Former House Speaker John Boehner has only praise for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as he navigates attacks from the lower chamber’s divided Republican conference during one of the most tumultuous periods in national politics.
“He’s got to go through this dance every day to try to appease his caucus. But at the end of the day, he knows what has to get done, and he finds a way to get it done,” Boehner said during an interview on Monday with Axios.
Boehner was the Republican speaker of the House from 2011-2015, while Johnson became speaker last October.
Johnson’s pragmatic approach to conservative priorities has riled some Republican hardliners, but when he defied members of his own majority last month to pass a $95 billion bipartisan foreign aid package, the speaker faced a new level of criticism from those on the far Right. At the time, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed his action “betrayed” the country.
Following former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented criminal conviction last week, Greene once again ramped up pressure on Johnson.
“Speaker Johnson better defund Jack Smith and stop the weaponized government. He’s Speaker of the House. He can do it. No excuses now,” Greene warned. Johnson, for his part, has been supportive of Trump, calling the conviction “absurd” and “dangerous.”
On May 30, Greene said, “Speaker Johnson funded the entire Biden agenda, I voted no and then tried to vacate him,” adding, “The Republican Party needs to grow a spine!”
Boehner derided hard-liners’ efforts to topple Johnson.
“He’s got to do this Kabuki dance every day to keep some of his more — I don’t even want to call them conservatives. I don’t know what you — I think that’s the wrong word for them,” the former speaker told the outlet.
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Boehner continued to express confidence in Johnson’s ability to lead Republicans despite insider attacks.
“I found it interesting, reading the press about him,” the former speaker said. “I think there’s a lot more there than what the press gives him credit for. … His members respect him, even those that may disagree with him. I think it harbors a pretty bright future for him.”
