Politics update

Axios - Speaker Mike Johnson is getting a daily dose of the modern hell of running House Republicans. His own leadership team — plus eight chairs — voted against his plan to keep the government funded and running. Oh, that was the easy part of his battle for a bigger deal to fund the border, Ukraine and the government for a much longer period. Johnson, a newbie to leadership, is getting pummeled by the same forces — and often the same lawmakers — who toppled Kevin McCarthy before him.

For a long time, "compromise was the name of the game" in politics, NPR's Eric McDaniel tells Up First. But McDaniel says that over the last 15 years or so, there's been a growing number of Republicans who would rather shut down the government than compromise on policies they feel are insufficiently conservative. With a wafer-thin Republican majority, this anti-compromise faction holds a lot of influence. As Congress works towards separate deals for immigration and Ukraine aid, McDaniel says it's fair to "anticipate a stunningly unproductive year in terms of legislation." 

 The House on Thursday overwhelmingly cleared a stopgap bill to extend government spending authority into March, which will avert a partial shutdown of federal agencies after Friday once President Joe Biden signs it. Read more...