A few numbers illustrate Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R‑LA) precarious hold on the gavel and the dilemma for House Republicans more broadly.
The Ukraine aid package that is the latest policy imperiling Johnson was opposed by 112 Republicans while only 101 voted yes. (That is identical to the breakdown among Republicans on the March $1.2 trillion spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown.) Every Democrat who voted on Ukraine funding was in the affirmative; every no vote came from a Republican.
Johnson, as his Republican critics were quick to point out, was on the side of President Joe Biden, the Democratic-controlled Senate, and every House Democrat rather than the majority of his conference.
That was still good enough for the Ukraine security supplemental to pass 311 to 112, by most measures a strong bipartisan vote. The majority of the House Republican Conference was far from being able to command a majority of the chamber.
The same was true of the 112 Republicans who voted against the …