Mike Johnson secures undisciplined Republican majority in line with tough fights ahead to pass Donald Trump’s agenda

Speaker Mike Johnson scored a significant triumph in a dramatic single-ballot victory Friday to retain the gavel, suturing a united front from an often-fractured House Republican conference.

House Republicans must remain united to advance President-elect Donald Trump’s noble agenda with their slim majority.

This unity will last until Monday’s joint session of Congress to certify Mr. Trump’s electoral victory. Fractures will likely emerge as Republicans begin ironing out the details of Mr. Trump’s legislative agenda, including border security, energy policy, extending and expanding tax cuts passed under his first administration, and deep cuts in government bureaucracy.

“We have a big agenda,” the Louisiana Republican said after winning the presidency. He said Republicans are already developing the legislative strategy, “so we’re excited.”

Mr. Johnson said he was proud of not having made any deals to win the presidency, but he offered assurances of overturning the votes of two Republicans, Representatives Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas , who had initially opposed him.

Only Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, ultimately opposed Mr. Johnson.

The sudden unification showed “that everyone understands that we have a mandate” and that people will be “able to see the big picture of their own personal situation,” Rep. Derrick Van told the Washington Times Orden, Republican of Wisconsin.

“Is everyone going to get everything they want? No,” he said. “But if you get everything you want all the time you rule, you are not governing.”

Mr. Johnson still faces obstacles, including from hard-liners in the House Freedom Caucus.

Mr. Norman told the Times that the speaker’s message to the two holdouts was: “You’re going to have to trust me to advance Trump’s agenda.” »

He said it was worth spending more time huddling with Mr Johnson behind closed doors. The speakers’ vote was held open to underscore the seriousness of the Freedom Caucus’ concerns, which boil down to a commitment to reducing spending and the deficit.

“And he was very direct too,” Mr. Norman said. “He said, ‘If I don’t do what I tell you, I’m going to do it in this little room, put myself out there, make the motion to leave.’ And I respect that.

The motion to overturn is the procedure used to oust a president who sowed chaos in the House after Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, left office in 2023. After the president’s vote Friday, Republicans voted to cancel update the rules of the House and raise the trigger threshold. the motion to move from one party member to nine in the majority — one more than the eight Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. McCarthy.

Eleven members of the Freedom Caucus, including Mr. Norman, released a letter urging Mr. Johnson to keep his promises to advance Trump’s agenda or “there is always room to negotiate on so-called leadership positions.” “according to the rules”.

Rep. Andrew Ogles, one of the signatories, said the letter is about accountability.

“The American people have presented us with a vast menu,” Mr. Ogles said. “It’s going to be difficult, it’s going to be complicated, but we have a responsibility to get it done.”

Asked if Mr Johnson’s job was in jeopardy if he did not keep his promises, Mr Ogles replied: “No one wants to have a sword to their head, but we have the motion to leave the places for a reason. He was given a job. He has to do this job.

He said Mr Johnson was committed to facilitating more discussions with rank-and-file members about the legislation “before it hits the ground and sort of gets derailed”.

Critics of Mr. Johnson have denounced deals he made with Democrats to advance much-needed government funding legislation and to provide billions of dollars in additional aid to Ukraine.

Armed with a smaller majority than in the previous Congress, Mr. Johnson may once again have to deal with Democrats, particularly on government funding and other bills subject to the Senate’s filibuster.

Because Republicans lack a filibuster-proof Senate majority, they plan to advance the most critical elements of their legislative agenda through budget reconciliation. The procedure is not subject to filibuster but is accompanied by strict rules requiring that legislative changes have a significant budgetary impact.

Republicans met Saturday to begin detailing tax and budget reforms they could adopt as part of the reconciliation process.

Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican who helped lead the retreat, said the broad goals were to consolidate and extend tax cuts starting in 2017, secure the border , implement good energy policies and control expenses.

Still, he said, legislation that can pass a diverse Republican conference with a razor-thin majority will require compromise.

“Failure is not an option,” Mr. Arrington told the Times.

Mr. Johnson said on Fox News on Sunday that Mr. Trump preferred “one big, beautiful bill” rather than splitting his legislative wish list into two reconciliation bills.

“No one is going to like every part of a big package like that. But there will be enough elements to train everyone,” he said. “I think staying the course is how we’ll get there.”

That could spark a conflict with the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, has said he wants to pass a border-focused bill in the first weeks of the new Congress and take more time to negotiate the most complex agenda items, such as tax and spending cuts.

Indeed, Mr. Johnson predicted that Republicans could push this colossal bill through the House as early as April 3 so that it could pass the Senate and land on Mr. Trump’s desk by the end of April, or ” worst case scenario, Memorial Day.”

Mr. Johnson said Republicans plan to use the reconciliation bill to raise the debt ceiling by June. Experts believe that by then, the Treasury Department will have exhausted the extraordinary measures needed to prevent the United States from defaulting now that the debt ceiling suspension has been lifted.

In December, 38 House Republicans voted against a Trump-inspired plan to extend the debt ceiling for two years, as part of a bill to temporarily extend government funding. They opposed it because it included no spending cuts.

Subsequently, House Republicans and top Trump advisers agreed to a tentative plan to use the reconciliation process to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion while cutting spending by $2.5 trillion. billion dollars.

Identifying these reductions will likely be the trickiest part of the reconciliation agenda.

Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, said he still had reservations about Mr. Johnson’s ability to keep his promises. He fears the president and other Republicans are pushing “to do stupid things and raise the debt ceiling without cutting spending.”

“What I will not do is allow myself to be intimidated into supporting any type of vote that is not up to par,” Mr. Roy said.

Mr Norman said he would oppose a compromise in which “there are no real cuts, just margins”.

Moderate Republicans won tough re-election races in November, allowing them to maintain their party’s slim majority in the House. They will have to do the same thing again in 2026.

Rep. Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, said he was not opposed to spending cuts but worried that the deep cuts sought by conservatives would not be politically feasible without bipartisan buy-in .

“If we try to balance the budget without Democrats, we’ll be in the minority next time,” he told the Times. “It’s going to be too painful. It has to be a joint effort.