The Freedom Caucus chair now wants the speaker's help. Yes, you read that right.

The House Freedom Caucus has long hammered Republican speakers, and some of its members even helped oust one. That includes the group’s leader — who's now imploring the new Republican speaker for help saving his seat.

It gets more awkward from there. Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) is asking Speaker Mike Johnson for assistance. But as allies to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy vividly remember, the ex-GOP leader spent $2 million to help Good win in 2020, only to watch the conservative rebel help toss McCarthy overboard three years later.

The embattled Good now wants Johnson's endorsement and a pledge not to help his primary opponent, who’s trying to turn support for former President Donald Trump into a wedge issue with the base. Good's challenger is a major threat to the second-term Freedom Caucus chief’s future in Congress — and as center-right colleagues gang up on him, help from Johnson and his allies could be a major boon.

“I would think that he would endorse all the incumbents — I want everybody to endorse me, including the speaker,” Good told POLITICO when asked if he had raised the topic of an endorsement with Johnson, making clear that he wouldn’t delve further into “that private conversation."

His requests of Johnson set up a potentially unprecedented dynamic between the Freedom Caucus leader and the speaker. An indebted Good could strengthen Johnson's hand ahead of a future referendum on his leadership, and on thorny policy fights coming up this month over government surveillance and Ukraine aid. It could also complicate the Freedom Caucus’ attempts to exert leverage in future battles.

One Republican with direct knowledge of the conversation said that Good asked Johnson to stop the Congressional Leadership Fund, the GOP leadership-aligned super PAC, from spending in his race. A different Republican involved with Congressional Leadership Fund operations, also granted anonymity to speak candidly, said the super PAC had no plans to get involved even before Good’s private appeal; its chief focus this cycle is winning and keeping battleground seats.

Johnson indicated in an interview with POLITICO last month that he would fight to reelect all of his incumbents — arguing that his job is to help “protect the entire flock.”

But Johnson is not planning to endorse Good, according to a third Republican with direct knowledge, who pointed to endorsements Good has issued against incumbent colleagues despite Johnson's repeated warnings against intra-party infighting. That includes Good’s backing of Derrick Evans, who participated in the Capitol riot and is mounting a primary challenge to Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.).

Good, who has neglected to pay the expected membership dues to the House GOP campaign arm, previously told POLITICO that he hasn't asked the National Republican Congressional Committee to spend on him in return. But he didn’t rule out the idea of accepting money from the leadership-aligned super PAC, despite raising past concerns over the PAC spending against his preferred candidates in certain races.

“Everybody wants all the resources they can acquire in the race, and I wouldn't be any different than most candidates,” he said in late February. A Good campaign spokesperson also said in a statement that they “fully anticipate” the support of Johnson in the primary.

House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), a Freedom Caucus critic and McCarthy ally, is backing Good’s GOP challenger, Virginia state senator John McGuire. Yet Rogers said he wouldn't fault Johnson if he helped Good, citing the tough political environment the speaker faces.

Rogers did fault Good for asking.

"Mike has got to jump through all kinds of hoops to survive this circus that he's dealing with," Rogers said in a recent interview, while adding of the Freedom Caucus chief: "It is completely hypocritical, asking for the establishment leadership to come to his rescue."

Notably, Good has declined to say whether he'd back the speaker if the House is forced to vote on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) proposal to eject him.

Good recently hosted an event in his Virginia district with conservative colleagues who support his bid, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). On the other side of the intra-GOP battle, Rogers joined more than a half-dozen fellow Republicans in lining up behind McGuire ahead of the June primary.

Those members' anger with Good stems in large part from his role in the McCarthy ouster. Good has also done little to make friends outside the Freedom Caucus, often mocking his GOP colleagues as weak Republicans in addition to bottling up various bills.

There's another well-known supporter in McGuire's camp, in a twist of the House GOP conference's complex alliances: Greene, who has verbally sparred with Good for weeks. The Freedom Caucus chair argues she is “on a McCarthy revenge tour.” Greene blasts Good as disloyal and hypocritical, claiming he’d support her push to oust Johnson if he didn’t disdain her so much.

"His district is furious over Mike Johnson and what Mike Johnson has done,” Greene said. “And here's Bob Good going and begging for Mike Johnson's endorsement. Like, he's clearly a pure idiot.”

Good's "also in a bit of a quandary," Greene added. She argued that Good wanted McCarthy out after he broke the unofficial House GOP rule that calls for "a majority of the majority" to get behind any major legislation. Now that Johnson did the same thing on a spending bill last month, she said, Good "can't disagree with my motion" to fire the speaker "if that's how he truly feels."

"He truly hates me with a passion," she said. "So he's got an inner battle going on.”

Good is the second straight Freedom Caucus chair to face political peril. His predecessor, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), got his phone seized by the FBI during the 2022 midterms as the bureau investigated Trump's push to overturn the 2020 election. Perry later veered to the center to fight off a Democratic challenger, initially voting for a same-sex marriage bill — a stance he reversed after the race was over.

Perry also worked to smooth McCarthy’s rocky path to the speakership last year as a subset of Freedom Caucus members, including Good, stood in the way.

But Good might be in an even tougher spot than Perry. Some current Freedom Caucus members are not pleased that he managed to become chair with a serious primary challenger looming, according to two people familiar with the internal frustrations who were granted anonymity to speak candidly. And multiple members are concerned about Good's relationship with Trump after he initially backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the presidential primary.

Good remains popular among many in the Freedom Caucus, however — including one member removed from the group under his leadership.

“In trying to bring the group together and reach some consensus, I think he's done a good job,” ex-Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said in an interview before he retired last month. The Freedom Caucus voted to remove him from the group before his retirement, citing his lackluster attendance.

Good's primary struggle comes as broader concerns play out about the group's ability to successfully exert pressure on legislation. Behind closed doors, some members are worried that a few colleagues in the group have overplayed their collective hand and diminished Freedom Caucus power as a whole by threatening to tank procedural votes and supporting McCarthy's ejection.

Taking down procedural votes later became a tool for other Republicans, including centrist New Yorkers, to vent their frustration with party leaders — but the Freedom Caucus did it first. House Republicans now widely blame the group for GOP leaders' reliance on suspending the rules, which lets them rely on Democratic votes to pass high-priority bills that are unpopular with conservatives.

But no Freedom Caucus member will publicly question whether the group is losing power within the House GOP.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the bloc who initially opposed McCarthy, challenged the very idea.

“The only people that are losing power [are] the American people right now. Because when you do things by suspension, you're not getting the full-throated debate,” he said.