Mike Johnson Backtracks on Plan to Stand Against Senate Republicans

House Speaker Mike Johnson has backtracked on his plan to stand against Senate Republicans in a tense GOP fight brewing in Montana.

Johnson had been expected to endorse Representative Matt Rosendale in Montana's major Senate race, but "upon reflection, the speaker withdrew his endorsement largely based on the reality that Rosendale is the weaker candidate by far against [Senator Jon] Tester," Representative Ryan Zinke told Politico on Thursday. His comments came just hours after Punchbowl News broke that Johnson would endorse Rosendale.

Newsweek reached out to Johnson via email for comment.

Rosendale is expected to launch his bid against former Navy SEAL and political newcomer Tim Sheehy over the weekend, igniting another civil war within the Republican Party. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund have all opposed Rosendale's candidacy. Senate Republicans had warned that Rosendale's entry into the race could jeopardize their chances of flipping the seat.

The Senate race in Montana will be highly competitive as Republicans seek to flip Senator Jon Tester's seat in a state where former President Donald Trump won twice by large margins. Rosendale was unsuccessful in his first effort to oust Tester, losing to the Democrat in 2018, despite a Trump endorsement and several GOP gains in Montana that year.

Trump has not yet weighed in on the contest, but the former president has had a rocky relationship with Rosendale, a far-right Republican who famously snubbed Trump when he refused to answer a phone call from the former president during the speakership fight last year. Rosendale has endorsed Trump's presidential bid for 2024.

Rosendale has also angered those close to Trump. After Trump-aligned consultant Alex Bruesewitz, a Rosendale critic, said Montana's GOP rescinded an invitation for him to speak after complaints from the congressman's allies, Donald Trump Jr. called the move "leftwing cancel culture" and commended Bruesewitz as "one of my father's strongest and most loyal supporters."

Johnson, a Trump ally, had still been expected to endorse one of his rank-and-file members. Some observers speculated that the endorsement was a trade for Rosendale's vote on an emergency $17.6 billion Israel aid bill since Rosendale had previously said this type of package would need corresponding budget cuts.

In a statement provided to Politico after news of the endorsement reversal broke, Johnson's communications director Greg Steele said: "The Speaker has committed to sending a check from his leadership PAC to Congressman Rosendale, as he has for other House colleagues and friends, but he has not made any endorsements in Senate races."

"He is singularly focused on growing the House majority," Steele added.

Rosendale had previously stated that he "was praying" the GOP would win just a small majority in the House during the 2022 midterms so that the party would shift more to the right.

"I recognize that that small majority was the only way that we were going to advance a conservative agenda," Rosendale told Republican donors at a closed briefing in October, adding, "If it was the right majority, that if we had six or seven very strong individuals, we would drag the conference over to the right."

Update 02/08/24, 11:24 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and to note that Newsweek reached out to Johnson for comment.