Close to Johnson, hire misfits in government, standing firm (8)
I believe the answer is:
inhering
'standing firm' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with fundamental existence as well as being present participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'close to johnson hire misfits in government' is the wordplay.
'close to' suggests the final letters (the 'close' to the word).
'misfits' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen this in other clues).
'government' becomes 'g'.
The last letter of 'johnson' is 'n'.
'n'+'hire'='nhire'
'nhire' is an anagram of 'inher'.
'inher'+'in'+'g'='INHERING'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for inhering that I've seen is " Sticking".)