Just weeks into his new job, Speaker Mike Johnson has already learned a valuable, if painful, lesson: Being an uncompromising conservative hard-liner is much easier from the backbenches of the House than it is from the leadership suites.
The stopgap spending bill he pushed through the House on Tuesday with overwhelming support from Democrats over the objections of a solid bloc of Republicans was a near-exact replica of the funding package he had opposed six weeks ago, when he was still an obscure lawmaker from Louisiana.
But as speaker, Mr. Johnson was forced to bow to the political reality that spending proposals designed to appease the far right cannot become law in a divided government.
In doing so, he exhibited a pragmatic side that surprised Democrats and frustrated allies on the right who just days ago were exultant at his sudden rise.
Mr. Johnson made the calculation that House Republicans, divided and known more for acrimony than accomplishment these days, could not afford to be held responsible for a crippling pre-Thanksgiving government shutdown.
Persons:
Mike Johnson, Johnson
Organizations:
Republicans
Locations:
Louisiana