On Monday, President-elect Trump reportedly provided his unequivocal support for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), just days prior to a House vote on Friday to elect a new Speaker.
“The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!” Trump wrote in a new post on Truth Social.
Johnson’s victory may be contingent upon Trump’s public endorsement, as he is able to secure the Speakership with only a small number of Republican defections.
Johnson’s Speakership has been called into question by Republican members who are angry about the manner in which he has addressed a variety of issues, such as the end-of-year funding package that was implemented to maintain the government’s operations.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has declared his opposition to Johnson, and numerous other conservatives are unwilling to endorse him.
Johnson is unable to afford to lose more than one Republican vote for Speaker, assuming that every member is present and ballots for a candidate, due to the razor-thin House GOP majority.
Johnson promptly expressed his gratitude for Trump’s assistance via Twitter.
The signal of support from Trump was delivered at the conclusion of a post in which he boasted about his electoral victory and criticized Democrats for operating a “sinking ship.'”
The question of whether anyone else would oppose Johnson in the Jan. 3 Speaker vote was primarily contingent upon the president-elect, as many GOP lawmakers had indicated.
The support for Johnson from Trump is especially noteworthy in light of the tensions between the two regarding the end-of-year funding package.
Trump made a last-minute demand to raise the debt ceiling as part of a short-term funding measure in order to eliminate the possibility of Democrats using it as a leverage point later in 2025.
Nevertheless, Johnson was unable to fulfill that request as a result of Republican opposition.
Instead, House Republicans reached an internal agreement to increase the debt limit by $1.5 trillion, in conjunction with $2.5 trillion in spending cuts, as part of a reconciliation bill that they intend to use to advance Trump’s legislative agenda.
This approach circumvents the necessity of obtaining Democratic support.
However, Trump reiterated his appeal to increase the debt limit on Sunday night, indicating his endorsement of a significantly different approach.
[READ MORE: Trump Backs Johnson For Speaker]
