By Henry Rodgers, Daily Caller News Foundation | December 24, 2024
Speaker Mike Johnson can hardly afford to lose any Republican votes if he wishes to become Speaker again in 2025, but his mishandling of the government funding bill last week has shaken the confidence of some in his own party.
Three House Republicans who spoke to the Daily Caller shared their frustration with Johnson, and said it will be hard for him to regain the trust of his colleagues going into the Speaker’s election. The lawmakers were granted anonymity to allow discussion on the sensitive topic.
All three indicated that his fate may rest in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump.
“Mike Johnson’s disastrous handling of the continuing resolution unquestionably left his future speakership imperiled with several members rethinking whether they can back him in January. Much will depend on if Donald Trump’s support for the Speaker remains firm,” one House Republican said.
“Trump would have to go all in to save him and even then it’s a massive lift…,” another House Republican said.
Johnson found himself in trouble after proposing an over-1,500 page continuing resolution that would have kept the government running through March 14. The proposal was quickly opposed by a number of House Republicans, as well as Trump ally Elon Musk, for being unwieldy and containing a number of unnecessary provisions.
Another House Republican said there is nothing that can be done to regain their trust and compared Johnson to President Joe Biden.
“There’s nothing Mike Johnson can do between now and the Speaker’s race to regain the trust of Republicans in Congress. He’s as lame of a duck as Joe Biden,” they said.
Sources close to Trump reportedly said Johnson is in trouble. “In the past couple weeks, we’ve questioned whether [Johnson has] been an honest broker,” one Trump confidant apparently told Politico.
Thus far, Trump hasn’t weighed in on Johnson’s fate publicly. The pair have met a number of times at Mar-a-Lago in the past year, and Johnson could pay Trump another visit before the Speaker election to solidify his support.
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie was the first House Republican to say he would oppose Johnson’s bid for Speaker, saying Wednesday: “I’ll vote for somebody else.” When asked who he would vote for instead he said: “I’ve got a few in mind. I’m not going to say yet.”
“There’s a cognitive disconnect among my colleagues who hated Speaker Johnson’s CR, but still plan to vote for Speaker Johnson in 2 weeks. That 1557 page bill was a product of the swamp that uniparty Johnson was happy to facilitate. He couldn’t understand why we didn’t lap it up,” Massie tweeted last week.
No other House Republicans have said they plan to challenge Johnson for the Speakership. Notably, Republicans’ razor-thin House majority in the next Congress would give even a small anti-Johnson group significant leverage over who becomes the next Speaker.
All eyes will be on Trump and his support before the election for Speaker.
Henry Rodgers is Chief National Correspondent at the Daily Caller News Foundation
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