Allies of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are pushing President-elect Trump to publicly reaffirm support for the Republican Party leader in the House of Representatives to avoid a messy, drawn-out battle that could delay the certification of his own victory.
“If we have a protracted struggle where we cannot elect a chairman, the chairman has not been elected; we are not sworn in. And if we are not sworn in, we cannot certify the election,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.
“I would hope that President Trump would step in and talk to those who might be a little hesitant and say, ‘We’ve got to get started. We don’t have time.’”
Meanwhile, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital “it would be extremely helpful” if Trump were to intervene.
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Speaker Mike Johnson’s allies are looking to President-elect Trump for help to avoid a messy, drawn-out speaker’s race (Getty Images)
“Any time would be great, but if President Trump said, ‘You know what, listen’ right after Christmas – it would actually be really cool if Mike Johnson somehow ended up at Mar-a-Lago on Christmas…where so is the president,” Fallon said. “I think it would be incredibly powerful.”
House lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., for a wall-to-wall vote to elect the Speaker on Friday, January 3. Just days later, on Monday, January 6, the House will convene to certify the results of the 2024 election.
Johnson faces a potentially painful battle to win the gavel for a full term in Congress, with several Republicans in the House of Representatives vocally critical of the Louisiana Republican and his handling of government funding.
His predecessor suffered fourteen public defeats in his quest to win the gavel, finally securing it after days of negotiations that saw the fifteenth House-wide vote held up.
When he was impeached, Johnson won after a three-week battle between Republicans, paralyzing Congress for the duration.
But some House Republicans are now warning they can afford little delay in what Trump himself said he hopes will be a very active first 100 days of his second term.
“In order for President Trump to take office and take office on January 20, we must be able to certify the 2024 election on January 6. However, without a speaker, we cannot complete this process,” Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital.
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, is among Johnson’s defenders (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Tenney warned that this could delay “the launch of his agenda.”
Congress narrowly avoided a partial government shutdown after the December 20 federal funding deadline, passing a bill to extend that deadline until March 14, while also extending several other key programs and replenishing the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund.
It angered Republican Party hardliners, who opposed the addition of unrelated policymakers to what they said would be an easier expansion of government funding.
Johnson too tried and failed to heed Trump’s demand to combine action on the debt limit — which had been suspended until January 2025 — with his government funding bill, after 38 Republicans in the House of Representatives and all but two Democrats voted against it.
Fallon told Fox News Digital that this did not necessarily mean they would defy Trump if he endorsed Johnson again before January 3.
“Some people in the 38s – that was more of a matter of principle – really want to tackle the debt,” Fallon said. “They just wanted to keep the debt ceiling in place for two years. They like to use that as a negotiating tool to say, ‘Let’s lower the debt ratio.'”
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But one of Johnson’s biggest critics, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has already told reporters he won’t vote for Johnson next year.
Two more, Andy Harris, R-Md., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, suggested this weekend they were no longer committed to supporting Johnson.
Meanwhile, there are media reports that Trump is unhappy with Johnson’s handling of government financing and that his demand for a debt limit has not been met.
Trump himself has not publicly mentioned Johnson since Friday’s vote. But top Trump allies such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have come to Johnson’s defense.
It took 15 rounds of voting before former Speaker Kevin McCarthy won the gavel (Valerie Plesch)
“He is undoubtedly the most conservative speaker of the House of Representatives that we have had in our lifetimes,” Cruz said on his podcast “The Verdict.” “If Mike Johnson is removed as Speaker of the House of Representatives, we will end up with a Speaker of the House of Representatives who is much, much more liberal than Mike Johnson.”
Others have also indicated that Trump’s influence will weigh heavily on what ultimately happens.
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A House Republican Granted anonymity to speak freely, Fox News Digital said early last week that they were considering opposing Johnson, but said Trump would be the final deciding factor.
“I think ultimately it will be decided who President Trump likes because I think that will weigh heavily on the decision-making on that because President Trump is working very well with Mike Johnson right now. They have a great relationship,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Asked if he would support Johnson if Trump did, despite his opposition to his government funding plans, Burchett said: “Possibly.”
Johnson will enter the Jan. 3 speaker ballot with just a slim Republican Party margin of three votes — and it’s virtually unlikely he’ll get Democratic support.
