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Donald Trump threw his support behind Mike Johnson for Speaker of the House, giving the embattled lawmaker a crucial endorsement amid Republican infighting ahead of the vote on Friday.
The president-elect said Monday Johnson He received his “full and complete endorsement”, calling him a “good, hardworking religious man” who “will do the right thing” in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Endorsement from Trump This comes at a pivotal moment for Johnson, as Republicans prepare to vote on who will lead the House of Representatives in Congress on January 3.
Johnson's fate was in flux after some lawmakers expressed opposition, including Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Andy Harris of Maryland, who leads the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, have also been hesitant to support them.
Republicans' slim majority of 220 seats, compared to 215 seats controlled by Democrats, will shrink to 219 seats once the new Congress convenes, due to Matt Gaetz's resignation. The Florida lawmaker said he would vacate his seat in the House of Representatives after Trump appointed him to serve as attorney general, but he later withdrew from consideration for the position.
The thin Republican majority means that Johnson is unlikely to be able to lose a single vote unless he wants to retain his leadership position.
This is not the first time that Republicans have been divided in recent weeks, as the confrontation over an agreement to avoid a government shutdown highlights the difficult balance that Johnson will have to navigate if re-elected. The fight also cast doubt on whether Johnson has enough support to grab the gavel of House leadership again.
Johnson's first attempt at a bipartisan bill to keep the government funded was rejected by Trump and his allies, who criticized him for handling billions of dollars in additional spending and other unrelated measures. He then failed to move forward with a plan backed by the president-elect that would have raised the debt ceiling while also keeping the government funded, after 38 Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it. An agreement was eventually reached just before the deadline, but without the debt ceiling provision that Trump initially demanded.
Trump appealed to Republicans on Monday “not to waste this great opportunity that we have,” referring to the landslide election victory that not only returned Trump to a second term in the White House, but also gave Republicans control of both chambers of Congress. .
Speaking to ABC News on Sunday, Rep. Mike Lawler of New York said impeaching Mike Johnson would be “stupid.”
He added: “The truth is that these people are playing with fire.” “And if they think they're going to somehow get a more conservative president, they're kidding themselves.”
Johnson said in a post on X that he was “proud and humbled” by Trump's support. “Together, we will quickly achieve the America First agenda and usher in a new golden age for America.”
