House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) brushed off threats of a possible ouster from his top leadership position, expressing confidence the top-line spending agreement he brokered with Senate Democrats would “survive” attacks from hard-line conservatives.
A handful of House Republicans are vocally opposed to the $1.59 trillion spending deal that would guide how lawmakers craft the budget for fiscal 2024, accusing Johnson of failing to make deep cuts to government spending. As a result, some have publicly floated the idea of removing Johnson from the speaker’s office, threatening a repeat of what happened to his predecessor just three months ago.
“I don’t think I’m in any jeopardy of being ‘vacated,’” Johnson told Fox News on Wednesday. “It’s not something I walk around and think about.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) was among the first to weigh a motion to vacate against the speaker, telling the Steve Deace Show that while it’s not something he’s actively pursuing, the possibility is “on the table.”
“I’m leaving it on the table. I’m not gonna say I’m gonna go file it tomorrow. I’m not saying I’m not going to file it tomorrow,” Roy said on Tuesday. “I think the speaker needs to know that we’re angry about it. He needs to know that we need to sit down at the table and try to solve this.”
The revolt comes after Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced their budget deal over the weekend, allowing lawmakers to begin negotiating their 12 separate appropriations bills to fund the government. Conservatives were quick to oppose the deal, denouncing it as a “total failure.”
“Before we could even get together, he announced the terms of the surrender,” Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) said of the agreement. “[Johnson] should have never been hired.”
Several Republicans also banded together on the floor to shoot down a procedural vote on Wednesday, effectively stalling action in the House. The vote came in retaliation against Johnson’s spending agreement as hard-line conservatives push the speaker to go back to the negotiating table for further cuts.
“We’re making a statement that what the deal as has been announced that doesn’t secure the border, and that doesn’t cut our spending … is unacceptable,” said Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) of the failed vote. “My hope is to persuade the speaker and the leadership and our entire Republican conference to not follow through with the deal as it’s been announced.”
But Good, who was one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year, stopped short of saying Johnson should be booted from his newly won leadership position.
“I don’t think someone who has been a speaker for two and a half months should be judged the same way as someone who’s been in leadership, or who had been in leadership [and] the Republican Party for a decade or more,” Good said. “And in fairness to the speaker, he inherited a very difficult situation because of the failures of leadership that necessitated a change in leadership.”
Many of the other Republicans who supported removing McCarthy echoed similar sentiments, noting they’d “rather we resolve it” then restart the process of electing a speaker.
“That’s a hypothetical,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) said of the possibility of ousting Johnson.
“People are talking about it, but I’m not looking to oust him,” said Rep Tim Burchett (R-TN), who also voted to boot McCarthy. “I’d like him to get back to his conservative roots.”
Johnson acknowledged frustrations among his Republican conference and emphasized he would prefer deeper spending cuts than those approved in the Schumer-Johnson budget deal. But, he said, Republicans “have to work with the numbers we have” to pass a deal.
“I’m also a conservative hard-liner; that’s been my entire career in Congress,” he told Fox News. “But remember, we have a two-vote margin in the House.”
Johnson met with Republican lawmakers in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning to walk through the trillion-dollar deal, hoping to ease concerns among conservatives who oppose the framework. The meeting comes just nine days before the government funding is set to lapse for a slew of federal agencies, putting the speaker in a time crunch to get his party on board.
The short time frame has prompted some Republicans to consider a temporary stopgap measure to buy negotiators more time, but Johnson has so far refrained from publicly backing or rejecting the idea. The speaker also neglected to bring the proposal up for consideration during the closed-door meeting.
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“I’m not ruling out anything, committing to anything, other than getting these appropriations done,” Johnson said.
Lawmakers have until Jan. 19 to pass their first batch of appropriations bills, after which a slew of federal agencies will lapse in funding, causing a partial government shutdown. The second deadline is set for Feb. 2.
