As House Speaker Mike Johnson seeks to remain in office, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) is “undecided” on whether to vote, while Republican Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is “undecided” whether to vote. targeted. For Johnson.
President-elect Donald Trump endorsed Johnson for office this week, but Roy said during an appearance on Fox Business that he did not believe Johnson would receive the votes needed to win in Friday's vote.
In a post on X, Van Orden claimed that Trump “received a mandate from the American people in November” and that Roy “did not.”
“This is an America First Agenda, not a Chip Roy First Agenda. It's 'Make America Great Again,' not 'Make Chip Roy Great.' “President Trump is fighting for America, and Chip is fighting to keep his brand marketable,” Van Orden argued.
“Some people seem to have to understand that in order to be a leader, you must first learn how to follow.I want to work with Chip, but Chip has a team of We need you to understand that he can be a part of it, but he can't be the captain. The captain will be back in the White House soon and his lieutenant is @SpeakerJohnson,” Van Orden declared in the post.
Fox News Digital reached out to Roy's spokesperson for comment from the congressman.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) declared he would not vote for Johnson to remain chairman.
Mr Roy said he was “undecided” about Mr Johnson, but said he was looking for a change.
“@RepThomasMassie will not vote for Hakeem Jeffries. What kind of Republicans voted with Democrats (more Democrats than Republicans every time) to spend about $3 trillion and give $61 billion to Ukraine with no border security? Contrasting,” Roy said in the post. X.
“The reason I'm still on the fence about the Congressman's vote (rather than adamantly disagreeing) is because it's not all @SpeakerJohnson's fault, and my hope is that he will be given a reprieve and @realDonaldTrump It's about giving us the space to deliver on the strong agenda we were elected to deliver.” But something has to change,” he said.
Mr. Johnson's path to victory is shaky and could derail him if another Republican joins Mr. Massey in firmly opposing Mr. Johnson's efforts to retain the speakership.
“The winning candidate must secure a full majority of all members who name and vote for the candidate,” Chad Pergram, Fox News' senior congressional correspondent, explained.
Pergram described a possible scenario in which just two Republicans could prevent Johnson from reaching the threshold needed for victory. “So let's say you have 434 members and everyone votes for someone by name. The magic number is 218. If Johnson gets the votes of all 219 Republicans, he wins. Mr. Johnson wins if he gets 218 votes. But 217? No dice,” Pergram said.
