‘Not committed’: Conservatives warn Mike Johnson still has hill to climb before winning speaker’s gavel
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., won unanimous approval from Republican lawmakers earlier this week to lead the House of Representatives next year, but some conservatives are warning that he still has an uphill climb before the House-wide election in January.
“I think there’s still a lot of people that, as a favor to President Trump, didn’t request a vote, but it remains to be seen,” Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“I’m going to be ready to get ready to govern, but he has a lot of people not committed. But as a favor to President Trump, we didn’t object.”
Johnson won a unanimous voice vote to be the Republicans’ speaker nominee on Wednesday, hours after President-elect Donald Trump told GOP lawmakers he was fully backing the Louisiana Republican.
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The speaker was the only candidate in the race after it was revealed that Republicans managed to keep the chamber for another two years.
Just a day earlier, GOP hardliners were threatening to force a vote via secret ballot to delay the process and keep Johnson from winning the speaker nomination unanimously in protest of his handling of government spending.
It never materialized, but two conservatives who spoke with Fox News Digital also said there could still be holdouts in January.
With just a razor-thin majority expected in the House, Johnson may have to work to avoid a messy, protracted battle for the gavel in January – not dissimilar to the one his predecessor Kevin McCarthy went through two years ago.
He will need to win a majority of the entire House chamber to clinch the top spot again.
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“I understand that might be the case,” one GOP lawmaker said when asked if there were still skeptics of Johnson’s leadership.
“I’m concerned about informal deals that might be done. I want things in writing… We did not get to the long end of the stick with McCarthy because of handshake deals, so I don’t want to see that anymore.”
A second GOP lawmaker said, “I don’t want to just see in December, ‘We’re going to throw another $100 billion in disaster relief spending. We’re going to throw $20 billion at a farm product…the speaker said he’s not going to do an omnibus, but I just want to see how this stuff plays out and see how we’re going to organize and how he wants to set up for January to succeed.”
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“We made some baby steps in the last few days, and we need to take some more,” the second lawmaker said.
However, not all conservatives agree – a third lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital said, “I think it’s going to be fine.”
“President Trump came here and endorsed him yesterday. Yesterday was a resounding yes…this isn’t like two years ago,” they said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, others who are inclined to support Johnson in January have also sought commitments from him for the next Congress.
“He promised to work with me on legislation to protect women. He made that promise in front of the Congress, and I’m going to hold him to it,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital.
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Additionally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital that Johnson promised her the House would not pass more aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Both cited Trump’s endorsement, however, in signaling that he has their support in January.
Johnson won the gavel via a unanimous vote by all House Republicans late last year after McCarthy’s ouster.
When reached for comment, his office pointed Fox News Digital to Johnson’s comments after his unanimous election on Wednesday. He said, “The theme that you’ll hear over and over from all of our members across the conference is that we are unified and energized and ready to go. We have to deliver for the American people. Beginning on day one in the new Congress, and we will be ready for that.”