House Speaker Mike Johnson Faces Narrow Majority during Tense Legislative Period

House Speaker Mike Johnson faces an upcoming four-week legislative sprint with potentially just a one-vote Republican majority following the announcement of Representative Michael Gallagher’s retirement. The House will not fill Gallagher’s seat until January 2025, leaving Johnson to navigate partisan divisions in Congress during this time frame. In addition, Republicans could lose another vote as soon as Tuesday due to a special election for New York’s 26th congressional district, which heavily favours the Democratic candidate. While Johnson has already secured crucial legislative victories like FAA reauthorization, his thin majority remains fragile and subjected to conservative rebellion led by the House Freedom Caucus on critical issues such as government spending and foreign aid. The group recently demanded that any funding allocated for bridge reconstruction in Baltimore be offset with cuts elsewhere while solely focusing on bridge construction. As Johnson tries to pass this bill through traditional party-line votes, GOP rebels are expected to cause him difficulties given their strong opposition stance.