Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)’s handling of a year-end spending deal puts his grip on shaky ground ahead of a crucial Jan. 3 speaker vote, as some GOP lawmakers question their support for the Louisiana Republican.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) spoke out against Johnson on Wednesday over the spending deal and vowed to oppose him in the House next month. And a handful of other Republicans are not saying whether they will support Johnson next month, leaving their options open as criticism of the speaker mounts.
Meanwhile, Republican hardliners in the House of Representatives who have been involved in gavel battles in the past say talk of alternatives to the speaker is increasing, raising earnest questions about Johnson’s fate in the top job.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said the discussion of alternatives to Johnson was “the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
Another House Republican linked Johnson’s fate to the negotiated spending package: “If this goes through, the speaker is in real trouble,” the lawmaker said.
Even if Johnson abandons the bill, his handling of the situation could cause GOP members to resent his leadership.
Opposition to the spending deal from President-elect Trump — whose past support for Johnson helped him win his unanimous nomination for speaker last month — and Elon Musk, who recently joined forces with Republicans at the Capitol but has already done so post continuously on X against the bill — puts even more pressure on the speaker as he tries to navigate the latest legislative minefield of the 118th Congress.
The Bill presented on Tuesday evening combines an extension of state funding through March 14 with a range of additional benefits, including disaster relief for hurricane damage and farmers; a healthcare agreement that includes reforms to the Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) industry; an extension of the agricultural law; and a pay raise for members of Congress.
In the midst of the outrage is the speaker Consider a “clean” ongoing solution as Plan B. Trump, meanwhile, is urging Johnson to take one up Raising the debt ceiling with a “clean” continuation resolution (CR). But it remains unclear whether the House could pass it The Democrats seem to be reluctant about the recent proposal after securing victory in the negotiated package.
Johnson cannot afford for Republicans to drop out of the House more than once in the Jan. 3 speaker election, assuming all members are present and voting. Republicans are expected to have 219 Republicans on Jan. 3, with the seat held by former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida). expected to be free. All 215 Democrats will vote for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
Massie, who previously led a failed effort to oust Johnson with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in the spring, appeared to have softened in his opposition to the speaker earlier this month. But the spending package cements his opposition to Johnson.
“I’m not going to vote for him,” Massie said, citing “all the resentment I had this summer when we tried to evict and then this bill.”
Other Republicans are signaling they could follow Massie’s lead.
“I’m not committing to anything yet, but I can tell you this: I have tremendous heartburn about what was done, how it was done and why it was done,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), one of the eight Republicans who voted to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican of California) in 2023.
However, Johnson’s potential defections are not narrow to the usual hardline conservative antagonists. Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) said he wasn’t sure whether he would support Johnson before interfering in the speaker’s leadership — particularly on government funding issues.
“He promised at the conference a year ago that we would no longer govern through CRs, and we implemented five,” Steube said. “And 43 days after receiving a mandate from the American people, are we going to work with Democrats to get things done when a Republican Senate comes in two weeks?”
All of this sets the stage for another potentially protracted speaker battle. It took House Republicans 15 rounds of voting over several days to elect McCarthy in 2023 before a revolt by a handful of GOP members led to McCarthy’s ouster and an eventual vote for Johnson.
Johnson played down the risks on Tuesday, saying in a news conference that he was “not worried” about getting the support he needs to keep the gavel next year, adding that he “certainly hopes” .[s] and I’m working toward a majority of the majority” of the GOP conference supporting the CR.
“We rule. Everyone knows we have difficult circumstances. We are doing the best we can under these circumstances,” Johnson said.
And asked about Musk’s opposition on Wednesday: Johnson said on Fox & Friends that the recent billionaire co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) understands the “impossible” position the speaker finds himself in. This interview took place just before Musk published dozens of posts from X criticizing the proposed CR.
A House Republican said the two “obvious candidates” for speaker should Johnson lose support would be House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Tom Emmer ( R-Minn.), both of whom filed failed bids for the top job after McCarthy’s ouster last year. Another obvious possibility would be House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), the No. 2 Republican, who was also seeking the speakership in 2023, although members did not release his name to The Hill.
Ogles pointed to a Survey on his X account These included Emmer, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Jordan as possible options for speaker.
But Donalds, who is likely running for governor of Florida, told The Hill that he continues to support Johnson for speaker. Jordan also told reporters on Wednesday that “Johnson will be the speaker, I’m not worried about that,” later adding, “I’m for Mike.” An Emmer spokesman said, “Whip Emmer supports Speaker Johnson and is focused to fulfill the task for which he was elected.”
And it’s a good sign for the speaker that he continues to receive some support from hardline conservatives.
“I still support Speaker Johnson,” said Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. But he added: “There are a growing number of voices, both inside and outside the Freedom Caucus, that are kind of shaking their heads at what’s going on this week.”
Harris helped Negotiate a deal with Johnson and anti-chaos conservatives to raise the hurdle to force an early vote on ousting the speaker from a single member to nine, which helped secure Johnson’s nomination for speaker in an internal GOP vote in November.
Even if Johnson clears that hurdle, the mutiny he faced over the spending deal is a foretaste of what the next Congress could bring – when Republicans will have an even smaller majority and after the departure of a number of members to the Trump administration will no longer be possible. I cannot afford to lose representatives in internal party votes.
And he will still have to deal with the resignation request, which even at a higher hurdle would still lead to Johnson’s downfall.
Rep. Eli Crane (R-Arizona), another member who helped unseat McCarthy, said the spending deal “has an impact on how I feel about my vote for speaker,” pointing to the ongoing Frustration over how Louisianans handled spending issues last year.
“It was the same playbook that I saw from Speaker Johnson, you know, almost every time,” Crane said.
