President-elect Donald Trump has backed House Speaker Mike Johnson in his bid to hold the gavel, writing on his social media platform that the Louisiana Republican has his “full and complete endorsement.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hardworking man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to win,” Trump said on Truth Social Monday.
Trump, who begins his second term on Jan. 20 with plans for a sweeping reform agenda focused on immigration and other priorities, urged his party to stick together before 2025, he wrote.
Johnson responded, promising to “swiftly implement” the next president’s agenda. The speaker of the House is elected on Friday when the new Congress begins. Days later, the new Congress is scheduled to certify Trump’s 2024 election victory on Jan. 6.
Trump’s statement follows recent warnings that Johnson could face divisions within his party in Friday’s vote for speaker. He can only afford to lose a handful of Republican votes, given the Republicans’ slim majority in the House. Republicans won a slim majority in the House in November, with 220 seats. Since then, Rep. Matt Gayet, R-Fla., has stepped down to seek a Cabinet nomination, but later dropped out, leaving the House Republicans at 219.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced last week that he would not support Johnson’s reelection. “I’m not buying the ‘Hurry up and elect him so we can certify the election based on J6,’” Massie said at a news conference. Share to X. “A weak legislature, beholden to the swamp, is not going to be able to deliver on the mandate that voters gave Trump and Congress in November.”
Support for Johnson among some Republicans appears to be faltering amid his efforts to push through a bipartisan year-end spending deal. It has been torn apart by billionaire Elon Musk, a close Trump ally. Republicans voted against the plan and then voted against a watered-down deal that included Trump’s demand to raise the debt ceiling, though the real deadline for raising the nation’s borrowing limit is unlikely to come until the middle of next year.
Johnson eventually passed a deal that did not include Trump’s debt ceiling requirement and angered some conservatives for its lack of spending cuts.
The president-elect’s latest statement comes after a show of support Sunday from Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, who said Johnson inherited the circumstances from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted by a group of eight Republicans.
Lawler, R-N.Y., told ABC News that Johnson “inherited a disaster” and that removing McCarthy “would be the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in politics.”
“However, removing Mike Johnson would be just as stupid,” Lawler said on “This Week.” “The truth is, these people are playing with fire, and if they think they’re going to somehow get a more conservative speaker, they’re kidding themselves.”
NBC News previously reported that Trump expressed support for Johnson in November during a meeting with Johnson’s House Republicans, according to GOP sources. But Trump appeared to waver in his endorsement of Johnson shortly after the president-elect condemned the bipartisan government funding deal passed earlier this month.
“We’ll see,” Trump said on Dec. 19 when asked if he still had confidence in Johnson.
Trump’s statement Monday may help calm rumblings in the House that Republicans should look for a replacement for Johnson.
