Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership in the House faces growing threats of rebellion and mounting scrutiny as Republicans start to panic ahead of next year’s midterms.
While Republican Matt Van Epps won the special election in Tennessee on Tuesday night, the massive overperformance by Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn in the deep red state has some Republicans feeling the heat.
Van Epps won the race for Tennessee’s seventh congressional district by less than nine points after Donald Trump carried the state by 22 points.
The double-digit shift toward Democrats indicates there will be a lot more competitive races next year than previously thought. Even a +10 GOP seat could be in play.
The speaker was already facing tension with members of his own caucus before the humiliating results came in.
GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is running for governor of New York, took direct aim at Johnson on Tuesday over a provision she wanted in the annual defense policy bill. She accused him of siding with Democrats against Trump.
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna filed a discharge petition this week to force a vote on a bill to ban stock trading in Congress. She called out leaders of both parties over the “political games” playing out behind closed doors.
It comes on the heels of four Republicans joining Democrats to force the vote on the release of the Epstein files after Johnson refused to bring the bill to the floor. It passed overwhelmingly, with Johnson even voting yes despite his vehement disapproval.
The already exhausted Johnson, who was plucked out of obscurity to lead the caucus during previous unrest, is also facing mounting pressure from moderates in his party to address the looming healthcare crisis, with premiums set to skyrocket at the end of the year if Congress does not act.
In Tennessee, progressive Behn remained laser-focused on affordability. She did not win, but she cut the GOP margins in a formerly safe red district in half.
Republicans continue to project confidence in the midterms, but their eleventh-hour push to make sure GOP voters turned out in Tennessee and surge in spending suggests they’re not in denial about the headwinds being against them.
Trump frantically posted a series of Truth Socials urging MAGA followers to vote red in the special election.
Johnson even traveled to the state on Monday to rally support for Van Epps and held up the microphone so the president could be heard on speakerphone to help get out the vote.
The final margin in the Tennessee election shows the House could swing by 30 to 35 seats, according to veteran Republican strategist Matt Whitlock.
He wrote that the GOP turnout operation in Tennessee did not work, and the party has work to do.
Late Tuesday night, before the final results came in, he wrote it was “one of the biggest flashing red light warning signs we’ve seen yet for Republicans.”
As Johnson tries to quell the discord among House Republicans, he has another looming battle that’s only just kicking off. It needs to fund the government beyond January 30, 2026.
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