The political world has known for a while that Republican Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio was prepared to step down from Capitol Hill to become president of Youngstown State University, but there was some uncertainty about his timing. As Politico reported, those details have now come into focus.
Ohio GOP Rep. Bill Johnson will resign from Congress on Jan. 21 to become the new head of Youngstown State University, a move that will further shrink the tight House GOP majority. … “Bill submitted his official resignation from Congress today, effective at the end of day on January 21, 2024, paving the way for him to begin his presidency this month,” Michael Peterson, chair of the school’s board of trustees, wrote in a message to the university community.
To be sure, there’s been some controversy surrounding Johnson’s selection. The Vindicator, the daily newspaper in Youngstown area, reported that the university’s decision to elevate the GOP congressman “was met with vocal criticism from faculty, students, alumni and donors who objected to the confidential search as well as the decision to hire Johnson because of his politics and lack of experience in higher education.”
But for Johnson’s colleagues in the House Republican conference, there’s an entirely different problem to consider: Just how small will the GOP majority in the chamber become?
In general, the legislative arithmetic is relatively straightforward: There are 435 seats in the House, which means 218 seats is the bare minimum for a majority. When the current Congress began early last year, Republicans started with 222 seats — which meant on any given vote, GOP leaders could lose no more than four of their own members.
That number has grown progressively smaller. A month ago, members took the extraordinary step of expelling former Republican Rep. George Santos, which left the GOP conference with 221 members. Earlier this week, former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ended his congressional…
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