Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04), the current Republican Speaker of the House, has been by and large a pretty effective Speaker. He's managed to herd the cats that are the Republican Party pretty well, and has managed a few high-profile wins, not the least of which was the One Big, Beautiful Bill, a keynote achievement for the Republican-controlled Congress and for President Trump.
Now, Speaker Johnson is looking ahead to the 2026 midterms, now only a little over three weeks away, and what might happen if the Republicans lose the House majority. Specifically, he's wondering about staying in the role of leader of House Republicans.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he intends to serve as GOP leader if Republicans lose their House majority in November — but he remains bullish about the party's chances despite significant headwinds.
"In the unlikely scenario where we lost the majority, I would expect my colleagues would ask me to continue leading this conference, even if we have divided government," Johnson told CBS News' Robert Costa in an interview near Johnson's hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana.
Speaker Johnson seems pretty confident that the Republicans will hold the House of Representatives, and we would expect him to express such confidence in any case; that's Leadership 101. But if the GOP does lose the House, whose name is on the blame line? That, too, is Leadership 101; a leader gives credit and takes blame.
Last week, a comment Johnson made to Fox News on his plans for his future fueled speculation that he could retire from politics, as he suggested that he could go back to his hometown of Shreveport and start a lawn business if the GOP loses the House majority.
"It's just hilarious," Johnson said of the interest the comment spurred, telling Costa that the remark was "tongue in cheek."
Here's the thing: If the Republicans lose the House, Speaker Johnson may well see a challenge to his continued leadership. It doesn't always happen that way; Nancy Pelosi, of all people, managed to stay in place as Speaker, then as House minority leader, then as Speaker again. And, to be honest, Mike Johnson has been better than plenty of Speakers in both parties.
But boy, howdy, being an effective minority leader if the Democrats manage to wrest control of the House of Representatives with their current loony-tunes caucus, that's a daunting task. The Democrats will immediately launch impeachment proceedings against President Trump and, likely, many of his Cabinet officials. They will try to undo everything the current administration has done, starting with the One Big Beautiful Bill. They will try to defund ICE. They will try to roll back our military policies, to return our armed forces to once more being a jobs program for the mentally ill. They will see any majority, no matter how slim, as a mandate, and while President Trump will still wield the veto pen, at that point the Republicans' role in the House will be mainly trying to preserve some semblance of sanity against the howling horde of stupid.
The House Republicans will have to stick together in the face of all that. And while many of us think Mike Johnson could still be an effective leader, even in the face of all these possibilities, much will depend on what his colleagues think — and on which among them thinks they could do a better job.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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