Christa Case Bryant, the Monitor’s senior congressional correspondent, doesn’t bite on easy narratives – those binary ones that become red/blue fealty tests.

Days after Mike Johnson became House speaker last October, Christa joined our podcast to talk about laying out sharply different perspectives without amplifying them, instead sifting evidence of words and deeds. 

“We shouldn’t be surprised that it’s hard to get it right in the first week of the first month,” Christa said then. “We as journalists will be doing that in the weeks and months to come.” 

Speaker Johnson has been learning by layers, too. Today, Christa takes stock of how he’s doing. Ukraine wants aid. Washington needs funding. The stakes are high.