Donald TrumpMike Johnson's days are number!

I gotta once again ask every pundit who is convinced the Speaker is on his way out... who did the GOP plan to replace him with? Like, the entire appeal of Johnson is that he's a mediocre compromise who offends nobody in the Republican House Caucus. He never had much power to begin with, which is why the House legislative output in 2025 has been relatively lackluster.

At the same time, getting votes on bills in the House that are unlikely to survive the floor and will inevitably fail (or simply be ignored) in the Senate isn't a problem for Johnson. The biggest benefit of being Speaker - for Johnson anyway - is the pay and benefits, as he is one of the poorest House Speakers in history.

Forbes estimates that Mike Johnson’s net worth is in the ballpark of $350,000, making him the least wealthy speaker of the century (along with being the least experienced). For comparison, Johnson’s predecessor Kevin McCarthy owned an investment portfolio in the six figures and former speaker Paul Ryan had assets in the millions. On the left, Nancy Pelosi’s net worth has been pegged at nearly $250 million, eclipsing them all.

Johnson’s congressional salary is $174,000.

Johnson got a roughly $50,000 raise to be Speaker of the House, earning $223,000 per year.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to remark upon Johnson being one of the dumbest men to hold the job. Even former gym coach and child sex predator Denny Hastert figured out how to make a few million under the table during his tenure.

I just don't see any strong reason for as useful an idiot as Johnson to leave his post, unless someone who can make better use of the position can step up. In a legislature that's increasingly irrelevant to the running of the federal government, there's very little appetite for a Strong Speaker and very little profit in failing to negotiate changes to legislation on your party's behalf.