National Review Begs House Republicans Not to Oust ‘Worthy’ Speaker Mike Johnson: ‘It Is Time for the Insanity to End’

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The editorial board of National Review is urging House Republicans not to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) when the lower chamber of Congress convenes on Friday.

Because the GOP boasts only 219 seats in the House, Johnson can afford to lose only one member of his caucus if he wants to hold on to the speaker’s gavel. One such member, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), has already promised to vote against Johnson, so his margin for error is now nonexistent.

Praising Johnson as “a reliable and thoughtful conservative who has proved a shrewd tactician” and “managed the — for anyone in his role — all-important relationship with [Donald] Trump well,” National Review urged the other 218 Republicans in the House to stand by Johnson.

“It is also important to view Johnson’s leadership in context. Trying to lead a fractious caucus with only a few votes to spare is always going to be a thankless job. It becomes even more difficult to get anything done when the Senate and White House are controlled by the other party, as has been the case during Johnson’s tenure,” submitted the editors. “In the real world, given that there is currently no other candidate who can garner 218 votes and that the House cannot conduct business without a speaker in place, the only alternative to Johnson is chaos.”

They continued:

It would be one thing to argue that weeks of chaos would be painful but ultimately lead to a better result. But last time, when a small element of the caucus ousted [Kevin] McCarthy, it ended up with Johnson, who it now argues is just as bad as McCarthy. It is almost a certainty that if Johnson is ousted in favor of somebody else, the replacement would end up running the House in a similar fashion, because the new speaker would be subject to the same constraints as Johnson and McCarthy were.

“If trying the same thing while hoping for a different result is the definition of insanity, it is time for the insanity to end,” concluded the editorial. “Especially given that Republicans already have a worthy speaker in place.”