President-elect Trump's influence over the razor-thin House Republican majority will be put to another big test Friday when House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) seeks re-election as House speaker.
Despite President Trump's endorsement of Johnson on Monday — “He's going to do the right thing, and we're going to keep winning,” Trump said of Johnson — on the opening day of the new Congress. The chairman remains in a precarious position ahead of the vote.
Several House Republicans continue to withhold support for the Louisiana Republican despite the president-elect's seal of approval.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has vowed to vote for a candidate other than Johnson, citing anger over Johnson's handling of government funding, aid to Ukraine and other issues. and massy Notification by posting on social platform X He said Monday that President Trump's support hasn't changed his mind.
“While I respect and support President Trump, I believe his support for Mike Johnson will do just as well as his support for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. “We've seen it send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and massively drain budgets,” Massey said.
Assuming all members attend and vote for a candidate, Johnson can only allow one person to defect from the Republican party in the Jan. 3 House of Commons election. All 215 incoming Democratic members of the House are expected to vote for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and 219 Republicans are also expected to attend.
Several other Republicans, while not explicitly opposed to Johnson, stopped short of saying they would vote for him in light of Trump's statements.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said on Fox News Monday that he would “continue to speak with Mr. Johnson because there are some issues that I think need to be resolved, especially addressing the budget issue.” said. Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-Indiana) Posted in X She said she understands why President Trump supports Johnson, but “we need to get assurances that @SpeakerJohnson won't sell us into the swamp.”
“What leadership should look like in the 119th Congress,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said after the House passed the controversial stopgap funding bill. has not yet been decided,'' but the issue of Congress remains undecided. According to a spokesperson, he will continue to chair the committee even after President Trump's endorsement.
Mr Johnson has been calling and reaching out to people who have expressed skepticism about his presidency in a bid to shore up support, according to people familiar with his work.
President Trump's spokesperson explained why the president announced his support for Johnson on Monday, and the Republican resistance that House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) had spoken of. He did not respond to requests for comment on whether he planned to contact the factions personally. Trump urged him to do so during a Sunday Fox Business appearance.
Mr. Johnson's turbulent end-of-year short-term fundraising plan fueled skepticism about his leadership, not only from members but also from Mr. Trump himself.
Two sources close to Trump say the president-elect is dissatisfied with the recent developments in the government funding battle, which ended without raising the debt ceiling as requested by Trump, and is unwilling to support Johnson in the first place. This led to a debate as to whether or not this was the case.
But it also showed the limits of President Trump's influence over Congressional Republicans.
President Trump made a last-minute push for Republicans to raise the debt ceiling as part of the bill, but many House Republicans oppose raising the debt ceiling without also implementing spending cuts. 38 House Republicans voted against A stop-gap version that includes raising the debt ceiling.
But the overwhelming desire of Republicans to immediately take up President Trump's legislative agenda could be a powerful force in keeping Johnson in charge of the gavel.
The same sources who said Trump was dissatisfied with Johnson noted that there was no clear choice to replace the current speaker, and that the messy fight for the gavel meant that Johnson's victory would be certified on Jan. 6. They argued that it could delay the move and undermine President Trump's legislative agenda. In the early weeks of his presidency.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who was President Trump's first nominee for attorney general, withdrew from consideration following allegations of misconduct, but President Trump's support for Johnson “is at the level of the 'art of consent.' “Practical,” he posted to X.
“We wouldn't have been able to force McCarthy to concede two years ago if Trump's certification was at stake. We can now,” Gates posted.
Trump's support is expected to draw other prominent conservatives to Johnson's side. Elon Musk, who has proven to be an influential figure on Capitol Hill in recent weeks, posted on X on Monday that he has “full support” for Johnson.
Matthew Boyle, Washington bureau chief for the right-wing Breitbart News Network, who has advocated for Johnson's replacement in recent weeks, compared Trump's support for Johnson to a Cabinet nomination.
“Mr. It's a decision. He's a president. He won in the face of adversity.” Posted in X. “So people on the right should do everything they can to help Trump. I disagree with Johnson on many fronts, but the president has spoken.”
Still, Mr. Trump's previous support in the turbulent speaker race hasn't necessarily been decisive, nor has he been able to sway lawmakers who aren't closely aligned with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump had publicly supported former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) even before Republicans won the House majority in the 2022 midterm elections, but Mr. McCarthy has the necessary votes among Republicans. It was difficult to secure the Even after Trump reiterated his support for McCarthy after three failed votes, it took 12 more votes for the California Republican to secure the gavel.
After McCarthy's ouster, the president-elect entered the race for Republican House speaker in October 2023, with mixed results. He initially supported his ally, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), but Jordan was unable to garner enough support from moderate lawmakers who opposed his candidacy. Trump ultimately endorsed Johnson, as Republicans supported him to replace McCarthy.
