Republican Rep. Chip Roy said Tuesday he doesn’t believe House Speaker Mike Johnson has the necessary votes to remain speaker in Friday’s leadership election.
“Right now, I don’t think he has the votes on Friday, and I think we need to have a conference so we can come together,” Roy told Fox Business.
The speakers’ vote comes after some House Republicans became frustrated with Johnson in the final days of the 118th Congress, and bitter battle over spending this almost caused a government shutdown before Christmas.
Roy is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, whose leader, Rep. Andy Harris, has also said he is undecided whether to back Johnson. By ABC News’ count, they are among 15 House Republicans who are undecided about whether to vote for Johnson.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, on December 20, 2024, after passing a funding bill to avert a government shutdown.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Based on Friday’s voter turnout, Johnson can afford to lose just one Republican vote to win the slate.
The recent resignation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz will leave the House with 434 members — 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats.
Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, has already said he will not endorse Johnson, even after President-elect Donald Trump endorsed him on Monday. GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana and several other members have also expressed skepticism about Johnson.
“Victoria is a good friend and Thomas is a good friend and they raise reasonable concerns,” Roy told Fox. “Like some of my colleagues, I remain undecided because we saw so many failures last year that we are concerned it could limit or impede our ability to carry out the president’s agenda.”
Roy expressed concern over events on Capitol Hill in the week before Christmas, including the original government finance bill that Trump and his allies torpedoed.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who Trump picked to lead the new private consultancy “Department of Government Efficiency,” initially scoffed at a bipartisan funding bill that would have averted the shutdown in an X post as the House prepared to vote. Later, Trump gave one. statement opposing the bill and calling for the inclusion of provisions to raise or remove the nation’s debt ceiling before its inauguration on January 20.
The bipartisan bill ultimately failed. A bill containing Trump’s debt demands also failed. A third attempt, which included $100 billion in disaster relief, $30 billion for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill, provisions in the original measure, passed the House 11 hours and 38 minutes before the deadline. the senate
The rush to pass the bill ahead of the deadline led Johnson to sidestep a rule that allows members to read legislation 72 hours before a vote.
Trump endorsed Johnson on Monday, saying that “Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard-working, religious man,” Trump said at the end of a lengthy social media post. “He’s going to do the right thing, and we’re going to keep WINNING. Mike’s got my all & full approval.”
Musk also backed Johnson on Monday, writing on X: “I feel the same way! You have my full support.”
But that seems to have done little to ease Roy’s worries.
“I respect that President Trump supports Mike, as does Thomas, he’s a good friend, but let’s consider what happened the week before Christmas,” Roy said.
Roy said the Republican conference needs to get on the same page before Friday.
“What we need to do is come together on a plan to give to the president. Right now I don’t think the conference has that,” Roy said.
Spartz said Monday that some of his GOP colleagues are interested in the speaker’s gavel, but he wouldn’t say which members because they don’t want to publicly oppose Johnson.
