With a vote looming when Congress reconvenes in January, GOP leader Mike Johnson is facing increased doubts from his fellow Republicans about his ability to serve another term as speaker of the House.
Johnson is coming off of a disastrous performance by House Republican leadership, after the party nearly triggered another government shutdown. The hard-right Freedom Caucus balked at a bipartisan bill to fund the government, and was soon joined by billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk. Musk whipped up opposition to the bill, largely based on falsehoods he amplified on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
A pared-down version of the bill backed by Musk and later Donald Trump failed, while the bill that ultimately passed stripped support for pediatric cancer research and 9/11 first responders. Johnson had to rely on votes from Democrats after many members of his own party expressed anger and opposition.
Appearing on Fox Business on Friday, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland said the funding chaos hurt Johnson’s chances of being reelected speaker.
“It was a rough two weeks, I think the president has not come out in support of Mr. Johnson since then,” Harris said. “I think the president realized that if he’s going to get his agenda through a very narrow majority in the House, he’s going to need strong leadership at the top and I think he’s evaluating whether that exists.”
Harris added that he was in Johnson’s corner before the funding bill mess, but now he is open to considering other options.
Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania expressed similar concerns during an appearance on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” on Friday.
“I’m going to keep my options open,” Perry said when asked about supporting Johnson.
In an appearance on Newsmax, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York complained that she hasn’t heard from Johnson since the funding debacle.
“I think the speaker should be reaching out to the membership, answering their concerns and questions,” she said. “I have concerns and questions, too, about what happened last week and that it can't happen again.” Malliotakis warned.
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie was less ambiguous and said he is a firm “no” on Johnson.
“I will vote for someone other than Mike Johnson,” he wrote on X. “A weak legislative branch, beholden to the swamp, will not be able to achieve the mandate voters gave Trump and Congress in November.”
Despite the party’s success in the 2024 election, which led to upcoming GOP control of the White House, House, and Senate, Republicans will be working with an extremely narrow margin in the House. The lack of confidence in Johnson, combined with Democratic unity behind House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, is an early sign of serious obstacles for the looming Trump agenda.
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