Trump endorses Mike Johnson to stay on as House Speaker
Mr Johnson’s continued leadership seemed in jeopardy after a fight over a federal funding plan put the government at risk of a pre-Christmas shutdown.
US President-elect Donald Trump is endorsing House Speaker Mike Johnson as he prepares to fight to keep his role leading Republicans in Congress.
Mr Trump said on Monday in a post on his social media network that Mr Johnson “is a good, hard-working, religious man” and said the Louisiana Republican “will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN”.
“Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement,” Mr Trump wrote.
Mr Johnson thanked Mr Trump for the endorsement and added: “The American people demand and deserve that we waste no time. Let’s get to work!”
Mr Johnson’s continued leadership seemed in jeopardy after a fight over a federal funding plan put the government at risk for a pre-Christmas shutdown.
Though a deal was reached, the dispute showed the limits of Mr Johnson’s influence and exposed cracks in his party’s support.
The speaker’s first two funding plans collapsed as Mr Trump, who does not take the oath of office until January 20, interceded with calls to suspend or lift the government debt ceiling.
Mr Johnson, who has worked hard to stay close to Mr Trump, convinced the president-elect that he would meet his demands to raise the debt limit in 2025.
Mr Trump had remained quiet about Mr Johnson’s fate before a January 3 leadership vote for over a week, even as some Republicans signalled that they may not support Mr Johnson for the role.
Victoria Spartz, one of the Republicans who opposed Kevin McCarthy’s initial bid for the speakership, said in a statement on Monday that “our next speaker must show courageous leadership to get our country back on track”.
The Indiana politician went on to make a series of demands for the next leader of the Republican majority, which included major spending reform.
Representative Andy Harris, who is the chairman of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, had also indicated that Mr Johnson’s future as speaker is not guaranteed before the holidays.
In a December 20 post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Harris said that Republicans have not done enough to bring down “spending, deficits and inflation” since Mr Trump’s electoral victory in November.
Because of this, Mr Harris wrote, “I am now undecided on what House leadership should look like in the 119th Congress”.
