It’s been a tumultuous few weeks on Capitol Hill, and if House Speaker Mike Johnson was hoping for a return to normalcy, that hope seems more distant than ever. On December 4, 2025, Johnson made a public plea to his fellow Republicans: air your grievances with me privately, not on social media. “They’re going to get upset about things. That’s part of the process,” Johnson told reporters, according to the Associated Press. “It doesn’t bother me. But when there is a conflict or concern, I always ask all members to come to me, don’t go to social media.”
But as the week unfolded, Johnson’s call for discretion was openly disregarded. Instead, the internal divisions of the Republican conference spilled out for all to see, marked by sharp public criticism, procedural maneuvering, and a growing sense of anxiety about the party’s ability to hold onto its fragile House majority in the 2026 midterms.
One of the most public rebukes came from within Johnson’s own leadership team. New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the chairwoman of House Republican leadership, accused Johnson of lying about his awareness of a key provision in a defense authorization bill. “Just more lies from the speaker,” Stefanik wrote on social media, as reported by POLITICO. She didn’t stop there, telling The Wall Street Journal, “He certainly wouldn’t have the votes to be speaker if there was a roll-call vote tomorrow.”
Johnson, for his part, said he had a “great talk” with Stefanik the night before. “I called her and I said, ‘Why wouldn’t you just come to me, you know?’” he recounted. “So we had some intense fellowship about that.” Whether the conversation resolved anything is anyone’s guess, but the public airing of grievances underscored the deepening cracks within the GOP.
It’s not just Stefanik. Other high-profile Republican women have also taken their frustrations public. In October, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia announced her abrupt resignation, citing what she described as an effort by “Republican men” to “marginalize the strong Republican women that actually want to do something and actually want to achieve.” Speaking to The Washington Post, Greene declared, “There’s a lot of weak Republican men and they’re more afraid of strong Republican women.”
That sense of marginalization appears to be fueling a wave of procedural rebellion. Several Republican women—Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Greene herself—supported a discharge petition to force a vote on releasing files related to Jeffrey Epstein, a move that was criticized by both GOP leadership and the White House. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida went a step further, launching a discharge petition to bar members of Congress from trading stock, with both Republicans and Democrats signing on, according to the Associated Press.
Rep. Nancy Mace signed both Luna’s petition and the Epstein files petition. She told reporters she had expressed her frustrations directly to Johnson, both in a phone call and in what she described as “a deeply personal, deeply passionate letter, that we are legislating by discharge petition.” Mace added, “We have a very slim majority, but I want President Trump’s executive orders codified. I want to see his agenda implemented. Why do we have to legislate by discharge petitions?”
The use of discharge petitions—once considered a last resort and a direct affront to party leadership—has become increasingly common. A successful petition to release the Epstein files reached the necessary 218 signatures, and another to repeal Trump’s executive order ending collective bargaining with federal labor unions also crossed the threshold, with support from seven Republicans. As GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota put it, “The discharge petition, I think, always shows a bit of frustration.”
Amid this procedural chaos, Johnson is struggling to keep the party’s razor-thin majority intact. After a nearly two-month government shutdown earlier this year, Republicans returned to a backlog of priorities and a ticking clock on their time in the majority. The anxiety is palpable. “Anxious is what happens when you get nervous. I’m not nervous. I’m pissed,” Luna wrote on social media, responding to leadership’s characterization of her mood.
Underlying all of this is a growing concern that the party is on a path toward losing the House in 2026. The recent special election in Tennessee was a wake-up call for many. Republican Matt Van Epps won a district that had gone to the GOP by nearly 21 percentage points in 2024—but this time, he won by just nine. “I do think to have that district that went by over 20 points a year ago be down to nine, it should be a wakeup call,” said Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska. He emphasized the need for “economic progress, like immediately,” and urged the White House to “get out of your bubble. The economy needs improving. Fix Ukraine and we do need a temporary health care fix.”
The party’s internal strife is compounded by a wave of retirements and resignations, particularly among prominent Republican women. Greene will leave in January 2026, Stefanik and Mace are running for governor, and Ashley Hinson of Iowa is seeking a Senate seat. In recent years, figures like Liz Cheney and Cathy McMorris Rodgers have also departed, leaving the House GOP even more male-dominated. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, of the 125 women in the House, just 31 are Republicans, compared to 94 Democrats. “When you don’t have a seat at the table, when you don’t feel that you’re fully acknowledged, when you don’t feel that you have a real voice, that’s when these resentments build,” said Debbie Walsh, the center’s director, in an interview with POLITICO.
Some Republicans have cautioned against overstating the discord. Utah Rep. Blake Moore, for example, responded to Stefanik’s public criticism by saying, “I think this is just mostly a factor of—you know, just one individual. I don’t know, because I was so blindsided by it.” But the broader picture is hard to ignore. Illinois Rep. Mary Miller offered support for Johnson, saying that while there are differences among members, “our mission is bigger than any one individual or headline.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have not missed the opportunity to highlight Republican dysfunction. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries quipped, “It’s not that Congress can’t legislate, it’s House Republicans that can’t legislate. It’s the gang that can’t legislate straight. They continue to take the ‘my way or the highway’ approach.”
Adding to the GOP’s woes is the fallout from redistricting battles, particularly in California, where a new map approved by voters in November 2025 favors Democrats. “That’s living in a fantasy world if you think that this redistricting war is what’s going to save the majority,” said Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who is now at risk of losing his seat. “I think what would make a lot bigger impact is if the House played a proactive role in actually putting forward legislation that matters.”
As the House barrels toward another contentious election cycle, Johnson’s efforts to keep the peace seem increasingly Sisyphean. Whether the GOP can mend its internal rifts and present a united front—or if these fractures will cost them their majority—remains to be seen. For now, the only certainty is that the drama inside the House is far from over.
