Patrick McHenry urges Speaker Johnson to ‘think much more strategically’

Rep. Patrick McHenry, who acted as interim House speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted last year, criticized the way Speaker Mike Johnson has handled his first months in the position.

He said he bungled the fight over government spending and the negotiations over border policy.

“We wish him great success,” Mr. McHenry told reporters Thursday, Politico reported. “But he needs to widen the group of advisers he has. The loudest members of our conference should not dictate the strategic course of a smart majority – especially in the most complicated bits where those loudest voices are least likely to participate in the votes necessary.”

Mr. McHenry served as speaker for three weeks last year after Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, was ousted from the position.

Mr. McHenry is leaving Congress at the end of the term.

The North Carolina Republican said Mr. Johnson’s decision to separate the government funding bills and continue with stopgap measures was “an active choice to extend the pain and create suffering.”

He said that by not coming up with an actual deal, the Department of Defense has lost four and a half billion dollars a month because of the decisions of House Republicans.

“To draw out the calendar doesn’t actually help produce political wins, and it’s not actually shown to create policy wins,” he said. “I’m here for policy wins.”

He said Mr. Johnson needs to come to terms with the fact that the party only controls “one-third of negotiations [so] we’re going to not get 100% of the wins.”

When it comes to the border, he said the Louisiana Republican needs to compromise with Democrats to get legislation passed.

“The speaker should seek wider council than the loudest people who line up for the queue and should think strategically about what is best for the majority,” he said. “You’ve got to think much more strategically than how we’ve approached it in the last three months.”

He urged Mr. Johnson to “take the moment, man. Take the policy win, bank it, and go back for more,” since it’s clear Democrats will not vote for a border wall.

He said if Republicans keep going down this path, they may lose the majority.

“If we keep extending the pain, creating more suffering, we will pay the price at the ballot box,” he said. “At this point, we’re sucking wind because we can’t get past the main object in the road.”

“We need to get the hell out of the way,” he said. “Cut the best deals we can get and then get on with the political year.”