President-elect Donald Trump is souring on House Speaker Mike Johnson over his handling of the continuing resolution and has expressed that if a speaker fight occurs in January, he might not back him.
The speaker’s staff and Trump’s staff were in communication over what the continuing resolution would look like, and a source close to Trump told NOTUS that Trump originally blessed Johnson’s plan for a three-month continuing resolution. But the source said that the president-elect was blindsided when the bill came out and it was stacked full of what he and his allies viewed as unnecessary spending and Democratic priorities.
Sen. Josh Hawley told CNN as much on Wednesday, as well as telling the outlet that Trump told him “that Mike Johnson hasn’t talked to him about all of this and about what’s in the CR.”
This all played into Trump souring on the speaker, who he has backed during a tumultuous Congress and saved from being ousted once already earlier this year.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump told Fox News Digital that Johnson would “easily remain speaker” next Congress if he “acts decisively and tough” on the continuing resolution.
But one former senior Trump campaign official told NOTUS that following Johnson’s handling of the continuing resolution, the incoming president has privately expressed he might not save him this go-around if there is a speaker’s fight at the start of next year.
Johnson “just lost some juice with DJT, ” the source close to Trump said. “Treacherous territory he’s in.”
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Trump referred NOTUS to the interview he gave Fox News. A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump also spoke to NBC News, where he said what Johnson did on Wednesday was “unacceptable” and said “we’ll see” when asked if he still has confidence in the speaker.
Throughout the day on Wednesday, the dominoes continued to fall on Johnson’s speakership as members said one by one that they did not support the CR plan. Elon Musk led the charge on X, continually trying to tank the deal by threatening lawmakers who planned to vote for it. Once the wheels began to fall off the plan, Trump came out to publicly oppose it and urge the House to pass a continuing resolution that included a debt ceiling increase — an even more difficult task.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was noncommittal Wednesday night about getting a debt ceiling increase into the continuing resolution.
“We’re not there yet,” Scalise said when asked if they’re going to include a debt ceiling increase in the continuing resolution. “We’re still having conversations.”
Trump himself on Wednesday night threatened to primary any Republican who voted for a continuing resolution that did not include a debt ceiling increase.
And Thursday morning, he told NBC News that he even endorsed the idea of getting rid of the debt ceiling, saying, “If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge.”
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Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.