Speaker Johnson Put on Notice, ‘Grace Period is Over’

It is tough to imagine any modern-day House Speaker coming into office with as much to clean up as Speaker Johnson (R-LA) had when he took over.

After Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) was forced to leave and Reps. Scalise (R-LA) and Jordan (R-OH) failed to get enough support, Johnson came out of nowhere to grab the gavel.

He made some questionable moves before the end of the year, most notably passing a budgetary measure that extended current FISA guidelines, something that was the last free pass for many members of the GOP in the House, more specifically members of the Freedom Caucus.

No More Free Passes

Prior to the Christmas recess, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) issues a warning to Johnsson, stating “The honeymoon is probably over.”

That warning was reiterated by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) with members of Congress returning to the Hill.

Rep. Greene stated: “So far [the appropriations process] hasn't moved forward, and that's what we're all very angry about.

“Of course, we were all giving him a little bit of grace because he got thrown into the speaker seat at a hard time [and] was not ready at all.

“This was a job I don't think he was prepared to do and it just happened over a three-week battle over who we were going to elect for speaker. However, it was the job he wanted, and so I think the grace period is over.”

Greene also expressed her disappointment that the spending bills still need to be passed and time is running out, believing this was something that should have been addressed before Congress took its break.

She stated, “[The spending bills] should have been done well before now, and it was extremely disappointing that we didn't even try to pass at least one of them in December.”

This is something that has frustrated Americans for decades, as Congress always seems to wait until the last possible second to pass legislation, usually not even giving members of Congress enough time to thoroughly read through the legislation.

Johnson has a huge task ahead of him to change the way things are done in Congress, and it appears that he has only one more chance to get it right.

If not, we just may see another motion to vacate put on the floor to remove him, and with it, sinking any hopes that Republicans had of keeping the majority heading into 2025.