President-elect Donald Trump on Monday endorsed Mike Johnson (R-La.) to continue as House speaker ahead of the new Congress voting on the position later this week.
“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The endorsement may have been timed to stifle any dissent in the GOP ranks over the speaker vote. Johnson has faced backlash from some in his party over his handling of a short-term government funding plan, which Trump himself blew up in a surprise move.
Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives and Johnson can’t afford to lose votes. Democrats are expected to oppose Johnson, and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has already said he won’t support Johnson for speaker.
Earlier Monday morning, Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) published a list of fiscal-related demands for a speaker to earn her vote. She appeared on “Fox & Friends” to explain why she wasn’t committing to supporting Johnson as speaker.
“We have Titanic on the crash course with the iceberg,” she said. “And our country fiscally is going to have a disaster. This is the fault of Congress. This is constitutional duty, if he’s not willing to do it, then he’s not willing to be a speaker.”
Johnson became speaker in October 2023 following weeks of chaos and dysfunction among Republicans after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) triggered a no-confidence motion in former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Gaetz at the time gloated about MAGA’s ascendance in the party.
The Countdown To Trump Is On
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
On Sunday, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) warned his party against descending back into that type of infighting.
“Mike Johnson inherited a disaster when [former Rep.] Matt Gaetz and several of my colleagues teamed up with 208 Democrats to remove Kevin McCarthy, which will go down as the single stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in politics,” Lawler told ABC News.
“With that said, removing Mike Johnson would equally be as stupid,” he said. “The fact is that these folks are playing with fire, and if they think they’re somehow going to get a more conservative speaker, they’re kidding themselves.”