Conservative critics of Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership are warning he faces an uphill climb to win their support in time for House Republicans’ leadership elections later this year.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., said, “Based on past history he’s going to have a tough time, because I would say he (Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas) will do everything except initiate the impeachment effort.” Have failed.” Fox News Digital.
With Republicans hungry for unity after three weeks of turmoil following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Johnson was elected speaker in an overwhelmingly unanimous House GOP vote in October.
The Louisiana Republican now finds himself in a similar position to his predecessor, with a small but vocal group of lawmakers to his right working along bipartisan lines to push through a process known as a motion to vacate. , have demanded their immediate removal. important legislation, The effort is being led by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
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House Freedom Caucus members such as Chip Roy, left, and Bob Good, right, and their allies are indicating that Speaker Johnson, center, will have to work hard to get their support in the next leadership election. (Getty Images)
The vast majority of House Republicans have refused to take on that fight again, but Republicans are angry over what they see as Johnson’s failure to deliver on conservative priorities like border security and cutting federal spending. They have miles of ground to recover before they can support them. second time.
“Any Republican who wants to be in any leadership position for the House of Representatives must be fortunate enough to give us the majority again, which will require a lot of hard work between now and November. Not only will he demonstrate policy direction Do what they want, but also demonstrate the track record and willingness to stand up and fight for this, and, so far, we haven’t delivered what we need to deliver,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. .
Good was one of eight House Republicans who voted with the Democrats. McCarthy was ousted last year, He distanced himself from calls for Johnson’s immediate removal last week, citing that Johnson is operating with a razor-thin majority in the House. But Good suggested he wanted to see a new leadership race in November, after the election.
He told Fox News Digital on Monday that his support for Johnson will depend on his handling of fiscal year 2025 appropriations, the deadline for which is Sept. 30.
Good said, “He can really fight for Republican policy initiatives. He can really fight to cut our spending. He can fight to make sure that we don’t fund the government until Unless it reflects Republican priorities.” “He’s got another big crack in his bat. I hope he takes advantage of that opportunity.”
Johnson and congressional appropriators are heading into that fight with their hands relatively tied by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the deal to raise the debt ceiling struck by McCarthy and President Biden last year that has helped shape fiscal year 2025 funding priorities. Some conditions were also set for this.
Johnson took over after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from office. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Johnson told Fox News Digital, “Speaker Johnson is committed to governing – not to his political ambitions. He will continue to advance Conservative priorities and demonstrate how we will increase our majority in November.”
Party leadership races are typically held behind closed doors in the weeks following an election. If Republicans keep the House, Johnson would traditionally need only a majority vote to prevail as speaker on the House floor, with fellow Republicans expected to fall in line, even if they initially supported him. Have not supported.
But 15 rounds McCarthy was repeatedly stymied by GOP dissent last year, suggesting Johnson may need to guarantee unanimous support behind closed doors even if he manages to keep Republicans in power. .
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“Moving forward, I will ask Mike Johnson if being speaker is something he wants to pursue. If he does, I will have an all-inclusive list of issues where he can actually address it before I commit.” “Will agree/disagree to do so as speaker,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said via text message.
Norman and Good were two of the original McCarthy holdouts
Representative Ralph Norman said he would need some guarantees from Johnson to give his support. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“Based on his past performance, I doubt he would agree to take a tough negotiating stance, which I would have to see. However, out of my respect for Mike as a person, I would start with the questions listed. ” Norman said.
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Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who voted to oust McCarthy in October, said he was “open to discussion” about supporting Johnson, but he needed “a clear plan for fiscal responsibility.” “And there was a need to look at border security.
However, Roy was less optimistic that House Republicans would see victory in the year-end spending battle.
“In my opinion, under this leadership, and in this environment, there will not be the ability to move or ratify bills before Election Day that are going to drive the policy that needs to be driven,” the Texas Republican said. Said.
Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
