washington
CNN
—
President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that House Speaker Mike Johnson has his “full” and “total” support, a major boost for the top House Republican ahead of this week’s crucial vote. .
Mr Trump’s endorsement comes as some House conservatives have warned they will not support Mr Johnson in the speaker’s race. The president-elect’s support could help Mr. Johnson secure the votes he needs, especially as he weathers a messy government funding battle that drew the ire of some right-wing lawmakers earlier this month. Especially after that.
But Mr. Johnson faces an unusually close margin of victory, with little margin for error as he only needs to lose one Republican vote to win the gavel. House Republican Thomas Massie has already said he won’t vote for Johnson, and the Kentucky Republican told CNN on Monday that Trump’s endorsement won’t change Johnson’s position.
One person familiar with the matter told CNN that members were preparing to support Trump. However, the same source warned that it may not be enough.
Mr Johnson’s supporters are keeping a close eye on MPs who have not yet endorsed him, including Congresswoman Victoria Spartz.
Sources told CNN that Spartz is seen as unpredictable and there are “six or seven other members” who also remain wild cards.
Mr Johnson’s agents have launched a major whip campaign in recent weeks, but tough challenges remain in getting Mr Johnson to reach the magic number of 218 votes needed to win the gavel.
A Republican lawmaker familiar with the effort told CNN that the majority of Republicans understand how “monstrous stupidity” a major speakership contest can be, but that the party is united in voting. He said not all MPs were swayed by the argument that the government needed to take action. Inauguration ceremony.
“The vast majority of Republicans are reasonable, but not all members of the Republican conference are rational,” he lamented.
President Trump praised Johnson on Monday, saying he is “hard-working” and “will do the right thing.”
“The American people need immediate relief from all the destructive policies of the previous administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard-working, and godly man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to win. Mike has my full and complete support MAGA!!!,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
After Mr. Johnson cut a deal with Democrats over spending in mid-December, Mr. Trump made a last-minute push to raise the debt ceiling, leaving Mr. Johnson to seek a Plan B. The revised Republican version ultimately failed to garner enough Republican votes to pass, causing an uproar. Between Johnson’s right flanks, he complained that the speaker was not up to the job. There were also questions about whether Mr. Trump would stick with Mr. Johnson ahead of the race for chairman.
Mr Massey said earlier this month that he had no intention of supporting Mr Johnson in the election for speaker. In response to President Trump’s support, Massey told ” he wrote. We’ve seen Johnson work with Democrats to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and deplete the budget. ”
Separately, CNN tallied members who had not yet endorsed Trump and found that nearly a dozen others had not yet endorsed Johnson. Mr Johnson will face a vote in the full House of Commons when the new parliament convenes on Friday.
Another challenge is that so far the House Freedom Caucus, which includes some of the members most weary of Johnson’s re-election, has not issued a unified list of demands, leaving all members acting like free agents. It is that it is producing. .
For some party members, the concern is how the party will begin to repass separate spending bills to tackle the nation’s debt and deficit reduction. That may be difficult, given that House Republicans have repeatedly shown they don’t have the votes to pass all 12 spending bills with Republican votes alone. Not to mention, Republicans will continue to need Democratic votes to keep the government funded even under Trump, given that Republicans don’t have the 60 votes they need in the Senate to pass the bill alone. I would.
Mr Johnson has also told the public he is not willing to reduce the number of MPs needed to force a vote to remove the Speaker after the Republican conference agreed to raise the threshold. As part of November’s full conference negotiations, Republicans decided to increase the number of senators needed to force a vote on a so-called resignation motion from one to nine. A person familiar with Mr Johnson’s thinking said he did not believe he could reverse what he viewed as the negotiated position at the meeting.
When former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy went through 15 rounds to win the Speaker’s gavel in 2023, he ultimately acquiesced to conservative demands to lower the bar for motions to vacate one member. , which ultimately led to his dismissal.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Alayna Treene contributed to this report.
