AN ENEMY OF MY ENEMY...

Mike Johnson Finds an Unlikely Ally in Fight to Keep His Job: Matt Gaetz

Gaetz told CNN this weekend he’s been advising the rookie speaker on how to placate the Republican caucus’ hard-right flank.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has found himself an unlikely ally in the battle to keep his job—Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who was a leader in the effort last year to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The firebrand told CNN this weekend that he’s been advising Johnson on how to placate the Republican caucus’ hard-right flank, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who filed a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair earlier this month after Johnson shepherded a bipartisan spending bill through the chamber that will keep the federal government funded through September. “I gave the speaker some unsolicited advice—that we’ve got to get into a fighting posture. And I was very pleased with how the speaker received that advice,” Gaetz told the network Sunday. “The speaker wants to put wins on the board for House Republicans, and we better start doing that,” he added, citing the fight over whether to approve aid for Ukraine’s war against Russia, which right-wingers have vehemently opposed. “I’m glad the speaker hasn’t rolled over to the $95 billion Ukraine supplemental that the Senate passed, and I think that he’s forging a better path on that issue as we speak,” Gaetz said of the package.