Mike Johnson’s 'triumphant moment' doesn't mean GOP extremists are 'going away': analysis

13 May 2024

Because Republicans have only a small single-digit majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) knew he would need some Democratic support in order to survive Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Georgia) proposal to oust him from that position. And he got plenty of it.

The House voted, 359-43, against ousting Johnson as speaker — and that included 163 Democrats. Meanwhile, only 11 House Republicans agreed with Greene's "motion to vacate" against Johnson.

But The New Republic's Alex Shephard, in an article published on May 13, laments Johnson's "triumphant moment" doesn't make the GOP House majority any less dysfunctional or extreme.

"Unfortunately, Marjorie Taylor Greene isn't going anywhere," Shephard emphasizes. "It would be wonderful to change the political, financial, and media incentive structures that have pushed the Republican Party to the right over the last several decades, but those have grown stronger in recent years while the party itself has grown much weaker. Unless the whole incentive structure of Republican politics changes — and it won't as long as Trump is in charge, and probably not after either! — you will keep getting Marjorie Taylor Greenes and Matt Gaetzs."

Shephard continues, "You will also keep getting more extreme Republican leaders, like Johnson himself. The biggest reason why Greene won't go away is that she still has the backing of Donald Trump, by far the most important figure in Republican politics today."

Presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Trump, Shephard observes, has expressed no desire to "excommunicate" Greene.

"It is possible that once Trump's grip on the party loosens — which may happen if he loses in November, though I'm not holding my breath — this will shift," Shephard argues. "At the very least, the absence of Trump would likely mean less overt chaos, given his own predilection for stirring the pot. But the overall arc of the Republican Party, and the incentive structure that rewards extremism, will not change."

The journalist adds, "Greene, like Trump, isn't an exception. They are the product of a deeply perverse and corrupting set of incentives that have only grown stronger over the last decade."

Read The New Republic's full article at this link.

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