“Sick of This Sh*t”: Mike Johnson Snaps Over Republican Dysfunction

House Speaker Mike Johnson is fed up with the chaos boiling in his own caucus.

The Louisiana lawmaker invited a handful of Republicans into his “ceremonial room” last week to salvage a bipartisan veterans bill, a party priority that had been threatened by a few unruly Republicans.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna was in that room. She had opposed the massive military benefits package, arguing against veterans’ pay bumps over concerns that it could cut down disability claims. She started yelling at Iowa Representative Zach Nunn, who supported the measure, before turning her ire toward Johnson.

And that’s when the soft-spoken speaker lost it.

“I’m sick of this shit,” Johnson snapped, according to multiple sources in the room that spoke to NOTUS.

The outburst was out of character for Johnson, who proceeded not only to apologize to Luna but also kneeled before the elementary-school-age son of Representative Gabe Evans to express his regret for cursing in front of him.

Ultimately, Johnson was forced to return to a strategy that has practically become normal due to the seemingly insurmountable disagreements from a small faction within his party: He pulled the bill.

A small band of conservatives have repeatedly disrupted the Republican agenda, refusing to be team players and making governing impossible, according to several lawmakers that spoke with NOTUS.

“It creates anger and resentment,” retiring Nebraska Representative Don Bacon told the digital news outlet. “We want to get things done, and dysfunction’s not good.”

A collection of far-right lawmakers have learned that they can effectively hold their votes on important measures hostage in order to get what they want—a tactic that has not only worked, as Johnson placates them to win over his party’s razor-thin majority, but has also endlessly frustrated other Republicans.

“The Republican conference is a diverse gathering of people, some of whom are really effective at getting things done and others who are more interested in knocking things down,” South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson told NOTUS.

But the disruptive blueprint is nothing new—at least not in recent history. In 2023, a band of eight Republicans—led by disgraced former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz—used the same strategy to oust Kevin McCarthy after the former House speaker failed to rein the group in. Johnson had better watch out that his party doesn’t do the same. ...