Mike Johnson faces brutal June as deadlines come due

House Speaker https://www.axios.com/2026/05/22/discharge-petition-mike-johnson-house-republicans" target="_blank">Mike Johnson (R-La.) is staring down a brutal stretch of deadlines and uncomfortable votes when the House returns from recess next week.

Why it matters: Johnson https://www.axios.com/2026/05/21/house-iran-war-powers-vote" target="_blank">bought himself time this spring by punting a series of politically difficult fights.

But those deadlines are now coming due, setting up a https://www.axios.com/2026/04/24/mike-johnson-republicans-fisa-farm-bill-dhs" target="_blank">brutal June for House Republicans.

• Johnson will have to navigate expiring surveillance authorities, a growing push for another reconciliation package, and several politically difficult floor votes.

Driving the news: Congress left town last week without https://www.axios.com/2026/05/21/trump-weaponization-fund-senate-ice-funding" target="_blank">approving funding for ICE and Border Patrol by President Trump's self-imposed June 1 deadline.

• House conservatives are https://www.axios.com/2026/05/11/mike-johnson-senate-republicans-lunch-escalating-tensions" target="_blank">frustrated with their GOP counterparts across the Capitol and are expected to renew demands for action when lawmakers return.
• Senators remain deadlocked over the path forward after a revolt over Trump's $1.8 billion weaponization fund.

GOP leaders scrapped a vote on a https://www.axios.com/2026/05/21/house-iran-war-powers-vote" target="_blank">war powers resolution to rein in Trump's military operations in Iran just before the House left town after concluding they didn't have the votes to defeat it.

• The war powers vote will happen next week and is expected to pass with a handful of GOP defections, which would mark Congress' first https://www.axios.com/2026/05/14/mike-johnson-jeffries-kean-wilson-house-votes" target="_self">successful rebuke of Trump's Iran war effort.
• Leaders are also bracing for another https://www.axios.com/2026/05/13/ukraine-aid-discharge-petition-mike-johnson-kiley" target="_blank">successful discharge petition vote, as a package of Russia sanctions and billions of dollars in Ukraine aid is expected to pass.

Johnson faces a thorny path on a https://www.axios.com/2026/04/30/congress-passes-fisa-extension" target="_blank">three-year extension of FISA, which is set to lapse on June 12.

• Congress has punted the issue twice.
• Conservatives want https://www.axios.com/2026/03/26/mike-johnson-fisa-reauthorize" target="_blank">warrant requirements attached to the surveillance program, while the White House and GOP leadership are pushing for a clean extension.

There are also members who want to take https://www.axios.com/2026/03/10/reconciliation-house-gop-trump-obbb" target="_blank">another crack at reconciliation to refocus on affordability before the midterms.

• Johnson has repeatedly dangled the prospect of a third reconciliation bill to cut deals with his members.
• But lawmakers are running short on in-session days before the August recess, which many members view as the practical deadline.

The intrigue: Johnson is also losing one of his closest advisers.

• Longtime chief of staff Hayden Hayes is departing the speaker's office, https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/2060364286665355723?s=20" target="_blank">Punchbowl News first reported Friday.
• Hayes was a key adviser throughout Johnson's rise to the speakership.