Way back in 2018, long before his out-of-nowhere ascent to House speaker, Mike Johnson was just another far-right backbencher, charged by the House Republican Conference with assembling a list of the “7 Core Principles of Conservatism”: individual freedom, limited government, fiscal responsibility, the rule of law, and (also unfashionably these days) free trade. And by the standards of 2018, the framework for the spending bill that Johnson tentatively struck this week with Chuck Schumer might be considered a minor win: It would hold overall spending flat relative to the last deal Schumer struck with Kevin McCarthy, claw back $10 billion from Democrats’ $80 billion infusion into the I.R.S., and rescind $6.1 billion in Covid-related spending—a $1.59 trillion bill that, at the very least, would “move the process forward.”