Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is showing his anger as he becomes perhaps the most prominent Republican figure in the GOP’s stubborn, uncompromising government shutdown fight.
It’s a demeanor that marks a notable shift for the famously even-tempered Speaker, reflecting how the party is digging in on their refusals to negotiate with Democrats to re-open the government.
In near-daily press conferences and dozens of media appearances in the two-and-a-half weeks since the shutdown started, Johnson has reiterated the Republican position: No negotiations with Democrats on their health care demands until they stop holding the government “hostage” and vote to re-open.
On Thursday, the 16th day of the government shutdown, Johnson raised his voice at the end of one of those press conferences before stopping himself.
“To get everybody together and build that consensus is not possible until we get the government operating again. We stop holding — I’m sorry, I get very upset about it,” Johnson said. “We stop holding the American people hostage for these ridiculous political games.”
“I don’t like being mad Mike. I want to be happy Mike. I want to be the happy warrior. But I am so upset about this. God Bless America,” he added, before stepping away from the podium.
Even though he is just the leader of one chamber, Johnson has dominated the conversation about the Republican strategy in the government shutdown.
In a CNN town hall on Wednesday about the shutdown featuring Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Johnson was mentioned 20 times — while Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) was mentioned just three.
The Speaker has, more than other congressional leaders, flooded the zone in TV and other news appearances during the shutdown. In addition to the daily press conferences in the Capitol, Johnson has participated in around 50 media interviews since the shutdown started, according to his office. This include the first time a sitting Speaker has taken calls from C-SPAN callers since 2001.
But it’s not just his willingness to go on TV and natural talent on the screen that’s turned Johnson into the dominant Republican figure in the shutdown fight.
With President Trump more engaged with international affairs like the Israel-Gaza ceasefire and meetings with Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky, leadership in the shutdown fight has been left to Congress.
And between Johnson and Thune, the Speaker is not only more outspoken but has made the most controversial, hardline moves.
As he’s taken a hardline stance and kept the House on extended recess in a bid to put pressure on Senate Democrats — and refused to swear in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (Ariz.) until the House is back — the Speaker has grown visibly frustrated in some of those recent appearances.
Those moves have infuriated Democrats, making Johnson the target of their ire and the topic of conversation.
“It’s shameful that she has not been sworn in because Speaker Johnson and House Republicans apparently want to continue to hide the Jeffrey Epstein files from the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on Friday, referring to the fact that Grijalva would be the last signature needed to force GOP leaders to take action on a bill to release the Epstein Files.
Johnson, who has denied the delay has anything to do with the Epstein Files, reiterated his position on Friday: “We love that we’re going to administer the oath to her as soon as we get back to our regular legislative session, as I’ve said a thousand times.”
Since being thrust from relative obscurity into the Speakership after the chaos that followed the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Johnson’s patience with his fractious conference — and its outspoken members — has been a defining feature of his Speakership.
Known for bringing in members from all ideological corners of the GOP for meetings when the conference is divided on a topic, Johnson rarely gets frustrated or loses his temper in those closed-door sit-downs, even as members hold up action on major legislation.
But as he’s grown as a Speaker and become bolder in his legislative moves, and started to more aggressively take on Democrats, he is losing his hallmark patience.
“We’re so angry about it. I’m a very patient guy, but I have had it with these people. They’re playing games with real people’s lives,” Johnson said on Fox News earlier this month.
Many Republicans had projected a repeat of the scenario from March, when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) broke from House Democrats and the bulk of his party by voting with a group of his party for a GOP stopgap to keep the government open.
“I just feel like we ought to apologize. I hate that we have to do this. I don’t want to be here any more than you do, talking about this subject,” Johnson said on Friday, the 17th day of the government shutdown. “It is so difficult to be a happy warrior when you know that so many millions of American people are suffering, being made to suffer unnecessarily, because of the Democrats’ political games.”
Democrats, meanwhile, say that it is Republicans’ decision to not negotiate.
As the stalemate continues, the government shutdown is now the third-longest in modern history — and on track to become at least the second-longest if it extends past Tuesday.
