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Right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon, a key media ally of President-elect Donald Trump, is warning that House Speaker Mike Johnson "must go" in order for the new administration's agenda to succeed.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump transition team and Johnson's office for comment via email on Wednesday morning.
Why It Matters
The first vote of the new House, when lawmakers are sworn in on January 3, is to elect a speaker. Republicans first elected Johnson as speaker in October 2023 after they were unable to agree on a replacement for three weeks after ousting the previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
But Johnson is now facing a rebellion from some House Republicans over his handling of government funding legislation. The GOP's slim majority in the lower chamber means the Louisiana Republican can afford few defections if he wants to keep his hold on the gavel. Bannon, a leading voice of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, is urging the GOP to oust Johnson.
What To Know
It is not clear if Trump is still backing Johnson after a stopgap spending bill passed in Congress last week without the president-elect's core debt ceiling demand in the package. A bipartisan bill pushed by Johnson failed last Wednesday after criticism from Trump and Elon Musk, who is a key supporter of the president-elect as well as the world's wealthiest man.
The president-elect then demanded that a provision raising the nation's debt limit be included in the legislation. Republicans complied, but the Trump-backed bill failed overwhelmingly in a House vote on Thursday evening.
Trump told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Johnson would "easily remain speaker" for the next Congress if he "acts decisively and tough" to eliminate "all of the traps being set by Democrats" in the spending package.
An amended bill without the debt ceiling provision passed the House on Friday. It was passed by the Senate early on Saturday, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown before Christmas.
Johnson told reporters after Friday's vote that Trump was "certainly happy" with the final deal, though the president-elect has not indicated as much. And he told ABC News last Tuesday that he is "not worried about the speaker's vote."
"These are the hard choices that lawmakers have to make, but we will get the job done, as we always do. We will. We will keep moving forward, and in January we have a new lease on all this," Trump said.
At least one House Republican, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, plans to vote for an alternative to Johnson.
Several other Republicans, including Representative Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Andy Harris of Maryland, Troy Nehls of Texas and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, have said they are undecided.
What People Are Saying
Bannon said in a Gettr post on Tuesday: "Johnson Must Go or Trump Agenda Will Never Pass."
Bannon said on a recent episode of The Megyn Kelly Show: "Johnson has got to go. We don't need partisanship now. We need hyper-partisanship now. The conversation is over."
At a Turning Points USA event last weekend, Bannon asked a crowd of MAGA supporters: "Should Johnson be speaker of the House?" His question drew boos and audible displeasure from the crowd in a demonstration of opposition toward the GOP House leader.
Representative Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, told Face the Nation on Sunday: "I do support Speaker Johnson, I think he's done a fantastic job keeping us all together. It's like feral cats in the house, right? So that's a tough job to begin with."
Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, told Fox News Sunday that Johnson will have a tough reelection bid, saying it's "going to be a challenge, but I believe he can survive."
What Happens Next
To remain as speaker, Johnson can lose just two Republican votes without relying on some Democratic support. The GOP will enter the new Congress with a slim 219-215 majority in the House. The vote will be held on January 3.
Meanwhile, Democrats have signaled they do not plan to help Johnson remain speaker.
"There will be no Democrats available to save him—or the extreme MAGA Republicans—from themselves," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told MSNBC on Sunday.
Jefferies also said there is a "real risk" that Johnson faces a mutiny from within his caucus.
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About the writer
Jason Lemon is a Senior Politics Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused ... Read more