WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson finds himself leading House Republicans with a majority in name only.

Unable to unite his unruly right flank and commanding one of the slimmest House majorities in history, Johnson is being forced to rely on Democrats for the basics of governing, including the latest bill to prevent a federal shutdown.

Approaching his first 100 days on the job, Johnson faces daunting choices ahead. He can try to corral conservatives, who are pushing rightward in endless hours of closed-door meetings, to work together as a team.

Or he can keep reaching out to Democrats for a bipartisan coalition to pass compromise legislation.

So far, rather than being the speaker of a dysfunctional GOP majority, Johnson has shown he is willing to compile a rare, large supermajority of Democrats and Republicans to get things done with Democratic President Joe Biden.

And that supermajority is exactly what some in Congress want, but others fear what is coming.

“Everyone understands the reality of where we are,” the Louisianan said at a weekly news conference.

“The House Republicans have the second-smallest majority in history,” he said. “We’re not going to get everything that we want. But we’re going to stick to our core conservative principles.”

Johnson is a “movement” conservative steeped in Christian beliefs who made his way from Louisiana working in the trenches of hard-right social policy, particularly against abortion, gay rights and other issues.

Elected in 2016, Johnson has become aligned with Donald Trump, who won the White House that year; Johnson also led a key legal challenge for Trump in 2020 trying to overturn Biden’s election.

For now, the far-right forces that ousted Johnson’s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy of California, are allowing a grace period. They are frustrated by Johnson’s reluctance to take dramatic action, such as a government shutdown, to win their priorities. But they are heartened that at least Johnson is forthcoming with them.

But the hard-line Republicans are watching and waiting — any lawmaker can file a motion for a vote to oust the speaker — especially as Johnson confronts the challenges ahead on government spending, U.S. border security and wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Johnson will confront another shutdown threat March 1, when some of the temporary funding again runs out.

More immediately, Johnson and House Republicans are warily watching Senate negotiations over an immigration and border-security package designed to reduce the record flow of migrants and expedite the deportations of some of those who have illegally entered the United States.

Biden is considering the emerging border deal as part of his broader $110 billion package on national security, which has grown urgent as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces need to replenish weaponry in their fight against Russia’s invasion.

But such a deal swapping border policy for Ukraine aid could be politically devastating for Johnson, whose Trump-aligned Republicans want an even harder line against the migrants at the U.S-Mexico border and a more isolationist approach to U.S. foreign policy that rejects Ukraine aid.

Hovering over Johnson’s speakership is Trump, the former president who elevated McCarthy to the speakership but then did not save him from removal.

The vote last week to prevent a shutdown exposed the limits of Johnson’s majority.

Republicans control the House by a few seats, 220-213. That number was set to drop over the weekend, when one of the many lawmakers who have already announced their retirements leaves early.

Biden hosted congressional leaders at the White House last week. It put the speaker in a central seat of U.S. power.

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, made a pitch to Johnson.

“The argument I made to him was, ‘You know, the border is not going to be solved,’ ” Smith recalled.

Smith told Johnson there is no “magic piece of legislation” that will end the countless numbers of migrants pouring northward.

“But we can make it better,” Smith said.

“So make it better,” Smith went on. “And I said, ‘You know, politically, you are still going to be in a position to bash Democrats on the border. That’s not going away.’ ”