Congressional Conservatives Are Unhappy with Speaker Johnson, Will He Be Retained?

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is under fire from fellow Republicans after compromising with House Democrats in order to pass a short-term stopgap bill to keep the federal government funded through March 14.

Johnson could face a risk of being removed as Speaker of the House on Jan. 3 due to the growing dissatisfaction of GOP House members who are openly saying they will vote for someone other than Johnson for Speaker.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) had strong criticism for Johnson’s backing of  the emergency spending bill, telling Spectrum News, “it’s shameful that Mike Johnson would do this after we received a mandate in the election. I know it’s a lame-duck session, but still, there’s no reason for us to capitulate when on Jan. 20, Trump’s going to be President and Jan. 3, we have the majority in the Senate.”

Massie added, “He doesn’t have my vote and I think he’s losing political capital by the second here.”

While Massie has said that he will be casting his vote for an alternative candidate, rather than voting “present”, a handful of GOP members of Congress are weighing their options as to who they’ll support for speaker.

Among those who have stated that they are undecided  are Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN).

Axios reports that Johnson will have a slender 219-215 majority when the House reconvenes on Jan. 3 and that he can only lose a single GOP vote and still be elected Speaker.

Johnson’s allies in the House are urging President-elect Donald Trump to publicly reaffirm his support for Johnson in order to avoid a prolonged battle to replace the Speaker which could end up delaying certification of the presidential election on Jan. 6.

While Johnson remains the favorite to be elected as Speaker of the House, other prominent names have been put forth, including Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE) lead Elon Musk.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) criticized Johnson last week, calling him a “weak, weak man,” and noting that the Speaker of the House needn’t be a member of Congress and suggesting that Elon Musk might be more committed to cutting government spending.

The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress . . .

Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it . . . nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’…

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 19, 2024

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed as Speaker of the House in 2023 for negotiating a similar continuing resolution with the Biden administration.