The news
Donald Trump can celebrate a victory of sorts by flexing his muscles and roiling Congress two days before the government shutdown deadline.
At the same time, the president-elect lost his central claim — and that could complicate Mike Johnson’s future as Trump’s chairman.
After Congress passed a reduced spending bill heading into the weekend, some of Trump’s team quickly went to X to publicly celebrate, noting that Trump successfully intervened to cut “unnecessary proposals and wasteful spending.” Musk stated that conservatives’ public pressure campaign “turned a bill of pounds into a bill of ounces.”
Their argument about cutting services was true. But the bill also dropped Trump’s key demand for Congress to address the debt ceiling expiration before he enters the Oval Office.
That fact is not lost on Trump’s confidants and allies, some of whom place the blame squarely on Johnson: One person close to Trump described Johnson’s job security as “on par with Brian Daboll’s right now.” (Daboll coaches the hapless, 2-12 New York Giants).
“Every Democrat voted with Johnson. If this is a win, what exactly does a loss look like?” the person added.
Trump himself, who has notably yet to make a statement on the passage of the new bill, is frustrated that his sole demand has not been met — despite clear messages warning that lawmakers who oppose it would be prioritized — a person told spoke to him on Friday at Semafor.
That person also said Trump was surprised by the perception that he supported the updated bill without a debt limit. (Johnson said he thought Trump was “definitely happy” with the outcome.)
Johnson tabled a bill containing Trump’s demand on Thursday, where it failed to pass, and appeared doomed to failure if that provision was left in place. It is unclear whether Trump’s anger is aimed directly at Johnson, at the lawmakers who voted. put down that bill, or both.
“Johnson hid the extent of his betrayal in 1,500 pages of a spending orgy for the Democrats,” Trump ally Steve Bannon told Semafor. “He turned a simple, clean CR exercise that everyone agreed on into a maelstrom of chaos. Incompetent, deceitful, unctuous.”
Rep. Cory Mills, a Trump ally from Florida, told reporters Friday evening that Johnson had to worry about his job. Rep. Andy Harris, meanwhile, issued a statement that same evening saying he “has not yet decided what House leadership should look like next year.”
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Johnson referred Semafor back to the Speakers’ remarks last night, praising the House passage of the American Relief Act by a broad vote of 366 to 34.
Know more
Not everyone is attacking Johnson: Trump hasn’t said anything publicly about him yet (and may not). Musk also wrote on X that Johnson “did a good job here, considering the circumstances.”
But the public and private dissatisfaction with Johnson, combined with Trump’s general dissatisfaction, is a major warning sign for the leader of the House of Representatives. Johnson could lose a maximum of two votes in the upcoming leadership race. At this point, it looks like he’ll probably lose more than that.
Shelby’s opinion
Johnson is on thin ice, despite his comments Friday evening claiming Trump is happy with the deal. The Speaker’s fate may depend on whether Trump publicly intervenes. If Trump tells Republicans to dump him, Johnson is all but gone.
Ultimately, how Trump views the deal after talking about it over the holidays will play a major role in whether he speaks against the speaker. Whether Trump’s allies are angry about Johnson’s lobbying of the president-elect over the pause will also be crucial — as will the fact that Trump officially takes office in a month and takes over the power to veto about legislation such as this expenditure law.
Remarkable
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This week’s shutdown battle portends a challenging 2025 for Donald Trump and Republicans’ efforts to carry out their big plans, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reported.
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Earlier this week, both Democrats and Republicans agreed that Elon Musk had taken over the government. Semafor’s David Weigel reported: But they disagreed on whether that was a good thing.
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Trump had been looking for to “clean the house” by 2025, CNN reported.
