"Speaker Mike Johnson's Risky Path: Navigating Hard-Right Discontent and Potential Disarray"

Republican ultra-conservatives are growing increasingly discontented with House Speaker Mike Johnson, just weeks after his installation, raising concerns of disarray and a potential government shutdown. Many hard-liners are frustrated with Johnson's support for an interim funding measure that postponed a government shutdown until mid-January without meeting their demands for spending cuts and conservative policy changes. The slim Republican House majority and divisions within the party make it difficult for hard-liners to achieve their goals. Johnson is being urged to deliver on their demands when funding expires early next year, but he faces challenges in navigating the competing interests within his party and the Democratic-controlled White House and Senate.