Republicans may have a new speaker, but they're still headed for the same cliff

Backbencher Rep. Mike Johnson might have inexplicably landed a new role as House speaker, but that's not likely to do anything to repair the dysfunction among House Republicans. In fact, it's very likely that Johnson's elevation marks a new era in which everything will be much, much worse.

One of Johnson's "first tests," as political journalists are so fond of saying, is shepherding a must-pass food and agriculture bill through the House, despite far-right hard-liners successfully stuffing in a provision banning the mailing of the abortion drug mifepristone nationwide. Those same hard-liners vow to scuttle the whole funding bill rather than back down on their demanded ban—but Republicans in Biden-won districts are vowing that they won't vote for a provision that will likely mean the end of their political careers back home.

We'll refrain from calling anyone who voted for the extraordinarily hard-right election denier Johnson a "moderate," because that's not even close to what that word means. But Republicans in Biden-won districts are keen on self-preservation. And that leads Johnson right back to where ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was: He's got a bill that stands no chance of passing, no matter what he does.