Johnson’s lat­est fail­ure sets a new record for House speak­ers

House Speak­er Mike John­son (R‑LA) hasn’t been in charge of the low­er cham­ber for very long, but he has already set a mod­ern record.
On Wednes­day, House Repub­li­cans revolt­ed against their lead­er­ship once again, shoot­ing down a rule vote and seal­ing the grim mile­stone for John­son.
The rebels killed a vote on a rule to renew the For­eign Intel­li­gence Sur­veil­lance Act after for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump expressed oppo­si­tion. The defeat marked Johnson’s fourth loss in a rule vote across six months. John­son hasn’t presided over more rule defeats than oth­er mod­ern speak­ers in total, but his loss­es have stacked up faster than his pre­de­ces­sors.

Speak­er of the House Mike John­son (R‑LA) speaks dur­ing the Con­gres­sion­al Gold Medal Cer­e­mo­ny in hon­or of Rosie the Riv­et­er on Capi­tol Hill in Wash­ing­ton on Wednes­day, April 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Mag­a­na)

As CNN’s Kristin Wil­son point­ed out, Johnson’s four fail­ures in six months con­trast with for­mer House speak­ers — Kevin McCarthy had three in eight months, Den­nis Hastert had two in eight years, and Newt Gin­grich had six in four years. For­mer House Speak­ers Nan­cy Pelosi (D‑CA), John Boehn­er, and Paul Ryan had zero failed rule votes dur­ing their tenures.

For those keep­ing track at home. Recen …