Here\u2019s a conundrum for Republican politicians going into 2026, and even 2028. What do you do when you\u2019ve turned the GOP into a Trump-branded, populist, antiestablishment party but you now control the government and it\u2019s not going very well?<\/p>\n
One time-tested answer: ritual human sacrifice. Which is why the next year is going to be a miserable one for House Speaker Mike Johnson.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s set the scene.<\/p>\n
The job of speaker never really has been nonpartisan. What\u2019s changed in recent decades is that more and more power has been concentrated in the speaker\u2019s office while, at the same time, the speaker is expected to defer to the president\u2019s agenda when the same party holds the White House. This was the trend before Johnson got the job, but he\u2019s taken it to extremes we\u2019ve never witnessed.<\/p>\n
Also, the speaker\u2019s partisanship traditionally is focused on protecting the political interests of caucus members, not the president. And it\u2019s usually tempered by the obligation to defend the integrity of the institution. Johnson has subordinated both obligations to the White House\u2019s agenda to a remarkable degree.<\/p>\n
President Trump took political ownership of the economy with his \u201cLiberation Day\u201d hooey in April and Congress let him, despite the fact various laws \u2014 and the Constitution itself \u2014 require Congress to play a major, even leading, role on trade.<\/p>\n
Johnson then kept the House in recess throughout the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, at the White House\u2019s behest, letting the GOP look AWOL and impotent.<\/p>\n
Now, Johnson\u2019s defenders deny he\u2019s just Trump\u2019s yes-man. Because Johnson\u2019s a team player, they say, he voices his objections and concerns behind the scenes, not wanting to defy the president publicly. For instance, Johnson has reportedly<\/a> told the White House the House GOP has no appetite for extending Obamacare premium subsidies.<\/p>\n But this just compounds the problem. By quietly coordinating with the White House, there\u2019s nothing to dispel the impression that Johnson, and, by extension, the entire GOP caucus, owns the status quo.<\/p>\n Of course, being a rubber stamp for Trump and taking credit for the status quo wouldn\u2019t be a problem for Republicans if Trump\u2019s \u201cGolden Age\u201d talk about the economy and the country felt true. It doesn\u2019t. Six in 10 Americans now think the country is on the wrong track<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fairness, the economy isn\u2019t doing terribly. But whatever its strengths, they aren\u2019t being felt by many Americans. That\u2019s why \u201caffordability\u201d has become the mantra everywhere in Washington except for the White House, where Trump says the economy has \u201cnever been better\u201d and calls concerns about affordability a \u201choax<\/a>.\u201d Trump literally is borrowing a page from President Biden, who also told voters not to believe their lying eyes \u2014 or wallets \u2014 about the cost of living.<\/p>\n Consumer sentiment, according to the University of Michigan, remains near historic lows<\/a>. Trump\u2019s overall approval rating is 41%<\/a>, while independents and even some Trump voters<\/a> are breaking from him. According to Gallup, fewer than 3 in 10<\/a> Americans think the economy is getting better, even as Trump continues to insist we\u2019re living in a Golden Age.<\/p>\n But Trump\u2019s hold over the base of the Republican party \u2014 and right-wing media \u2014 is still very strong. So the last thing any of them can do is directly attack the president and his policies, particularly when the House GOP either endorsed or pliantly acquiesced to them. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) openly defied Trump on the issue of the Epstein files, and shortly thereafter announced her retirement from Congress.<\/p>\n So what do you do when you need to prove you\u2019re not a tool of the establishment and author of the status quo? Find a scapegoat. And right now, Johnson might as well be tied to a stake in the lion\u2019s den<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) wanted to run for governor of New York by attacking the new socialist mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani. But Trump just launched a lovefest with him in the Oval Office. So now Stefanik is attacking<\/a> Johnson. So too is Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who\u2019s running for governor in South Carolina.<\/p>\n \u201cI certainly think that the current leadership, and specifically the speaker, needs to change the way that he approaches the job,\u201d endangered GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) told CNN. \u201cWe need to actually go back to leading the House of Representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n In a sense this is unfair to Johnson. He\u2019s got the job only because he was willing to be Trump\u2019s valet. But one of the first rules of the Trumpified GOP is that Trump never can fail, he only can be failed. Which is why Johnson is being set up to be MAGA\u2019s fall guy. It would take a heart of stone not to laugh.<\/p>\n