House Speaker Mike Johnson noted that recent polling shows public faith in the federal government is low. Still, he seems to have forgotten which party controls all the levers of power in the federal government. And there are reasons for the bad poll numbers, including political polarization and doubts about government accountability. And none of that has to do with Democrats. Republicans are in charge and are incapable of negotiating across the aisle. So, the government is shut down.

"If you look at the polling, the people's faith in the federal government is at an all time low," Trump's little Johnson said. "Why?"

"Because they don't see that it's being done well," he added.

No shit, Mike. Republicans control the White House, the Senate, and the House. And they have the corrupt conservative Supreme Court.

And Johnson refuses to swear in Arizona Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won the special election two weeks ago. Johnson hasn't even spoken to Grijalva about when she'll be sworn in. Holding the majority but achieving nothing reflects poorly on his self-perceived image as a serious politician.

Johnson will be surprised to learn that the most prominent leader of the federal government is President Donald J. Trump, who heads the executive branch.