Reinforcing his message

Johnson devoted time in a weekly conferencewide meeting the following morning to reinforce his message, where he outlined his plan to avert a government shutdown by extending funding levels for a third time with the help of Democrats — a move that cost then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. his job.

One last extension, Johnson argued, would give both chambers time to finally vote through 12 new government appropriation bills, which Republican hard-liners have demanded for years.

Several spoke up against Johnson’s argument — as agreed to by all congressional leaders and top appropriators — was their only option. They said he could instead put a vote on the floor that extends funding levels until Sept. 30, thus triggering a 7 to 10% cut in nondefense discretionary spending based on parameters agreed to by President Biden and McCarthy in last year’s debt ceiling deal.

But Johnson defended his plan, acknowledging the suggestion as a good one but that GOP leaders had conducted a soft whip count and that path did not have the support of enough Republicans, according to several people present.

Those familiar with Johnson’s thinking said his decision to move ahead on funding does not mean the speaker will ignore hard-liners’ requests in future policy discussions, given his background as a far-right ideologist. Johnson believes in the more institutionalist view that the United States should provide aid to Ukraine, but he has also demanded those funds be paired with border security legislation.

Johnson decided not to tack on the border fight with government funding early in his tenure, because he believed doing so would have increased the chances of a government shutdown that Republicans would get blamed for, according to those closest to him. Over the past four months, Johnson did hear out members of the Freedom Caucus, often holding meetings with them after making a decision on funding, which some governing Republicans considered a waste of his time. But Johnson moved forward with his plan, his allies said, because members of the Freedom Caucus could not articulate strategically how a shutdown would garner wins for Republicans.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he believes Johnson is a “good man” and “honorable” because he wouldn’t make side deals in future negotiations. But he echoed many within the group who worry that Johnson is not fighting hard enough.