Trump endorses Johnson for speaker days before House leadership elections

Dec 30, 2024

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Ray Bogan Political Correspondent

By Ray Bogan (Political Correspondent), Snorre Wik (Video Editor)

President-elect Donald Trump gave House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., his “Complete & Total Endorsement” to lead the House of Representatives in 2025. This is a significant boost for Johnson, whose reelection prospects were put into question by Republicans who said they may not support him in the wake of the government funding debate.

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Trump wrote a post on Truth Social to endorse Johnson.

“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man,” Trump wrote. “He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!”

“The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration,” Trump continued.

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The immediate relief is key to the Republican’s strategy. The House will convene to choose its new speaker on Friday, Jan. 3, and Congress will meet to certify the results of the presidential election on Monday, Jan. 6. If the speaker election drags on, House members cannot be sworn in and that could delay election certification.

Johnson will need near unanimous approval from the new Republican caucus due to its razor-thin majority. Republicans won 220 seats in November, but at least one member will not take the oath after resigning. Johnson needs a majority vote to take the gavel, which is 218 unless there are absences.

Johnson was well on his way to being elected speaker until the week before Christmas, when Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance’s demands for a debt ceiling extension shot down his government funding package. He eventually got a package over the finish line and avoided a shutdown, but there are multiple conservative fiscal hawks who publicly said they either will not support him or are leaving their options open.

Republicans want to use their new majority to hit the ground running and approve bills that address issues they campaigned on, like immigration and the economy. They say they want to avoid internal fights which could lead to dysfunction, and give the American people reason to question why they put them in power.