On Politics

Mon Dec 4 2023

Marina Pitofsky | Associate Editor/Politics

Hi there OnPolitics readers! After House Republicans struggled for weeks to select a new leader, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had a kind-of honeymoon period in the lower chamber.

🕜 That time could be up.

Some of the House's most conservative lawmakers are warning that Johnson's grace period is over as Congress is tasked with avoiding a government shutdown and passing crucial legislation, such as an annual defense policy bill, USA TODAY's Ken Tran reports.

💍 'Like any marriage': Johnson's relationship with the conference's hard-right wing is now "like any marriage or any relationship," Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, told USA TODAY.

"You have to build trust. You have to have expectations set and expectations met. And that's now the phase we're going into with the new speaker," Ogles said.

📉 Back to a shutdown? Parts of the government are now funded until Jan. 19, and the remaining functions are funded until Feb. 2. If lawmakers can't negotiate a compromise, millions of Americans would be impacted by a government shutdown.

"Speaker Johnson has been thrown into one of the toughest jobs in the world – in one of the most toxic environments our country has faced in modern history," Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., told USA TODAY