One year from today will be the first full day of either President Joe Biden’s second term in office or Donald Trump’s second term in office. That’s the way things look right now, at least. In any case, it will be the first full day of someone’s term in office. So much depends on the identify of that person, and it really isn’t far away.

But Politico is worried about a different question. Who will be the leader of the House Republicans in the next Congress? Will it be current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson?

It’s interesting that reporter Olivia Beavers succeeded in getting so many Republican politicians to opine on this subject. There seems to be no shortage of members who are focused on the question. A prevailing view is that Johnson will remain as the leader if the Republicans maintain control of the House, but he will be replaced if the GOP goes into the minority. There are some who think he could survive a loss of the majority and some who think he won’t even make as leader until Election Day.

Then there’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia who says, “I don’t think he’s safe right now. The only reason he’s speaker is because our conference is so desperate.” She is apparently considering a motion to vacate the chair, the same procedure Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida used to initiate the downfall of Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Even before McCarthy won the gavel last January, I argued that the Republicans did not have a functional governing majority in the House. In order to pay our debts on time and keep the government open and operational, a bipartisan coalition consisting of mostly Democrats is required. It’s a concept that hard right Republicans are simply too dense to understand.

McCarthy was bounced for using Democrats to pass spending and debt bills. His replacement Johnson, is using Democrats to pass spending and debt bills. It’s not a choice. It’s his only option if he wants to avoid a credit default and a government shutdown. Will he be kneecapped for it?

I suspect that he will stay right where he is so long as Trump is in his corner, but that brings up the issue of military aid to Ukraine. As Putin’s puppet, Trump wants Ukraine subjugated and brought under the Kremlin’s control. Johnson appears to be on board, refusing to consider a bipartisan bill negotiated in the Senate that would address illegal border crossings as well as aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Paul Kane at the Washington Post explains how Russian stooges are using opposition to the bipartisan Senate immigration bill as cover for doing Putin’s bidding:

It’s an open secret, however, that many conservatives have latched onto this issue as a way to simply avoid voting in support of the more than $60 billion that Biden has requested to shore up Ukraine’s defenses. No major immigration-and-border legislation has passed in four decades, so it’s always seemed likely to fail and, therefore, tank the Ukraine aide with it.

A coalition of outside conservative groups have gone after the emerging border deal as too soft, hoping for a bank shot that sinks the Senate deal and stifles aid to Ukraine.

Most of these anti-Ukraine Republicans are relatively new to Congress and reflexively fall in line with ex-president Donald Trump’s opposition to backing Ukraine.

Johnson instinctively belongs to this group, and placating them may be key to his survival. On the other hand, coughing up the foreign aid might lead Democrats to save him from any motion to vacate, so he has decisions to make.

And in the scenario where Trump either loses the nomination or the general election, his grip on the party will be loosened and Johnson may have more freedom of maneuver. But let’s try to imagine one year from now in a situation where Trump has lost and the Democrats control the House. In that scenario, wouldn’t it be a good time for the House Republicans to hit the reset button?

If the GOP hangs onto the House, Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) predicted no “substantive change in the leadership structure.”

“But if you lose the House, then I think all bets are off,” he added. “And there may be a desire and discussion about starting over or coming up with a different leadership team.”

Personally, I believe the Republicans, and especially the House Republicans, are perfectly suited for serving in the minority where they can make all the unreasonable demands they want without ever having to executive the job of governing the country. It’s much harder for them to pick leaders when they’re in the majority. The only Speaker they’ve chosen who had any staying power was the child molester Dennis Hastert.

Ultimately, these folks are actually happier in the minority. We should put them there.