Speaker triggers fear of massive backfire with plan to save midterms for GOP: analysis

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson could be preparing a last-minute pitch to salvage 2026 for the Republican Party, a political analyst has claimed.

It could be a move that makes the GOP nervous, as CNN analysts Lauren Fox and Sarah Ferris argued an economic bill could be a chance for Johnson to revitalize interest in the Trump agenda. But it could massively backfire for Johnson, who gave instructions to GOP lawmakers to pitch in with new ideas.

"Johnson has instructed chairmen to come up with a menu of ideas they’d like to see in another GOP economic bill," Fox and Ferris wrote. "But whether the bill is focused on health care, tax policy or further deficit reduction is still not clear.

"And it will be difficult for Johnson to start cobbling together a new bill when he is still constantly quelling internal fights about GOP priorities on the floor and begging members to show up for votes with no room to spare in their narrow margin.

"Last week alone, GOP leaders lost a floor vote they didn’t even realize was in trouble and were forced to pull several other measures from their agenda."

Fox and Ferris compared the upcoming economic bill to that of the GOP's Obamacare repeal effort in Trump's first term. They wrote, "Johnson’s agenda 2.0 plan is a long-shot effort that comes with no shortage of potential downsides for him and for the party."

"Trying and failing — like Republicans did with their Obamacare repeal effort in 2017 ahead of Trump’s last midterm — could highlight GOP ineptitude just months before the election. And conservatives are already telegraphing they want to see significant cuts to a federal budget that moderates are struggling to defend on the campaign trail."

It does not appear to align with centrist Republican party views, though, and Johnson will have a tough battle on his hands if the likes of Nebraska's Don Bacon and New Jersey's Jeff Van Drew are to be believed. Both told CNN they would be more interested in "bipartisan wins" than anything else.

Bacon said, "I just think it creates a very polarized environment. I think it’s bad to lean on it.” Drew agreed, adding the GOP needs to "really regroup" in the time before the midterms, and that he hopes the party "don't do something stupid."