Is There a Revolt Against Speaker Mike Johnson Inside His Own Office?

According to The Guardian, there was a chaotic “sudden exodus” from U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office, of critical staff members and policy advisors in less than one week. On May 21 Johnson’s communications director Raj Shah announced his resignation. Shah was crucial to Johnson’s political survival over the recent weeks, including the challenges to his leadership by fellow Republicans around Marjorie Taylor Greene. An important figure, Shah was Deputy Press Secretary in the Trump White House and has strong connections to the Trump GOP wing, which was vital in keeping Johnson in the Speaker’s chair.
The day before, May 20, three key policy advisors all resigned: Beittan Specht, Jason Yaworske, and Preston Hill. Specht was Chief Policy Director; Yaworske was the top advisor on appropriations and the federal budget; and Hill ran the policy on Artificial Intelligence for the entire Republican caucus. In recent weeks, he had been put in charge of policy on “anti-Semitism and free speech.” These three resigned at the same time and even used the same email to make the announcement.
Last week, on May 16, Johnson’s digital czar, Anang Mittal, left the office. Since Johnson has been given the royal treatment by establishment media for jumping on the $95 billion package for more proxy wars, it raises an eyebrow as to why key staffers would depart such a high-profile and celebrated office.