House Republicans are a baffling group to watch. Here they are, under the gun on health care subsidies, appropriations, the must-pass defense bill, and a basket full of other crises pressing in on them before the clock strikes Christmas, and what are their loudest voices doing? Attacking leadership.
While the precious minutes tick down on a to-do list that rivals Santa’s, a group of angry GOP women aren’t putting their heads down, uniting, and racing to solve the problems weighing down Congress, they’re slinging arrows at House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — and then complaining that the GOP isn’t getting anything done.
Grab a dictionary, look up the word “counterproductive,” and you’ll understand exactly what the speaker is dealing with.
Most Hill observers had already pegged this as “the toughest stretch” of Johnson’s career, a daunting prospect when you consider the two years of mountains he’s already had to climb. Heading into a tough midterm election, Republicans need some policy wins — a goal that the GOP’s temperamental personalities are making excruciatingly difficult.
Johnson’s latest headache is a handful of Republican women, who are lobbing grenades at the speaker’s office — mostly from the safe and comfortable womb of anonymity. Unlike Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who had the decency to declare war on Johnson out in the open, there’s a tiny cadre of female Republicans who want to undermine their leader by whispering to the press that he’s a closeted sexist who’s sidelining them because they’re women.
The media, of course, is eating this up, desperate to fan the flame from a couple of malcontents into a Palisades wildfire that will consume and destroy the Republican House. But the most offensive talking points are MS Now’s, which has decided to perpetuate the narrative that Speaker Johnson is a secret misogynist, and his Christian faith is to blame.
During a panel discussion late last week, the network’s “experts” claimed “some women in [Johnson’s] caucus reportedly have suggested that he will not listen to them, and the reason is because of his evangelical beliefs about the role of men and women in society. We have seen divisions within the House GOP before,” Stephanie Ruhle said, “but this one seems different.” Peter Baker nodded, claiming, “It’s a bad sign for Speaker Johnson...”
Putting aside the outrageous claim about his religion, the only sources for this supposed “women’s revolt” are “two House Republican women, who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity” and complained that they felt overlooked for opportunities and “that their priorities don’t always get taken as seriously under Johnson’s leadership…” There are 33 GOP women in the House; two does not a mutiny make.
But the idea that Mike Johnson is a chauvinist because of his biblical worldview is as offensive as it is absurd. His chief of staff is a woman, for crying out loud. “I think it’s a scurrilous claim,” he told reporters outside his office. “I think there’s no foundation in it whatsoever. … [There’s] a lot of people trying to stir division and dissension here, and we’re just not playing along with that.” He paused, “Look, I love everybody I work with. I try to empower every woman in the conference. I’ve been out actively, aggressively recruiting more Republican women, strong conservatives running for Congress. We’re funding them. … [There’s] no gender division here at all in our conference,” he insisted. “It’s a meritocracy. And we’ve got great women doing great things. I’m their biggest champion, and that’s what the record shows. So I can’t respond to things that people supposedly have said off the record. But I think if you talk to individual women here, they’ll talk to all of them. They’ll tell you a very different perspective.”
And they have. Women like Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), who Johnson appointed to his leadership team, said it was ridiculous that her caucus was making these allegations. “As the House’s highest-ranking woman, the speaker has treated me with nothing less than respect. He values my opinion, not as a woman, but as a trusted colleague,” she told NBC News in a statement. “Driving an unnecessary divide over gender is a Democrat tactic, and Republicans would be foolish to give in to this left-wing framing.”
Others like Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) lined up to support the leader, insisting the attacks were “unprofessional” and shouldn’t be tolerated. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), a living testament to Johnson’s support for women as the only female chair in the House, called any sex-based resentment against the speaker “brainless” and “ignorant.” If these women feel passed over, many argue, that’s a problem with the institution, not Johnson. “The majority of chairmanships and leadership positions are elected by the entire conference,” not the speaker, NBC News concedes.
Even those who’ve been the most vocal in their criticism of Johnson have a seat at his table. Later this week, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) plan to sit down with the speaker and hash through some concerns. That hardly sounds like someone who won’t give women “the time of day.” The reality is, Johnson has gone out of his way to include women in the public-facing posture of the House who wouldn’t pass most conservatives’ ideological purity test on things like taxpayer-funded abortion or IVF or contraception.
Maybe the members like Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who claim the speaker isn’t moving fast enough, need to stop undercutting him to the press long enough for him to act. The same women who complain that Mike isn’t getting things done on their issues are the ones publicly sabotaging him and creating unnecessary distractions. How is undermining his leadership and questioning his integrity in the press helping the GOP get any bills across the finish line? It isn’t.
But tagging this fake controversy to Johnson’s faith, a classic dog whistle for the far-Left, is an insult to every Christian man in America. It also shows how profoundly illiterate the media is when it comes to faith. “One of the great misunderstandings in our cultural moment is the assumption that historic Christian teaching on men and women is somehow anti-woman,” Dr. David Closson told The Washington Stand. “In reality, a biblical worldview affirms the full dignity, value, and agency of women precisely because it affirms that both men and women are created in the image of God (Genesis 1). Far from diminishing women, biblical Christianity insists that women possess equal worth before God and deserve honor and protection.”
“When Scripture speaks about manhood,” Closson continued, “including the responsibility of men to exercise leadership, courage, and sacrificial service, it is never framed as a license for domination or exclusion. Instead, biblical masculinity is consistently tied to the good of others, especially the good of women and children. In Ephesians 5, for instance, husbands are commanded to love their wives ‘as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.’ This call to self-sacrifice is the opposite of misogyny. It is a charge to use authority and influence for the sake of protecting, empowering, and serving.”
This theological framework, he wanted people to know, is exactly why we should reject the caricature of Speaker Johnson as anti-woman. “What he has demonstrated in his leadership is that moral seriousness about issues like protecting children and defending life is not hostility toward women but advocacy on their behalf. In an age when many political and cultural pressures actively undermine women’s safety, privacy, and opportunities, standing firm on these issues is a profoundly pro-woman posture.”
Of course, the irony, Closson pointed out, is that the people who are most loudly accusing evangelicals of being “anti-woman” are “often the same voices supporting policies that erase biological womanhood or endanger women’s spaces and protections. By contrast, the biblical worldview insists that womanhood is real, meaningful, and worthy of honor. That conviction leads many evangelicals to defend policies that secure the flourishing of women, not diminish it. So the narrative that Speaker Johnson’s evangelical faith makes him anti-woman is exactly backward.”
He’s right. One look at Johnson’s policy priorities over the arc of his career shows just how passionately he cares about the other sex. Is there anything more pro-woman than protecting millions of unborn girls or saving their mothers from the dangerous complications of abortion? While the other party can’t even define what a woman is, this speaker has gone to great lengths to stop men from invading girls’ spaces, stealing their sports and titles, and stopping the mutilation of confused girls.
What’s more, anyone who’s spent time listening to Johnson or working with him knows that he’s a kind, approachable, inclusive leader who just wants his members to succeed. At the end of the day, the real frustration isn’t that Mike is anti-woman. It’s that he won’t abandon his principles — either to ignore regular order, which he’s committed to follow no matter how good the legislation may be, or to embrace ideas that are antithetical to conservative values, like taxpayer-funded IVF.
If a group of bitter shrews want to turn their claws on Johnson instead of using that energy to accomplish something meaningful for America, fine. It’s a terrible reelection strategy, but the speaker won’t lose sleep over it. “You don’t take it personally,” Johnson shrugged recently on the “Katie Miller Podcast” when he was asked about the relentless criticism. “You don’t carry grudges, and you have to be a very forgiving person.” Looking over at his wife Kelly, he said, “There [are] a lot of passages of Scripture that we repeat back and forth to one another all the time to remind ourselves of this.” He paused, smiled, and added, “But you know, the Bible says that you’re supposed to bless those who persecute you.”
Under this speaker, that means one thing: this House GOP is more blessed than most.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared here.
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