Another week, another low-key but significant win for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). This time, Johnson steered the annual National Defense Authorization Act to passage on a 312–112 vote, even though the procedural rule squeaked through by a far narrower 215–211 margin. The ability of Johnson once again to produce responsible governance out of a volatile caucus is impressive, even if he frequently relies on Trump administration support to get critical votes across the finish line.
The NDAA sent to the Senate this month contains not only huge wins for President Donald Trump, including a ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the War Department, but it also authorized $8 billion more in defense spending than Trump asked for, reforms the Pentagon’s acquisition process, and increases spending for missile and munitions production.
As evidenced by the bipartisan nature of the final vote, there were non-Trump priorities in the bill as well, including $400 million for Ukraine, restrictions on reducing U.S. forces in Europe below 76,000, and a repeal of the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of force in Iraq — the post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force against terrorist groups still remains in place. Conservatives scored their own victories, including a ban on subsidized in vitro fertilization in the Pentagon’s healthcare plan, an item that Democrats and Trump had sought.
Johnson had to twist some arms; promise some future votes, including to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on her Protect Children’s Innocence Act; and call for help from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who assured conservatives he would shut down nongovernmental organizational funding to the Taliban. But when the clock expired on the rule vote, Johnson eked out a win with four votes to spare, just three fewer than the razor-thin, seven-seat advantage he has to maintain control of the speaker’s gavel.
As House Republicans turn their attention to Obamacare, an issue that has bedeviled them for over a decade, they should be thankful that the speaker’s gavel is in Johnson’s hand. He is running the House with calm and seriousness despite having far less margin for error than, say, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who had a 75-seat advantage. With that huge margin, she passed Obamacare, which then-President Barack Obama had specifically campaigned for and had been a signature Democratic issue for decades. The relevant committees had extensive legislative language ready to go. Yet even then, Pelosi only managed to pass the bill by the slimmest of margins.
“I haven’t had a vacation day in two years,” Johnson recently told Katie Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller’s wife, on her podcast. “Last Christmas, I was taking calls from members with their drama. It takes everything out of whomever serves in the position.”
To be as polite as possible without naming any names, there are many sources of drama in the House Republican caucus. Instead of inflaming or magnifying them, Johnson does the noble job of containing them, minimizing them, and resolving them when possible.
AGAINST JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON’S TECHNOCRATIC DESPOTISM
There are reportedly dozens of Republicans who have become frustrated with the lack of real legislation being produced by the House and are likely to retire. Johnson should do more to engage them in productive legislating. Floor votes might not be possible on housing affordability, banning pornography, or H-1B reform, but Johnson could let committee chairs do meaningful work on these issues, setting the table for future Congresses in which there may be a more advantageous environment for final passage.
There is only so much any Republican speaker could hope to accomplish with a figure as prominent as Trump in the White House. Considering the hurricane-force winds that buffet Johnson daily, keeping the House on track and passing items such as the NDAA and government spending bills is a tough challenge. He is doing a masterful job.
