House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead” that he had to work with Democrats because he has the smallest margin in U.S. history in the House of Representatives.

Johnson said, “Many of my Conservative friends, some that you just pictured, there are some of the most vocal advocates for their regular process of the House, and that means that we look at things in single-subject. We look at them individually on their own merits. So I made that decision that we should break this into four parts so that you evaluate Israel and Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific funding measures and then are separate national and foreign aid responsibilities separately. So there’s four separate bills. Everyone would be able to give an up or down vote based on their own merits, and that’s what that’s what they desire.”

He added, “I’m operating with the smallest margin and us history. I have a one-vote margin. So, in order to get something into this underlying package, we have to have the votes in the floor to pass a rule. That’s how the process works here. The rule allows for the substantive bill, and we’ve put on the floor. I don’t have all my Republicans who agree on that rule. That means the only way to get a rule on the floor is that it requires a couple of Democrats. Well, they’re not for the border security. That’s not their policy. Some of these folks like open borders. That’s what, but their votes show and indicate. So we don’t have a way. I’m literally don’t have the numbers. I don’t have a way to merge it together. So we’re running separate packages.”