BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  MAY 17, 2024

It has been written and rewritten that six months ago Rep. Mike Johnson was a backbencher, unknown to much of the public outside his home state of Louisiana. So, when he became Speaker of the House, he faced a tough crowd all too anxious to pass judgement on him before there was any judgment to pass.

The media mostly concluded within days that only six years into his congressional career he was still a wet-behind-the-ears apprentice, wore a MAGA hat to bed at night, and was too captive to his religious beliefs to lead a secular Congress.

Even members of his Republican conference told the media, anonymously of course, that he was a “leader in name only,” and was having a “bad, very, very bad awful time leading the House Republican conference,” according to columnist Marc Theissen writing in the Washington Post.
What a difference six months make, eh, as my relatives north of the border would say.

In short order, Speaker Johnson planted his feet on tremoring ground and acted like a Speaker. He rose like the mythical phoenix from the ashes of chaos and total dysfunction in Congress (hyperbole is not for the timid). He prevented a government shutdown, won reauthorization of the Security Surveillance Act, got the appropriations process back on track, and won approval of critical aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Johnson also reopened the passageway between House Democrats and Republicans so that governing could actually take place.

Those fetes are much to the credit of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who also did the “right thing,” unifying his caucus around the urgent imperative to avert yet another round of domestic and international crises.

This occurred all while Johnson’s rebellious far right held the threat of removal from the Speaker’s chair over his head. It became a hollowed-out threat after Jeffries and other Democrats signaled that they would vote against the procedural vote for removal.

Over those months Johnson got an avalanche of positive press, reminding all of us once again it is wrongheaded to jump to conclusions and lock yourself into perceptions that turn out to be premature at best and foolish at worst.

In a discussion with one of my daughters the other day, I was reminded, however, that the past months were not just about issues and legislative victories. They were about personal character, political courage, and old-fashioned common sense. Johnson’s character led him to do what he called “the right thing,” something Theissen called the “essence of leadership.” His courage enabled him to do that while facing the threat of removal. His common sense told him Congress had to govern.

The Speaker and Leader Jeffries know full well what’s ahead, when members return from the Memorial Day recess, hopefully bolstered by the national unity themes that run through this holiday.

The issues are endless. Survey research tells us what the majority of Americans need done—restore fiscal sanity, reduce prices, and cut the debt; curb the border crisis; withstand the threats from conflicts on nearly every continent, strengthen our national security; reduce crime; improve our schools and protect our students; be realistic about energy supplies; secure Social Security and Medicare; use common sense in protecting the environment and ensure that Americans are assured the basics of human need.

Speaker Johnson moves to the next challenges with a still-tarnished image among some Americans. His performance thus far has not been enough to satisfy even sincere skeptics, let alone partisan critics. A good share of that ill feeling is, of course, tied to former President Trump and the proclivity of non-Republicans to paint all Republicans with the Trump brush.
As I’ve written before about the ‘all Republicans are alike’ line. It is not true and a little insulting to some.

Leadership is a tough taskmaster, more so for the Speaker of the House who is a unique constitutional officer while also a party leader by virtue of the ever-growing partisan dominance over the legislative process, and, last but not least, in his mind, the representative of 760,000 constituents who deserve and expect his constant attention.

Those roles are inherently conflicted, more conflicted and complex than those faced by other leaders. The result is that murky and tough decisions on doing what’s right for the people you represent, the country you serve, and the party to which you belong come at you like mosquitos from a stagnant pond. The conflicts are made worse by the endless political divisions that produce narrow and sometimes ungovernable majorities. A good example was Speaker Johnson’s presence at the Trump trial in New York, something expected from a party leader, but something a Speaker should avoid.

Of more profound concern over the long term for the bipartisan congressional leadership are the vital organs that keep our democratic Republic healthy and functioning. They have been left weakened by the political and social turmoil and badly neglected by all of us. But they are key to meeting the challenges facing the democratic Republic. The Congress will never return to normal or even a new normal without their vitality.

Among them:

• Civics Education: the downgrading of civics and history in our schools and throughout society. Chamber of Commerce Foundation research found that 70 percent of Americans fail a basic civics literacy quiz.
• Citizen Activism: the success of a democratic system depends not just on an educated citizenry but engaged citizens who want to be more involved in how they are governed.
• Political and Social Civility: it is essential to good governance under any circumstances but especially now.
• Congressional Reform: there was much good that came from the House Select Committee on Modernization over the past several years, but it was a beginning not an end. Politicians, no matter how well intended, cannot effectuate good government unless the Congress is functional. It is not; not procedurally, politically or civilly.
• Restoration of Institutions: Among them are the media, organized religion, community service; business and labor; education and charities; non-profits that serve the national interests, and, of course, the institutions of government and politics.
• (Reader Alert: a shameless plug for our book Fixing Congress: Restoring Power to the People, which addresses these subjects in far more detail).

The question then becomes, will Johnson and Jeffries preserve bipartisanship and legislative consensus regardless of who controls the next Congress? Will they promote more fundamental reforms of political behavior that invite more citizen engagement and instill public trust? Are they going to keep the lights on? It’s a big ask.

They could by giving pragmatists in both of their caucuses latitude in reaching across the aisle to craft policy that can pass. In times of narrow margins, success in Congress can only be found in the middle where most legislators often find themselves.

They could keep the lights on by focusing on incremental change through bills germane to their subjects, rather than the mega, all-purpose bills that make for bad legislation, bad regulation, a relinquishment of congressional authority to the executive, and congressional stalemate.

They can make the light brighter by adhering to a stricter code of conduct for those who engage in the art of politics, bringing out the “better angels of our nature” as Abraham Lincoln put it—with values that still define who we are and why our system of governance has survived and prospered over two centuries.

Those Republicans and Democrats who came together in this Congress didn’t just bail out the Speaker. They pulled the country a few steps back from where most Americans don’t want the country to go. They did what needed to be done. They did their job. Let’s hope they don’t stop now.

Editor’s Note: Mike Johnson is a former journalist, who worked on the Ford White House staff and served as press secretary and chief of staff to House Republican Leader Bob Michel, prior to entering the private sector. He is co-author of a new book, Fixing Congress: Restoring Power to the People and an earlier book, Surviving Congress, a guide for congressional staff. He is co-founder and former Board chair of the Congressional Institute. Johnson is retired. He is married to Thalia Assuras and has five children and four grandchildren.