Surprised? It's been obvious to outsiders that Speaker Mike Johnson is above his pay grade.
It started out as a puff piece interview for a friendly podcast. The host was Katie Miller, who is the wife of shadow President Stephen Miller. They talked about a lot of hobbies and foods and other unrelated matters.
What caught my attention though was a few choice excerpts that made it into a NYT piece.
For instance, the fact that Johnson admits he is barely keeping his head above water in managing his colleagues. Or the fact that he feels the need to acquiesce to the Trump regime thus forfeiting his power.
What emerged from the interview instead was a portrait of a Republican leader barely keeping his head above water in a job to which he does not appear particularly well suited, a conversation full of tragically revealing details packaged as rueful humor but with the biting sting of truth.
“We have this joke that I’m not really a speaker of the House,” Mr. Johnson, who represents Louisiana, said in the latest episode of “The Katie Miller Podcast.”
It came across as less of a joke and more of an assessment of how he has chosen to wield his power.
The comment was in line with how many of his political adversaries view his weak handling of the job he was thrust into two years ago with little leadership experience. (Even President Trump has joked, “I’m the speaker and the president.”)
Ms. Miller’s newish podcast offers conservative leaders a warm bath of an interview. They are peppered with questions about their family routines and their favorite foods. But even on this forgiving platform, Mr. Johnson presented himself as a man toiling to fulfill his duties at a moment when his weak grip on his conference appears to be slipping even further.
Or the fact that his “woe is me” defense is wearing thin on Capitol Hill on both sides of the aisle. Even the previous weak Speaker McCarthy noted this.
The interview, released on Tuesday night, landed at a precarious moment in Mr. Johnson’s speakership. Dissatisfaction with his leadership style is growing and some lawmakers are even considering following Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s example and resigning before the end of their terms.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned this week that Ms. Greene’s shock resignation should not be seen as a one-off event.
“She’s almost like a canary in a coal mine,” he said.
Mr. Johnson’s “woe is me” persona about the workload he is carrying has often rubbed other lawmakers the wrong way. So has his overly deferential relationship to Mr. Trump (not that many Republicans have shown themselves to be able or willing to act any differently).
To be fair, the job *has* to be soul crushing and next to impossible. I’ve posted what it’s like (to the best of my knowledge) to be a member of Congress. Being the Speaker, even a weak as Hell one, adds many layers of burden upon oneself.
But the throughline was Mr. Johnson’s sense of being crushed by his workload and the demands of his job managing an unruly Republican majority.
“I haven’t had a vacation day in two years. I haven’t been off in two years, literally,” he said. “Last Christmas, I was taking calls from members with their drama. It takes everything out of whomever serves in the position — and by extension, their family.”
Later: “Even when you think the work of the day is done and you put the phone down, it can be 11:30 at night — ‘ring ring,’ another crisis. You’re sort of like a firefighter, in a way.”
However, given the fact that he has abdicated his role as a co-equal branch of Congress to a tin-pot dictator wannabe my sympathy is limited. In fact, there are many people who are angling for his job, such as this Congressman:
Put aside any reservations you have about him because he is the Minority Leader right now. If we take back the House of Representatives he is the Speaker without question. Our job is to give him the majority he needs to hold the Trump regime accountable. We’ll get to actually passing legislation when we have a majority in the Senate and the White House as well.
Our job is to throw Speaker Mike Johnson, who is drowning and floundering right now, an anvil.
There is a GREAT chance to do that right now. There isn’t much time left before the election but we can go all hands on deck for Aftyn Behn in the special election for TN-07.
Guys, this could be close.
Now Emerson is not to be trusted when it comes to polling.
Yet if there wasn’t a race, why would these two things be happening?
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BEHN: “JD Vance is coming to Fort Campbell tomorrow. The cavalry is being called in because this TN-7 race has become quite close.”
Rep. @aftynbehn.bsky.social flashes her Trump impression with @jimacosta.bsky.social on the eve of shady JD Vance’s CLARKSVILLE appearance.
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— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) November 25, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Charles Gaba does excellent work. You can donate to Aftyn Behn (and others) WITHOUT SHARING YOUR DATA here.
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📣 Dems have overperformed an avg of 13 pts across 59 Special Elections so far, winning 37 of them including *flipping* 6 GOP seats!
There's ~2 DOZEN MORE on the calendar!
UP NEXT:
12/02: TN-07 @aftynbehn.bsky.social
KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING.
#Blue25 #Blue26
secure.actblue.com/donate/speci...
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— Charles GetCovered-ba ✡️ (@charlesgaba.com) November 26, 2025 at 4:45 PM
There is ONE event that anyone can do to help Aftyn Behn. A virtual phone bank is set up for Tuesday (election day) to push the last few voters to the polls. We’ll need all the help we can get!
Now one seat is fine and dandy and it is still a longshot. One may ask what else we can do to hasten the demise of Speaker Johnson. Patience, young grasshopper. We need to put in the ground work now so that the 2026 midterm elections result in his ouster. Basically cause him to look down in this classic cartoon physics photo.
We do that by donating to candidates that have a good chance of winning. . Here is a chance to start making a difference in taking back the House of Representatives next year by donating to the 30 or so key races!
Take the House in 2026!
GoodNewsRoundup’s fundraiser “splits our donations among the 15 House seats held by Republicans in swing districts. These are seats that were either won by a margin of 4% less and/or were won by Harris in 2024. In other words, these are seats we can win in 2026. Any money you donate will go directly to our 2026 candidate. We only need to flip three of these!” [Goodie]
By using ActBlue and not a PAC, GoodNewsRoundup keeps our funds out of the greedy pockets of Mothership Strategies and other grifters. You may opt out of sharing personal information with candidates.
Again: Take the House in 2026!
Win the Majority in 2026!
bilboteach’s fundraiser supports 15 races with no repeats! His fund splits donations among the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents and other strong challengers to GOP seats. We need to win these races to have a strong House majority, especially with all the gerrymandering going on.
All the donations to
Win the Majority in 2026 go directly to the candidates or is held until after the primary for the district. “Because I allow you to opt out of sharing your info, there are no scams and no text spam.”
Usually a Speaker of the House resigns/retires after losing power (Nancy Pelosi being a notable exception). Let’s send Mike Johnson out in style!
