Mike Johnson, Lollygagger of the House

(Illustration by The Bulwark / Photos: Jim Watson and Kylie Cooper via Getty, Shutterstock)

Valar Dohaeris

Each House speakership ends up having its own unique character—forged through a combination of successes and failures. Nancy Pelosi, for example, is remembered for ruling her majority with an iron fist; she also regularly defeated internal party challenges and cleared the pathway for landmark legislation like the Affordable Care Act. Paul Ryan and John Boehner passed some substantial bills, too, and both departed Congress for lucrative second acts. Kevin McCarthy was not so lucky. He failed to quell a rebellion that resulted in his tarring and feathering (not literally) on the House floor. He has not found his way into the sort of plum position his predecessors have enjoyed since their speakerships ended.

Mike Johnson’s speakership is somewhat different from all these. His overriding project has been to cede whatever power and decision-making he can to the White House, and this has, in turn, given shape to an unusual legacy, one defined by impotence.

In recent months there has been a strange spirit of bipartisanship among frustrated House members, who have relied on the previously rare tactic of discharge petitions to circumvent Johnson. The latest such bill directly pushes back on the Donald Trump administration in a policy area the MAGA movement finds particularly divisive: aid to Ukraine.