(The Center Square) – U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suffered a public defeat this week, raising questions about how, and if, he will govern as Speaker of the House with Republicans controlling the House, Senate and the White House.
Almost immediately after unveiling the text of a Continuing Resolution to avoid a Friday government shutdown, President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, and Trump advisor and billionaire Elon Musk came out in opposition to the deal.
“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” Trump and Vance said in a joint statement Wednesday. “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country…”
The funding provision would have kept the government open until mid-March and included a litany of controversial spending items, including a significant pay raise for lawmakers.
“Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?” Musk wrote Wednesday alongside a picture of the 1,547-page bill printed out.
Johnson has been able to walk the tightrope and cobble together votes despite the fractures in his own party, from fiscal conservatives to moderates, to Trump loyalists to lawmakers skeptical of Trump, even if not publicly opposed.
Along with Trump’s team, several Republicans immediately came out against the bill, and that number grew over the following hours.
“The last CR we did was 21 pages,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote on X. This [one] is 1,547. Let that sink in. More pages, more taxpayer dollars flushed down the drain.”
Some Senate Republicans and grassroots Trump activists echoed many of the criticisms as well.
From Johnson’s perspective, the initial goal of the Continuing Resolution was to keep the government open just long enough for Trump to help decide funding levels when he takes office in January.
Soon, though, the resolution ballooned with more and more spending measures, including generally popular ones like economic assistance to farmers and disaster relief funding.
“Republicans CANNOT allow millions of Americans devastated by the historic hurricane season, or our struggling farmers, go without the help they desperately need,” Johnson said in a statement before the resolution died. “We will decide FY25 spending in March, when Trump is back in the WH and Republicans control the Senate and House.”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., floated an unconventional idea about replacing Johnson.
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress…“ Paul wrote on X. “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’ minds).”
However, Trump made clear what Johnson needs to do to keep his role in an interview with Fox Digital Thursday.
“If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,” Trump said.
