Mike Johnson's GOP rebels want their own Nancy Pelosi
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) notched a major win Friday by averting a government shutdown, but it has not taken him out of the woods in his fight to retain the speaker's gavel on Jan. 3.
Why it matters: Johnson will likely be able to bank just one GOP defection and still win. Many in the right-wing Freedom Caucus aren't committing to vote for him yet.
- "Everybody's got different issues," Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said of his fellow undecideds – including opinions on what Johnson "should be doing to rally support for various issues."
- Some, he said, wish the notoriously congenial speaker was "more forceful like Nancy Pelosi."
State of play: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said this week he will vote for an alternative candidate – burning the single vote Johnson will likely have to spare in his incoming 219-215 majority.
- Plenty more said they are undecided, including Norman and Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.).
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) floated making Elon Musk speaker, including in a survey sent out by email from her congressional office.
- Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), asked after the Friday spending vote whether he will support Johnson on Jan. 3, told Axios: "No comment."
What they're saying: Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), another undecided, told Axios on Friday that "it's possible" Johnson will have trouble securing the support he needs.
- "I've heard of many frustrations of people outside the Freedom Caucus" as well as inside, Crane added.
- After Friday's vote, Norman told Axios: "We can't let this happen again. We've got to force the issue."
- Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), who told Axios on Wednesday he was supporting Johnson, declared after the vote Friday he was "now undecided."
Between the lines: Johnson, like Kevin McCarthy before him, has faced frequent uprisings from his most right-leaning members for working across the aisle on issues like Ukraine aid and government funding.
- The right has also pressed GOP leadership to be more willing to shut the government down or even allow the U.S. to default on its debts in order to secure concessions from Democrats on spending and social policy.
- Both McCarthy and Johnson have opted to cut deals with Democrats than allow those scenarios to play out.
- Massie and Greene tried to oust Johnson from the speakership in May, but just 10 Republicans voted for the motion to remove him while 163 Democrats crossed the aisle to rescue him.
Yes, but: For the moment, Johnson retains by far the biggest asset of any GOP speaker candidate – the support of President-elect Trump.
- Johnson was unanimously renominated for speaker by the House Republican conference last month after Trump endorsed him in the room.
- Burchett, asked about Johnson's reelection chances on Friday, said Trump "will play a role in that" and that Johnson "did what he asked" on the spending fight.
Zoom in: Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), who has been one of Johnson's harshest critics at times, said the speaker handled the funding fight "the best way that he possibly could."
- "I just don't know who'd be next, and I don't want the chaos. We all want stability," Miller said of the speaker vote.
- Another House Republican who has been critical of Johnson at times told Axios they "haven't heard much about" any organized effort to defeat him.
The bottom line: Johnson will likely have a whip operation on his hands for the two weeks leading up to the vote.
- "It's such a slim majority that he'd be foolish to not want to touch base with everybody just to make sure," said Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.).
