Mike Johnson on Friday managed to avoid a long battle for the chairmanship. His headache has only just begun.
Mr. Johnson ultimately secured enough votes on the first ballot to remain speaker, but after further lobbying from Mr. Johnson and a phone call with President-elect Donald Trump, two senators decided not to vote. In the aftermath of Mr Johnson’s victory, it became clear that Conservatives saw this as temporary. Truce.
The hardliners said they continue to have certain expectations of the leader, and suggested they were considering a forced vote to remove him if Johnson fails to meet their demands. Under the new rules package, a removal vote would require the support of nine Republicans, up from the current threshold of one Republican.
“It’s always been there. I think our founders wanted it to be there for a reason as a check,” said House member Eli Crane, who supported Kevin McCarthy’s ouster last year. Rep. (R-Ariz.) responded to Politico’s question whether a motion to resign is being considered. “I really hope it’s never used again. But let’s see.”
But Johnson’s supporters say the House speaker’s race is an early sign of things to come: Even if the process is messy and confusing, Republicans will ultimately become the party’s leader. We hope to see alignment on priorities. And Trump’s repeated support for the chairman came after the president-elect made it clear he was prepared to lobby members and keep them in order if Johnson was unable to do so. they are encouraged.
“I just hope President Trump brings them to their knees,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska).
Either way, this episode of the talk is a reality check on what the next two years have in store for Johnson. His lead will only narrow in the short term as some members leave the party to take positions in the Trump administration, and he can only afford to lose one Republican vote on partisan legislation at this point. Passing President Trump’s agenda on borders, energy, taxes, and more will likely require near, if not total, unity. Now that Republicans have complete control of Congress, relying on Democrats to pass must-pass bills, such as spending bills, risks a fierce backlash from the right.
Mr Johnson’s critics have already drawn the line. The 11 members of the Freedom Caucus, which makes up the organization’s board of directors, circulated the letter to all their colleagues just after Johnson won the chair vote. The document set out what they think Johnson should have agreed to, including lowering inflation, stopping MPs from trading in stocks, and other clauses, and what they want in future legislation.
And they specifically included an indirect salvo at Johnson’s leadership in their letter, saying: “Under the rules, there is always room to negotiate so-called ‘leadership’ positions.”
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), one of the letter’s signatories, disputed that it looked like a warning, saying, “That’s what it is.”
“It’s there for a reason. It’s about accountability. Mike laid out a plan and a vision, and now we have to execute on it,” Ogles said in a motion known as a motion to resign. He spoke about early references to an expulsion strategy. “Even if he doesn’t, we’ll have some members who can pull the pin on the grenade.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who had refused to publicly support Mr. Johnson until the speaker’s vote, dismissed questions about the motion to resign immediately after the speaker’s vote, but said Congress could not pursue certain policies. Alluded to the “consequences” if there was no such thing. Priority.
“Let’s make no mistake about it. In fact, there are red lines that we have to cross. We can’t afford another repeat of the stupid things that happened before Christmas.” Roy said.
This warning is a flashback to the McCarthy era. The former speaker managed to win the speaker’s gavel after 15 votes, but just 10 months later, eight Republicans joined Democrats in disciplining him. Many opponents said the cause was his handling of government funds, but some allies of Californians, including former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), Personally, I think he was just sharpening his axe.
Mr. Johnson is widely known as a conservative even before he picked up the gavel, and has better ties to the right than Mr. McCarthy. And after an unsuccessful effort to purge him last May, he spent the second half of the year strengthening ties with hard-liners. He focused the session largely on Republican messaging legislation, traveling around the country to help lawmakers get re-elected and putting some of his critics on key committees, including the Intelligence Committee.
“We don’t want to set off alarm bells. This is not the situation after Speaker McCarthy was removed from office. We don’t want to go through that again, so this situation has created a line of communication. ” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.).
Jennifer Scholtes and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
