As the party boss with unshakable influence over the GOP grassroots – and, by extension, the congressional rank-and-file – Trump will be key in helping Johnson keep his job as speaker.

Parent Christine Hurley came to the speaker's microphone accompanied by her son. "There's a good reason Houston parents said no to your bond. We don't trust you. You don't listen to us.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson was right there too, having the time of his life. At the end of that "epic" mid-November ...