Speaker Mike Johnson Says House GOP Had Great Year But Hard Work Remains

It has been a whirlwind of a year for the GOP-controlled House. From fighting over the government shutdown, to confirming appointees and instituting President Trump's agenda, it has been nothing short of chaotic, to say the least. Overall, it was a year of positive steps for the House, though. In fact, in a recent opinion article with the Wall Street Journal, Speaker Mike Johnson says the House Republicans had a great year, which is as expected.

Of course, on the flip side, Democrats say it has been awful and have been throwing tantrums for the last ten months. But how has the House really done? There has been plenty of good. They passed the One Big, Beautiful Bill, which provided tax cuts to millions of Americans and small businesses. They also repealed multiple harmful policies from the Biden Administration, while codifying numerous Trump orders.

But Republican strategist Aaron Evans says there is plenty of hard work and tough conversations to be had in 2026.

"We still have fighting inside the party, and everyone is not really in lockstep...going into 2026, we really need to make sure we are cementing in the gains President Trump has made on the executive level," he says.

Albeit it is hard for the House to back President Trump's plans when radical liberal federal judges block everything along the way with injunctions. But they have done their part, mostly, in getting the Trump agenda off the ground.

That does not mean the job is finished though. Plenty of executive orders still need to be codified and backed by the law. Beyond that, there is also that little old topic of government spending. The current stopgap bill expires in February, and another shutdown is looming.

So, while there have been good steps, there are bigger fish to fry.

"We are still facing a massive fiscal cliff...even with DOGE cuts and everything else, the debt meter is still insane and growing," says Evans. "If we want to salvage the long-term future of the country, Republicans need to be leading on major economic change...we need to pass a balanced budget amendment."

That will surely be a major focus at the start of the year. Especially as the midterms begin approaching in November. The economy and spending are two of the biggest things Americans care about heading into these elections, especially since the border has been essentially closed down.

President Trump has laid the foundation though for the House, pun intended. His orders are all there and just need the backing of Congress. So, it is up to the House to build the house, so to speak.

"Now the orders need to be reinforced with law and policy...so they cannot just change at the whim of whoever the next President might be," Evans says.

Evans adds though we are in for a strong fiscal year in 2026.

It is a broken system Trump is trying to fix, and it is taking time. But for the ship to reach its destination of freedom again, the House still needs to strap on their boots and get to work.