Zinke voiced his support for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria Bartiromo on Thursday. This comes after rumblings that Johnson may lose his leadership position after nearly coming to a government shutdown with his latest stopgap spending bill.
“We’re going to have a speaker battle coming up, which is a distraction, and it breaks down pretty simple. This is not my first rodeo. I came in, I watched the Boehner fight. I’ve watched the McCarthy fight. I’ve watched the Ryan fight. This is a distraction,” Zinke said. “So to have a speaker’s battle, all that does, is a distraction and delays getting the America First policy through.”
Johnson’s continuing resolution will fund the government through March 14. The House attempted to pass a larger bill that failed. Its second attempt did not include a debt limit provision, which was opposed by Trump and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Still, 34 Republican representatives and 11 senators voted against the legislation. All Democratic lawmakers voted for the measure. However, according to Zinke, no other Republican member has more votes than Johnson to be the speaker.
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“Can Johnson do things better? Well, we all can. We all can do things better,” Zinke said. “But right now, what is better for this country is to focus on making sure the policies which we promised are executed.”
Johnson followed a chaotic and brief speakership from former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted after less than 10 months. McCarthy’s speakership was the shortest term in over a century.
