Allies of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are urging President-elect Trump to publicly reaffirm support for the House GOP leader to avoid a messy, protracted battle that could delay the certification of his own 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,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.
“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.’”
Meanwhile, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital “it would be immensely helpful” if Trump chimed in.
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Speaker Mike Johnson’s allies are looking to President-elect Trump for help to avoid a messy, protracted speakership race (Getty Images)
“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,” Fallon said. “I think it would be incredibly powerful.”
House lawmakers are returning to Washington, D.C., for a chamber-wide vote to elect the speaker on Friday, Jan. 3. Just days later, on Monday, Jan. 6, the House will meet to certify the results of the 2024 election.
Johnson is facing a potentially bruising battle to win the speaker’s gavel for a full Congressional term, with several House Republicans vocally critical of the Louisiana Republican and his handling of government funding.
His predecessor went through 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 won after a three-week inter-GOP battle that saw Congress paralyzed for its duration.
But some House Republicans are now warning that they can afford few delays in what Trump himself said he hopes will be a very 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 Jan. 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 one of Johnson’s defenders (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Tenney warned it could delay “the launch of his agenda.”
Congress narrowly avoided a partial government shutdown hours after the Dec. 20 federal funding deadline, passing a bill to extend that deadline to March 14 while also extending several other key programs and replenishing the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund.
It angered GOP hardliners who opposed the addition of unrelated policy riders to what they believed would be a more straightforward government funding extension.
Johnson also tried and failed to heed Trump’s demand to pair action on the debt limit — which was suspended until January 2025 — with his government funding bill, after 38 House Republicans and all but two Democrats voted against it.
Fallon told Fox News Digital that it did not necessarily mean they would defy Trump if he backed Johnson again ahead of Jan. 3.
“Some of the people in the 38 — that was more of a principle thing — they really want to attack the debt,” Fallon said. “They felt like just letting the debt ceiling latch for two years — they like to use that as a negotiating tool to say, ‘Let’s reduce the debt to GDP ratio.'”
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But one of Johnson’s biggest critics, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has already told reporters he is not voting for Johnson next year.
Two more, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., and Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, suggested they were no longer committed to backing Johnson over the weekend.
Meanwhile, there have been media reports that Trump is unhappy with how Johnson handled government funding and that his demand for the debt limit was not heeded.
Trump himself has not mentioned Johnson publicly since the Friday vote. But top Trump allies, like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have come to Johnson’s defense.
It took 15 rounds of voting for ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy to win the gavel (Valerie Plesch)
“He’s undoubtedly the most conservative Speaker of the House we’ve had in our lifetime,” Cruz said on 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 weigh heavily on what ultimately happens.
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One House Republican granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital early last week that they considered opposing 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,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
When asked if he would support Johnson if Trump did, despite opposing his government funding plans, Burchett said “Possibly.”
Johnson will head into the Jan. 3 speaker vote with just a slim GOP margin of three votes — and is virtually unlikely to get Democratic support.
