Mike Johnson Faces Doomsday Scenario

Facing multiple resignations and a potential revolt from some of his colleagues, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s political future looks perilous.

The Republican’s majority in the Congressional chamber has been weakened by a number of resignations in the past week while Johnson continues to face criticism from members of his party, which he has dealt with since assuming the role in October 2023.

Last week, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a “motion to vacate” after the House approved a $1.2-trillion spending package to avoid a partial government shutdown.

While she did not formally introduce the measure, she said Johnson had “betrayed” Republicans and that she would move forward with the motion if the GOP did not choose a new leader.

Newsweek has contacted Johnson’s office by email to comment on this story.

On Friday, Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin representative, announced he will resign from his position on April 19. The GOP representative is serving his fourth term in Congress and announced early last month that he did not have plans to run for reelection when his seat is up in the fall.

Under Wisconsin law, Gallagher’s seat will remain empty until the general election in November. A special election would have been held to fill his vacancy if he left Congress prior to April 9.

Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican who has served his district since 2015, also announced last week that he would resign from Congress. Following the announcement, Buck teased that there may be more GOP resignations in the House of Representatives in the near future.

Meanwhile, a special election in New York’s 26th congressional district is set for April 30 to fill a vacant seat. Democratic incumbent Brian Higgins resigned to become president of Shea’s Performing Arts Center on February 2.

When Buck and Gallagher leave, there will be 217 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the House. There are currently three vacant seats in the chamber: Ohio’s 6th District, California’s 20th District and New York’s 26th District.

The resignation announcements will put further pressure on House Republicans as it means they might struggle to pass legislation in the chamber. The current number of votes needed to reach a majority is 217.

However, Grant Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said last week that Republicans would be unlikely to give up the House leadership easily.

“Even though there have been rumors of further resignations on the Republican side of the aisle, in part as a reaction to Donald Trump capturing the nomination, I have a hard time seeing the party voluntarily giving the majority and the speakership to the Democrats,” Reeher told Newsweek.

“That would be a level of strategic dysfunction that we haven’t seen so far and would deal a real blow to the Trump campaign in November. I’d be really surprised to see that.”