Halfway through the 119th Congress, it’s time to take a look at Republican leadership’s report card.

With razor-thin majorities in both Houses, Republicans have succeeded in extending President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and defunding public broadcasting and foreign aid.

But there are storm clouds on the horizon. Democrats are looking to take back the lower chamber in the 2026 midterms, while Republicans are engaged in a health care policy push, the fate of which is very uncertain.

With the new year upon us, it’s worth looking back at the moments when Republicans have triumphed and struggled in getting results out their unwieldy coalition.

The first item on the agenda for Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., was getting reelected as the chamber’s top-ranking member in January.

Just as the gavel was difficult to come by when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted in 2023, it was difficult to maintain.

In the first round of votes, Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Keith Self of Texas, and Ralph Norman of South Carolina all cast their votes against Johnson, while Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, defiantly abstained from voting.

Eventually, after communication with the White House and with Johnson, enough holdouts agreed to elect him, but with the understanding that he would commit to fiscal conservatism.

After Johnson was reelected, fiscal hawks made clear they expected an aggressively conservative approach from Johnson throughout the Congress. 

“I think we had some reservations that are sincere, based on the speaker’s past 15 months as the speaker,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., told The Daily Signal in a phone interview at the time. “But we have steadfast support of the president and his timely certification, and so we don’t want to imperil that. And so, it’s a balance. But we also wanted to send a signal that business as usual around here is not going to stand.” 

He added, “The speaker is on notice that if he’s going to continue to lead like he has over the last 15 months, it’s not going to end well,” he continued.

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” stands as the most important piece of legislation passed in the 119th Congress thus far.

The first few months of President Donald Trump’s new administration were consumed by feverish debates over a budget reconciliation bill that would extend and expand on Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, put work requirements into the Medicaid program, and reverse much of President Joe Biden’s green energy policies, and fund mass deportation efforts.

The bill started out in the House, where for months leadership faced pressure from various camps within their narrow majority. The benefit of a budget reconciliation bill is its immunity to the........

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