Conservative warns Mike Johnson is following in Kevin McCarthy’s failed footsteps

2023 has been an incredibly chaotic year for in the U.S. House of Representatives, from Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-California) ousting as speaker and his subsequent resignation from Congress to the expulsion of former Rep. George Santos (R-New York). The House enters 2024 with another threat of a federal government shutdown, and special elections will decide who occupies the seats vacated by and Santos and the soon-to-depart McCarthy.

In a report published by the conservative Washington Examiner on December 29, journalist Resse Gorman lays out some reason why 2024 "is gearing up to be an intense time for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana)."

"When the House returns from the holiday break on January 9," Gorman reports, "lawmakers will stare down several deadlines for critical legislation that must be passed in a short time frame."

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A high priority on the list, according to Gorman, is "government funding" and avoiding a shutdown.

"Back in November," Gorman explains, "Congress passed a two-part continuing resolution that bifurcated when the appropriations bills would expire. Four of the bills are set to expire on January 19, and the remaining eight will expire on February 2."

Gorman continues, "The goal was to spend time working on the first four appropriations bills from when the stop-gap measure passed until when funding ran out. But, neither the House nor the Senate made progress on their spending bills, setting up an absolute sprint to pass legislation in the ten days they have from getting back in session to when the first set of government funding expires. The plan on how they will avoid a shutdown is unclear."

Other challenges for Johnson after the House returns on January 9, Gorman notes, include "reauthorizing and reforming Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" and dealing with divisions within the House's small GOP majority.

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Gorman observes, "Johnson has followed the footsteps of his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), by upsetting the hardline conservatives with just about every decision he's made — so much so that in his less than three months as speaker, Johnson's team has had to pull numerous bills…. Going forward, Johnson will have difficulty keeping his conference together if he must rely on Democratic Party support for major legislation and inevitably anger conservatives in the process."

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