GOP Rep Demands 'Assurances' from Mike Johnson Ahead of Speaker Vote
GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana announced Monday that she is not ready to commit to voting for House Speaker Mike Johnson to retain his post in the next Congress.
Spartz posted on X, “I understand why President Trump is endorsing Speaker Johnson as he did Speaker Ryan, which is definitely important. However, we still need to get assurances that [Speaker Johnson] won’t sell us out to the swamp.”
The lawmaker linked to a Politico article from 2016 reporting that Trump had decided to endorse then-House Speaker Paul Ryan and then-Sen. John McCain in their primary contests.
Politico noted that Trump had emphasized how important it would be to have a unified party, hence his decision to back Ryan and McCain. Ryan had endorsed the Republican presidential nominee but noted he could rescind it if he deemed it necessary. McCain ultimately did unendorse Trump.
I understand why President Trump is endorsing Speaker Johnson as he did Speaker Ryan, which is definitely important. However, we still need to get assurances that @SpeakerJohnson won’t sell us out to the swamp.
Donald Trump endorses Paul Ryan, John McCain https://t.co/Xa0tcTKpWk
— Rep. Victoria Spartz (@RepSpartz) December 30, 2024
So Spartz appeared to be arguing that Trump is endorsing Johnson out of political expediency, but it could end up as badly with the current speaker as it did with Ryan and McCain for the president-elect during his first term.
“President Trump will be able to save America only if we have a speaker with courage, vision and a plan — also public commitment to the American people how he will help deliver President Trump’s agenda to drain the swamp,” Spartz added in another post on X.
President Trump will be able to save America only if we have a speaker with courage, vision and a plan – also public commitment to the American people how he will help deliver President Trump’s agenda to drain the swamp.
— Rep. Victoria Spartz (@RepSpartz) December 30, 2024
The congresswoman also released a statement Monday, saying in part, “Congress has abandoned its constitutional duty to the American people to properly oversee the spending of their hard-earned money paid as taxes. Our next speaker must show courageous leadership to get our country back on track before this ‘Titanic’ strikes an iceberg at any moment.”
Spartz wants to see at least temporary structures put in place that include offset policies (any new spending being offset by reducing existing expenditures) and spending audits.
“We must have a vision and a concrete PLAN to deliver on President Trump’s agenda for the American people, which I have not seen from our current speaker despite countless discussions and public promises,” she said.
“The fate of our Republic is at stake and Congress, the ARTICLE 1 BRANCH, with its supreme powers of creating laws and managing our nation’s finances, must start fulfilling its CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES — not selling out our Republic at the expense of our children,” Spartz argued.
The lawmaker stated Monday on Fox News that if Johnson cannot commit to a plan, there are other GOP members who are interested in the job. They will come forward if Johnson fails to secure the votes needed.
“We will have a speaker, and there are a lot of great people that will be willing to step up,” Spartz said.
Johnson can only afford to lose the support of one Republican House member and still be re-elected speaker.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has already announced that he is a “no” vote, and some other Republican members are non-committal.
Trump endorsed Johnson to remain speaker on Monday, saying in a Truth Social post that he is a “good, hard working, religious man” who “will do the right thing.”
The speaker faced strong criticism from within his ranks for negotiating a massive spending bill with Democrats earlier this month that ultimately was replaced with a slimmed-down version, which passed with more Democrats than Republicans voting for it. Thirty-four GOP lawmakers voted against it.
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