House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that he remains committed to the topline spending deal he struck with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a blow to hardline conservatives who have been pushing him to walk away from the agreement and yet another example of how the speaker has struggled with key decisions.
In comments to reporters on Capitol Hill, the Louisiana Republican touted the topline that was announced last weekend and said that the agreement “remains” in place – a day after he appeared to be at least entertaining the idea of abandoning the deal in meetings with conservatives.
The announcement will help keep bipartisan efforts to fund the government on track, but risks further angering his right flank, a dynamic that highlights Johnson’s precarious position. As he navigates an extremely narrow majority, the speaker, who is still relatively new to the job, is caught between competing factions of his own conference of hardliners and moderates and hyper aware of the potential blowback for making the wrong move.
That pressure Johnson is under has started to show, according to multiple lawmakers who have been in private meetings with him this week.
During a House GOP leadership meeting on Tuesday, Johnson got visibly frustrated with House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, according to sources in the room, and pressed the Virginia Republican on what his strategy would be to get out of a government shutdown if that’s where they end up.
Johnson was more jovial during a meeting with appropriators and moderates on Friday, but still expressed some exasperation over the hardliners who revolted against his spending agreement. The speaker joked to the group that he has been a staunch conservative his entire life and felt like he was losing his mind, according to a source familiar with the conversation, who emphasized it was a light-hearted remark meant to…
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