President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly been hearing from several House Republicans about their concerns regarding House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Sources on Capitol Hill and people around Trump told the Hill the group was voicing their worries prior to the recent government funding debacle, the outlet reported on Tuesday.
The Republicans apparently talked with Trump weeks before the “shutdown showdown” and shared their worries about how Johnson has handled different issues, per the Hill. The outlet noted that most of the sources spoke on the condition of anonymity and did not share any of the Republicans’ names.
The report continued:
“Members are calling Trump to dump Johnson,” a Trump World source told The Hill before last week’s funding fight began.
…Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill he was aware of Republicans talking to Trump about concerns with Johnson, noting that the discussions have been ongoing “for a couple of weeks.”
Norman said the GOP gripes have included “that the Democrats have ruled and Johnson doesn’t fight.”
On Thursday, Trump provided a path for Johnson to keep his job as Speaker in the next Congress after he tried to rush a spending measure filled to the brim with pork, Breitbart News reported.
“Johnson will ‘easily remain speaker’ if he ‘acts decisively and tough’ and eliminates ‘all of the traps being set by Democrats’ in the spending package, Trump told Fox News’s Brooke Singman,” the outlet said.
It is important to note that Johnson is reportedly not in Trump’s good graces but needs his support to retain his gavel on January 3 when House Republicans will be able to renew or cancel his speakership, per Breitbart News.
The outlet reported on Friday that Johnson “delivered an early Christmas present to Democrats Friday night by extending spending levels overwhelmingly opposed by Republicans earlier this year.”
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