President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News Digital that House Speaker Mike Johnson will “easily remain speaker” in the next Congress if he “acts decisively and tough” and avoids “all of the traps being set by Democrats” in the spending package.
Fox News spoke with the president-elect after the bipartisan deal to prevent a partial government shutdown collapsed. “Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible,” Trump told the outlet.
Vice President-elect JD Vance met with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday night to discuss the potential continuing resolution. The two spoke for about an hour, with Vance describing the meeting as a “productive conversation.” He expressed confidence that they would “be able to solve some problems here” and committed to “working on it” further.
The turmoil over efforts to pass legislation to prevent a government shutdown has drawn attention to the upcoming speaker vote, as Johnson has faced challenges in maintaining full party unity, Fox noted further.
However, President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News Digital that he believes Johnson will “easily” retain his role as speaker.
“If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,” Trump told Fox.
The speaker vote is set for Jan. 3, 2025.
Meanwhile, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) unleashed a fiery tirade on the House floor Thursday, criticizing his Republican colleagues for supporting a bill that would raise the debt ceiling by trillions of dollars.
Roy’s outburst followed sharp criticism from President-elect Donald Trump on social media, accusing Roy of refusing to align with the party. In response, Roy delivered a passionate speech accusing his colleagues of betraying their constituents.
“What we’re doing right now is to continue to double down on the things that are destroying the Republic. We are going to increase the debt ceiling not just four trillion, that’s false. We have spent $4.7 trillion in additional debt in the last nineteen months,” he said.
“We’re gonna increase the debt by $5 trillion. That’s what’s gonna happen. Right here, by Republicans, increasing the debt $5 trillion, and what are you doing in the same bill? $110 billion unpaid for!” he railed.
“Because you never have any ounce of self-respect to go out and campaign, saying you’re going to do balance the budget, and then you come in here and pass $110 billion unpaid for!” Roy added.
“The fact of the matter is $330 billion, congratulations, you’ve added to the debt since you were given the majority again in November 5th. It’s embarrassing! It’s shameful!” the Texas Republican railed on.
“Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday on certain respects, but to take this bill yesterday and congratulate yourself because it’s shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion is asinine! And that’s precisely what Republicans are doing,” he said. “I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go forward to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible. It is absolutely ridiculous.”
Separately, top Democrats have no plans to object to the certification of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory on Jan. 6, 2025.
“They also anticipate that Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the joint session of Congress to count Trump’s presidential electors precisely the way her predecessors have, taking no active role in the proceedings and tallying the results certified by the states. The result: a quick and simple transfer of power that will culminate on Jan. 20 when Trump takes the oath of office,” Politico reported after speaking with several top Republicans and Democrats.
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