Conservative hardliner Rep. Chip Roy believes that Speaker Mike Johnson lacks the votes needed to hold onto the speaker’s gavel in the next Congress.
The House of Representatives will convene its speakership race for the 119th Congress on Friday. President-elect Donald Trump has urged Republicans to coalesce behind Johnson (R-La.) — but Roy (R-Texas) indicated that did little to sway the undecideds.
“I remain undecided, as do a number of my colleagues, because we saw so many of the failures last year that we are concerned about that might limit or inhibit our ability to advance the president’s agenda,” Roy told Fox Business’ “Varney & Co.”
On Monday, Trump, 78, gave Johnson, 52, his “Complete & Total Endorsement” and urged Republicans not to “BLOW THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHICH WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN.”
Roy, 52, who endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP primary, is a fiscal hawk when it comes to government spending.
Earlier this month, he elicited Trump’s wrath during negotiations for a stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown. Roy ultimately opposed the eventual bill.
Nearly two years ago, Roy had been one of the more than 20 House Republicans who initially opposed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and forced him to sit through 15 rounds of votes to nab the gavel.
Roy later went against the mutiny championed by former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to overthrow McCarthy but then helped the failed May effort to oust Johnson.
Johnson has pushed through five stopgap measures to fund the government without major spending cuts attached — a massive pet peeve for Roy.
Numerous House Republicans have cast doubt on Johnson’s speakership bid.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has indicated he will oppose Johnson, while others such as Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Andry Harris (R-Md.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) have said they are undecided.
Republicans will start off with 219 lawmakers in the House on Friday, meaning Johnson can only afford to lose one vote to hit the needed 218 threshold, unless certain reps decide to vote “Present.”
“Right now, I don’t believe he has the votes on Friday,” Roy added to Fox Business.
The Texan didn’t rule out supporting Johnson eventually but pitched Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as potential alternatives. None of those men were able to garner the votes needed to succeed McCarthy and Jordan publicly backed Johnson.
“Mike’s a friend and maybe he can answer the call and deliver an agenda and a plan. Byron Donalds is a good man and a good friend. I nominated him two years ago. Jim Jordan’s a good man and a good friend,” Roy added.
“There are other members of leadership in the conference who could do the job.”
In addition to his gripes over the stopgap measure, Roy raged about how Johnson flouted the so-called 72-hour rule intended to give lawmakers time to parse through legislation before it comes up for a vote.
Defenders of Johnson contend that because of hardline Republican resistance to compromising on spending, GOP leadership has a weaker negotiating hand with Democrats on key legislation.
Democrats held the Senate and White House during his tenure as speaker.
The vote on Friday will be a key test of Republicans’ ability to unify and govern with a threadbare majority in the lower chamber, particularly in the wake of struggles in the 118th Congress to hold onto a speaker and navigate dicey spending issues.
During Trump’s first two years in the White House, he had significantly more breathing room in the House. With the slimmer margins, hardline fiscal hawks are hoping to extract more spending cuts.
