House Republicans will vote on their next speaker on Friday, but with less than a day to go it remains unclear whether Speaker Mike Johnson will get the necessary votes.
The new Congress will convene on Friday after lawmakers travel back to Washington after the holidays on Thursday.
But as of Thursday afternoon, Speaker Johnson was still trying to win over Republican lawmakers to support his leadership bid, even with the support of newly elected President Donald Trump.
With such a small Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote against him in his conference and still be re-elected chairman.
But he promised Thursday they would “get this done” and suggested it could even happen during the first round of voting.
His expressed confidence comes after Trump issued his own stark warning to Republican lawmakers considering a vote against Johnson.
Lawmakers will vote on a speaker Friday. Speaker Mike Johnson has pledged to scrap it, but it remains unclear whether he has the votes to remain in the leadership role amid GOP criticism heading into the new year
The 78-year-old president-elect said on New Year’s Eve that he believes Johnson will get enough votes from Republicans after endorsing the speaker Monday.
“I think we’re going to have a great time in Washington, and I think we’re going to have great support,” Trump claimed.
The president-elect warned that Johnson is the one who can “win now” and advocated for “people like him.”
During his remarks, Trump said there are others who he said would also be good, but pointed out that there are “30 to 40 people who don’t like them.”
But Republicans have faced chaos in recent years in choosing their leadership, as members have used their votes in an attempt to enforce promises with such a slim majority.
In January 2023, 15 votes passed before Republican lawmakers elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
He was ousted in October without an obvious replacement, and several candidates emerged before Johnson emerged from relative obscurity as someone who could garner the necessary support.
President-elect Trump warned that Speaker Mike Johnson is the only one who can win enough votes to be elected Speaker by Republicans ahead of Friday’s vote in the House of Representatives
President-elect Donald Trump with Chairman Mike Johnson at the Army-Navy football game on December 14. After weeks of silence, Trump endorsed Johnson to remain speaker on Monday
But in the more than a year he has been in this role, he has faced a barrage of criticism.
Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) said he would not vote for Johnson despite Trump’s support.
About a dozen other Republicans have indicated they are still undecided heading into Friday’s vote.
Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas) said Johnson was a good friend, but he also said Thursday he remained indecisive and criticized the speaker for his handling of the spending deal to avoid a government shutdown last month.
Roy said he didn’t believe Johnson had the votes, but he also didn’t have a clear alternative, simply suggesting there are “a lot of great members.” He said he would have to see if Johnson could deliver on the agenda.
But heading into the final push to shore up support, Johnson warned his conference ‘I can’t afford any palace drama here.’
‘We have to get the congress going, which starts tomorrow. And we have to get to work immediately,” he told Fox News.
Trump with Johnson during his meeting with the House GOP conference in Washington, shortly after winning the November election
Trump threw his full support behind Johnson to continue as speaker in a social media post on Monday. He called him a ‘good, hardworking, religious man.’
“He will do the right thing and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my complete and total approval. MAGA!!!’ Trump said.
It came amid debate in recent weeks over Johnson’s handling of negotiating a spending deal in the run-up to the holidays.
Last month, Johnson reached a deal with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown after a last-minute tussle that saw two other deals fall through.
In the process, Trump and billionaire Elon Musk helped craft a more than 1,500-page bipartisan spending deal negotiated by Johnson.
He was quickly replaced by one at the last minute a much slimmer Republican bill, backed by Trump, but that bill also went down in flames with the help of some conservative Republicans.
Ultimately, 38 Republicans rejected Trump’s support and voted against it with Democrats.
A third deal, which was pared down but did not include what Trump demanded, was ultimately passed at the eleventh hour with the help of Democrats.