President-elect Donald Trump endorsed House Speaker Mike Johnson in his campaign to retain the gavel, writing on his social media platform that the Louisiana Republican has his “complete and total endorsement.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hardworking, religious 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 January 20 with plans for a sweeping reform agenda focused on immigration and other priorities, urged his party to stay together heading into 2025. GIVEN,” he wrote.
Johnson responded, promising to “deliver swift results” on the new president’s agenda. The election of speakers will take place on Friday, when the new congress begins. Days later, Trump’s victory in the 2024 election will be certified by the new Congress on January 6.
Trump’s statement follows recent warnings that Johnson could face defections from within his party in Friday’s vote for chairman. He can only afford to lose a handful of Republican votes, given the narrow majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives. In November, Republicans won a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives with 220 seats. Since then, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., stepped down from his seat to pursue a Cabinet nomination, from which he later withdrew, bringing the number of Republicans in the House of Representatives to 219.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced last week that he would not support Johnson’s reelection. “I am not convinced by the ‘hurry up and elect him so we can certify the elections at J6’ argument,” Massie said in a message to to fulfill the mandate that voters gave to Trump and Congress in November.”
Support for Johnson among some Republican members appeared to be wavering amid his efforts to push through a bipartisan year-end spending deal that was torn up by billionaire Elon Musk, a close Trump ally. Republicans voted against the plan and then rejected a scaled-down deal that included a demand from Trump to raise the debt ceiling, although the real deadline to lift the country’s borrowing limit likely won’t come until the middle of next year.
Johnson ultimately approved a deal that did not include Trump’s provision for a debt ceiling increase, angering some conservatives over the lack of spending cuts.
The president-elect’s latest statement follows a statement of support Sunday from Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, who argued that Johnson inherited these circumstances from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted by a group of eight Republicans.
Lawler, R-N.Y., said in an interview with ABC News that Johnson “inherited a disaster” and that McCarthy’s removal “will go down as the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in politics.”
“That said, removing Mike Johnson would be just as stupid,” Lawler said on “This Week.” “The fact is these people are playing with fire and if they think they will somehow get a more conservative speaker, they are fooling themselves.”
NBC News previously reported that Trump expressed support for Johnson in a meeting with House Republicans in November, Republican Party sources said. But Trump appeared to waver his support for Johnson shortly after the president-elect denounced the bipartisan government funding deal the speaker unveiled earlier this month.
“We’ll see,” Trump responded on December 19 when asked whether he still had confidence in Johnson.
Trump’s statement on Monday could quell rumblings in the House of Representatives that Republicans should look for an alternative to Johnson.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
