'What a mess': Mike Johnson suffers 'bad start' to 2026 as even minor House votes collapse
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is trying to kick off the new year with a series of bills focused on the economy — but he suffered a stunning defeat on Tuesday, as three out of the four bills on the schedule failed to pass.
The four bills under consideration were the Flexibility for Workers Education Act and Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act, two bills that carve out exceptions to when workers can claim overtime pay; the Tipped Employee Protection Act, which expands the definition of a tipped employee; and the SHOWER Act, which permanently codifies President Donald Trump's definition of a shower head to relax water conservation rules.
Of these three bills, just the SHOWER Act passed. And the failures didn't go unnoticed.
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