Allies of GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson of Louisiana are urging President-elect Donald Trump to publicly reaffirm support for the House Republican leader to avoid a lengthy, messy battle that could delay the certification of his victory.
“If we have some kind of protracted fight where we can’t elect a speaker — the speaker’s not elected; we’re not sworn in. And if we’re not sworn in, we can’t certify the election,” said GOP Representative Carlos Gimenez of Florida.
“I would hope that President Trump would chime in and talk to those who are maybe a little hesitant, and say, ‘We’ve got to get going. We don’t have time.’”
In the meantime, Republican Representative Pat Fallon of Texas said “it would be immensely helpful” if Trump were to chime in.
“Any time would be great, but right after Christmas if President Trump said, ‘You know, listen’ — it would even be really cool if somehow Mike Johnson ended up at Mar-a-Lago for Christmas…wherever the president is,” said Fallon. “I think it would be incredibly powerful.”
House legislators are returning to Washington, D.C., for a chamber-wide vote to elect the speaker Friday, January 3. Only days later, on Monday, January 6, the House will meet to certify the results of the 2024 election.
Johnson is facing a possibly bruising battle to win the gavel for speaker for a full Congressional term, with numerous House Republicans vocally critical of the Louisiana Republican and his handling of government funding.
His predecessor suffered 14 public defeats in his quest to win the gavel, finally securing it after days of negotiations with holdouts on the 15th House-wide vote.
When he was ousted, Johnson was elected after a three-week inter-GOP battle that left Congress paralyzed.
However, some GOP House members now warn they can afford a few delays in what Trump said he hopes will be an extremely active first 100 days of his second term.
“To ensure President Trump can take office and hit the ground running on Jan. 20, we must be able to certify the 2024 election on January 6. However, we cannot complete this process without a speaker, said GOP Representative Claudia Tenney of New York.
Tenney warned it could delay “the launch of his agenda.”
Congress barely avoided a partial government showdown
Congress avoided a partial government shutdown hours after the December 20 federal funding deadline. The bill passed narrowly, extending the deadline to March 14 while additionally extending several other key programs and replenishing the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund.
It angered Republican hardliners who opposed the addition of unrelated policy riders to what they believed would be a more straightforward extension of government funding.
Johnson also attempted and failed to heed Trump’s demand to pair action on the debt limit — suspended until January 2025 — with his government funding bill, after 38 Republicans in the House and all but two Democrats voted against it.
Fallon said it didn’t necessarily mean they would defy Trump if he backed Speaker Johnson again ahead of January 3.
“Some of the people in the 38 — that was more of a principle thing…they really want to attack the debt,” said Fallon. “They felt like just letting the debt ceiling lapse for two years…they like to use that as a negotiating tool to say, ‘Let’s reduce the debt to GDP ratio.’”
However, one of Johnson’s biggest critics, GOP Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, has already told reporters he will not vote for Johnson next year.
Two more, GOP Representative Michael Cloud of Texas and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., suggested over the weekend that they were no longer committed to backing Speaker Johnson.
In the meantime, there have been media reports that the president-elect is unhappy with how Johnson handled government funding and that his demand for the debt limit was not needed.
Trump hasn’t mentioned Johnson publicly since the vote on Friday. However, top Trump allies, like Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, have defended Johnson.
“He’s undoubtedly the most conservative Speaker of the House we’ve had in our lifetime,” said Cruz in his podcast “The Verdict.” “If Mike Johnson is toppled as Speaker of the House, we will end up with a speaker of the House who is. Much, much more liberal than Mike Johnson.”
Others have also signaled that Trump’s influence will heavily weigh on what ultimately happens.
One Republican in the House, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, said last week that they considered opposing Speaker Johnson but said Trump would be the final deciding factor.
“I think, ultimately, it’s going to be decided who President Trump likes because I believe that will weigh in heavily on the decision-making of that because, currently, President Trump works very well with Mike Johnson. They have a great relationship,” said GOP Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee to CNN’s “State of the Union.”
When asked if he would support Johnson if Trump did, despite opposing his plans for government funding, Burchett said, “Possibly.”
Speaker Johnson will head into the January 3 speaker vote with only a slim GOP margin of three votes — and is virtually unlikely to get Democratic support.
