“Four and a half months on the job, House Speaker Mike Johnson is still struggling with the baggage of the tumultuous Kevin McCarthy era,” NBC News reports.
“The Louisiana Republican is trying to fund the government and avert a shutdown based on a budget deal McCarthy and President Joe Biden struck last year that infuriated conservative hard-liners.”
“Johnson inherited McCarthy’s Rules Committee, which decides how bills make it to the House floor but which McCarthy stacked with conservatives to help defuse their anger. That’s forced Johnson to bypass conservatives on the committee and work with Democrats to enact must-pass legislation.”
“And Johnson is grappling with a Biden impeachment inquiry that was unilaterally set in motion by his predecessor — even though it appears to be losing steam.”
