President-elect Donald Trump on Monday threw his "complete and total" support to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to continue leading the House ahead of a pivotal vote later this week.
"Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement.
Later on that day, another multibillionaire Trump advisor and someone who made use of influence over the GOP to kill a bipartisan spending bill earlier this month showed up supporting Johnson: Elon Musk.
Today, House lawmakers are scheduled to vote on speakership amid dissent from key Republicans over Johnson's leadership.
Although the GOP conference earlier this year supported Johnson to continue as speaker in the next Congress, some Republicans this week haven't committed to backing him after a government shutdown fight divided the party earlier this month.
The government flirted with a Christmas holiday shutdown on Dec. 20 when Johnson vetoed a bipartisan funding measure after Musk and Trump pilloried the bill. A new bill backed by Trump went down to defeat in the House when Democrats and 38 Republicans opposed it.
The spending bill that eventually passed, 38 minutes past the shutdown deadline, was opposed by dozens of Republican lawmakers and backed mostly by Democrats. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a hardline conservative, said he wouldn't back Johnson, posting on X that "a weak legislative branch, beholden to the swamp, will not be able to achieve the mandate voters gave Trump and Congress in November." House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris also said he's weighing whether to support Johnson. Just days after Trump endorsed Johnson, Musk also offered his "full support" to the Louisiana Republican.
Johnson thanked Trump on Monday for his endorsement, writing: "We Republicans will quickly deliver on your America First agenda and usher in the new golden age of America."
The American people demand and deserve that we waste no time," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
A fight for a new Speaker could delay passing Trump's agenda as Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the House.
Although Republicans won a majority of seats over the Democrats, 220-215, that number will narrow in the new Congress after Trump appointed several lawmakers to his new administration.
Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from Congress in November Trump nominated him to serve as attorney general, but he soon withdrew amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use. Though reelected, Gaetz has indicated he won't return to Congress.
More: 'Playing with fire': GOP lawmaker urges Republicans to back Mike Johnson ahead of pivotal House speaker vote
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., is expected to leave Congress on Jan. 20 to serve as Trump's national security advisor. And Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y, is also expected to leave Congress to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Many Republicans will be glad to avoid the carnage of 2023. The House GOP required an embarrassing 15 ballots and five days to settle on Kevin McCarthy as speaker in January 2023, but it was a short-lived reign.
In September 2023, McCarthy was pushed out of the leadership after a battle over spending. There has since been a multi-week standstill in Congress as Republicans have been unable to choose a new leader − Mike Johnson.
'Art of the Deal practicality'
Without GOP consensus on Johnson, the certification of Trump's 2024 win may be delayed. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y, he doesn't believe the House can certify the election without a speaker.
Gaetz in a post on X called Trump's endorsement "'art of the deal' level practicality."
"We could never have held up McCarthy two years ago for concessions if a Trump certification hung in the balance. Now, it does," Gaetz wrote, adding that resistance to Johnson is "now futile."
"Let's work to make him the best version of himself (which was more like the 2023 vintage of Mike)," he said.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump said that Republicans won the 2024 election by a landslide and that his party should "not blow this great opportunity which we have been given.""The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration," Trump said.
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