Key Point: “This is the most chaotic, inefficient and ineffective majority we’ve seen in decades covering Congress. It started this way under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and has gotten worse under Johnson.”

Punchbowl News: The Disaster That Is The House Republican Leadership

By: Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan

• Just this week, Speaker Mike Johnson has:

• Seen Democrats win a special election in New York, narrowing the already minuscule GOP majority to two votes.

• Lost a sixth rule vote on the House floor — a measure that would’ve allowed an increase in the state-and-local tax (SALT) deduction — when 18 Republicans bucked their own leadership and voted no. This Republican majority has lost more rule votes than any other majority in five decades, a stunning sign of weakness.

• Abruptly pulled a bill to overhaul FISA due to Republican infighting. The GOP leadership said the House would vote on the bill before locking down the votes, despite some senior Republicans raising internal objections. This is the second time Johnson had to pull a FISA bill this Congress.

• Decided against putting a bill on the floor to provide billions of dollars in new aid to Israel without offsets. Just a week ago, Johnson allowed a vote on Israel aid that he knew was going to fail.

• Provided absolutely no insight to rank-and-file lawmakers on how he’ll handle the Senate’s bipartisan $95 billion foreign aid package. Johnson said the bill isn’t a priority because the federal government is scheduled to shut down in a few weeks.

• This is the most chaotic, inefficient and ineffective majority we’ve seen in decades covering Congress. It started this way under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and has gotten worse under Johnson.

• And things aren’t going to get easier. The House is leaving town today by 2:30 p.m. for the 13-day Presidents Day recess. When members return on Feb. 28, there will be only three days to fund a huge swath of the federal government or face a partial shutdown. There’s another full shutdown deadline a week later.

• Unlike speakers before him, this House Republican Conference was built without Johnson’s input or effort. McCarthy was the lead architect for this majority, having traveled incessantly for hundreds of candidates across the country. … [Speaker Johnson’s] a backbencher plucked from obscurity to be the third-highest-ranking official in the American government.