The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
At least two Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have threatened to jettison Rep. Mike Johnson from his role as speaker. Their complaint, it seems to us, is that he’s actually doing his job and recognizing the realities of leadership in a divided government. We share his assessment that threats to oust him are “absurd.”
Unfortunately, American politics seem to be defined by absurdity at the moment. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If House Democrats have a chance to help avoid this absurdity, while advancing a balanced approach to critical foreign aid that has otherwise stalled, they should take it.
The federal government needs to approve more support for Ukraine in the ongoing defense against Russian aggression. It needs to support Taiwan in the face of looming aggression from China. It needs to support Israel while working to convince the Israeli government to change course in Gaza. It needs to support humanitarian assistance for people in Gaza and elsewhere. We don’t see all of that happening if another round of speakership drama is added to the mix.
Having already experienced the chaos that followed Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker last fall, and with allies like Ukraine in dire need of support, House Democrats should be willing and ready to help maintain order in the chamber. Encouragely, as Johnson works to tee up several aid bills this week, there are signs that he’s focused on governing and some Democrats might be willing to provide an off-ramp from far-right challenges to the speakership.
We haven’t been overly impressed with Johnson since he assumed the top role. Even with the recognition that he has a near-impossible job satisfying the far-right flank of his Republican caucus in a closely divided House, he has managed to disappoint at times — especially when it comes to foreign aid and border security.
When some congressional Republicans demanded a deal linking much-needed foreign aid for allies like Ukraine and increased border security, one of their thoughtful, very conservative members in the Senate did the hard work of negotiating such a deal. But Johnson and others basically threw that potential path forward in the trash, meaning that balanced action to strengthen the border and support allies around the world has lingered unfinished for months even with the Senate passing its own $95 billion aid package in February.
More recently, Johnson did help avoid a government shutdown, demonstrating an understanding that compromise is better for the country than chaos. He seems to be coming around to the eventual realization, like McCarthy belatedly did, that leadership in divided government, where Republicans control the House but Democrats control the Senate and White House, means that nobody gets everything they want. Unfortunately, some in his caucus either don’t understand this or find it politically convenient to pretend otherwise.
“It is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs,” Johnson said Tuesday, as reported by the Hill. “It is not helpful to the cause, it is not helpful to the country, it does not help the House Republicans advance our agenda which is in the best interest of the American people here — a secure border, sound governance — and it’s not helpful to the unity that we have in the body.”
Amen to most of that. While we find plenty of points of disagreement with House Republicans and their agenda, absurd is the right word for this situation. The threat to oust Johnson, as with McCarthy before him, would essentially boil down to punishing him for the high crime of governing. The ensuing chaos would be bad for America and bad for our allies (and once again, helping our allies is also in our best interest). House Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden of Maine, should reject this chaos and instead work with Johnson to secure a balanced path forward on foreign aid.
