggling with the same battles over government funding that led to the chaotic unseating of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), seemingly cutting any honeymoon short for new Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). GOP leadership this week yanked two spending bills from the floor amid disputes on spending and other controversial policy items. With a government funding deadline less than a week away, the conference seems hopelessly divided on how to avert a shutdown.
Johnson can’t substitute ultra MAGAs for moderate GOP because the GOP has a razor-thin majority, and so that would still mean he’d need to get Democrat votes. But Democrats will probably not vote for anything crazy that Johnson comes up with, first because it wouldn’t pass in the Senate, and second, because they are all watching the GOP implode in real time.