WASHINGTON—House Speaker Mike Johnson has begun packing his congressional office, aides confirmed Thursday, describing the effort as a proactive measure to “expedite the inevitable transition” following the midterm elections.
The speaker’s staff spent the morning disassembling bookshelves and wrapping ceremonial gavels in bubble wrap. A framed copy of a speech he had planned to give about constitutional conservatism was returned to storage.
“The Speaker believes in efficient governance,” said communications director Garrett O’Boyle. “That includes not waiting until the last minute to vacate the premises. We are simply front-loading the logistical work.”
The preparations come as polling shows Democrats with an 11-point lead in the generic ballot, according to an Emerson College survey. A Fox News poll showed a 7-point Democratic advantage, the largest margin for either party in that survey since 1996.
Johnson has also begun scheduling his final press availabilities around the availability of moving vans. Aides say he is considering which items to take to the storage facility and which to leave for the next speaker, whom he presumes will be a Democrat.
Sleepy Don has not been helpful. The former president spent the week promoting data centers that only 27 percent of Americans want in their communities and delivering a speech in which he described the word “affordability” as made up.
Tariffs, which the administration continues to champion, have been identified by economists as the chief driver of renewed inflation. Johnson had previously told colleagues that the former president’s economic message was a political winner. He has since revised that assessment.
“The Speaker acknowledges that some of the White House’s recent policy emphases have not poll-tested as strongly as anticipated,” O’Boyle said.
The White House did not seem troubled by the packing. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the Speaker’s job security “a personnel matter for the Republican caucus.”
Agencies under the president’s direction have also been instructed to refer to the midterms as a “market correction.” The White House has reportedly asked House Republicans to stop referring to themselves as the majority in internal memos, instead using the phrase “transitional caretakers.”
An internal campaign memo, obtained by The Rusty Trumpet, advised all Republican incumbents to begin deleting unsavory tweets from 2019 and “familiarize themselves with the general concept of a résumé.”
The official portrait artist assigned to Johnson’s speakership was informed last Tuesday that the commission had been placed on “indefinite pause.”
