Johnson Re-Elected - Faces Big Problems With His Own GOP Caucus

 Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was re-elected to be Speaker of the House of Representatives. But his troubles are just starting and he may not survive the whole two year term. Here's how Aaron Blake puts it in The Washington Post:

This isn’t the end of Johnson’s problems

It’s quite possible we’ll look back on this in the very near future as only a momentary thawing of the frosty internal GOP relations that have characterized Johnson’s 15 months as speaker.

That’s because the fundamental problems he has haven’t really changed, even if Trump’s and the GOP’s 2024 wins have papered over them and injected some more unifying dynamics.

Republicans still face the intractable problem that is some members of their conference wanting to cut spending — a lot of it — but that being very difficult, especially with such a tiny majority. And the fact that Trump did the opposite during his first term, sending spending soaring.

Republicans are also continually divided between an establishment, pragmatic wing of the party and the more MAGA-aligned elements that don’t have as much concern about party unity and their broader party’s electoral fortunes — and plenty of concern about attention-seeking.

What happens, for example, if Trump really pushes hard for Congress to get rid of the debt ceiling without major spending cuts? What happens when these members threaten a shutdown over spending cuts and Johnson again needs the votes of Democrats to keep the government functioning? What happens when Johnson tries to pass something pragmatic (like on border security) that can overcome a Democratic filibuster in the Senate?

Perhaps Trump can help mend some of those fences, as he has here. But he’s also shown precious little interest over the years in the nitty gritty of congressional dealmaking — and precious little loyalty to people like Johnson.

In other words, Johnson can feel good about what happened Friday. But he surely knows this isn’t the end of the infighting.