Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson — and incoming US president Donald Trump — faced a test of political strength Friday as the party’s hard right threatens to try to choose a new leader.
Less than three weeks before Trump takes office, Republicans risk descending into internal squabbles over whether Johnson should retain the powerful position.
With Republicans holding only an ultra-thin majority over Democrats in the lower chamber of Congress, he has little margin for error.
Trump threw his full weight behind Johnson early Friday with a social media post wishing him “Good luck” and “very close to having 100% support.”
“A BIG AFFIRMATION, INDEED. MAGA!” Trump declared, referencing his “Make America Great Again” slogan.
But Johnson’s reelection as speaker is not a done deal.
Hardliners have turned on Johnson, depicting him as overly consensual and soft on their demands for radical government spending cuts.
Having seized the gavel in another bout of internal party turbulence in 2023, the Louisiana conservative needs virtually unanimous support in Friday’s vote.
There will be intrigue until the last ballot is cast, with the 52-year-old attorney’s ambitions up in flames if more than one member of the 219-215 Republican majority defects, assuming all members are present and voting.
It took 15 rounds of voting over four days to elect Kevin McCarthy to the speaker’s podium at the start of the last Congress. He was ousted and replaced by Johnson 10 months later in a rebellion that paralyzed the House of Representatives for weeks.
If there is no speaker by Monday, Congress will not be able to certify Trump’s election victory and the Republican — who only gets one more term, having served in the White House from 2017-21 — will face delays in implementing his agenda.
The hard right forms the core of Trump’s political base, but the incoming president is testing that loyalty by sticking with Johnson.
At least a dozen lawmakers on the Republican right have chafed at Johnson’s handling of major spending bills and are opposing him or withholding support, with one already saying he is a firm “no.”
Eleven Republicans voted to oust Johnson in May after he angered the hard-right wing by bringing a massive Ukraine aid package to the floor.