Speaker Johnson Says He’s Not Concerned About Possibly Being Ousted

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Dec. 12, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Jan. 10 that he is not concerned about the possibility of being stripped of the position of being second in line to the presidency over a spending deal he made with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“I’m not concerned about that,” said Mr. Johnson during the House GOP press conference following the weekly conference meeting. This answer was in response to a question about a possible motion to vacate the speaker’s chair in response to the spending agreement.

When asked by CNN on Jan. 8 about a possible motion to vacate to oust Mr. Johnson, Mr. Roy did not rule out that possibility, but said he would not prefer that path. It only takes one House member to put forth such a motion.

Mr. Johnson said Mr. Roy is one of his “closest friends,” and that they “agree on almost everything in principle.”

“What I’ve talked with him about is the reality of being in what is soon to be the smallest majority in the history of the Congress except for one exception, I think, in 1917, according to my research,” the speaker continued.

Slim Majority

The GOP is set to go from having 220 to 219 seats, just one seat more than the number of seats needed to have the majority in the House, following the retirement of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the expulsion of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) following a House Ethics Committee report alleging he misused and broke laws surrounding campaign finances, and the Jan. 21 retirement of Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), who will become the president of Youngstown University the following day.

This comes ahead of the first round of government funding set to expire on Jan. 19 and the remainder on Feb. 2. The former relates to food safety, housing, and transportation, while the latter surrounds the military, scientific research, and national parks.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Jan. 9 that a continuing resolution (CR) to keep funding the government at current spending levels will be needed, setting up an inevitable fight with House Republicans.

While there is an agreement on the top-line government funding amount for the fiscal 2024 year, he said Congress needs to prevent a government shutdown.

“And so, the obvious question is how long does the CR need to be. And that will be up to the majority leader and the speaker to determine the length of the CR.”

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) also weighed in.

“We ought to allow some time to do some work on the other bills and, if there is a CR, maybe in the March time frame,” Mr. Thune told reporters.

The government funding deal between Mr. Johnson and Mr. Schumer, which was reached over the weekend, consists of the top line at $1.59 trillion with $69 billion in discretionary spending that was in a side deal struck earlier this year between Mr. McCarthy and President Joe Biden—bringing the total spending amount to almost $1.66 trillion.

The $1.59 trillion figure was also agreed to by Mr. McCarthy and President Biden as part of increasing the debt ceiling.

Mr. Johnson’s office sent a memo to members saying that “the speaker negotiated from a position of strength with the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House to deliver the most favorable budget agreement Republicans have achieved in over a decade.” The office cited a possible $200 billion in cuts over the next 10 years, with $16 billion in cuts this year.

The budget deal includes $886 billion in defense spending, with a 5.2 percent pay raise for members of the military and $704 billion for other discretionary spending.

Not Ruling Anything Out

The deal made between Mr. Schumer and Mr. Johnson includes $10 billion in additional IRS personnel cuts this year on top of the $10 billion in such cuts already set for this year under the debt ceiling agreement. That means that IRS personnel cuts scheduled for next year were moved to this year.

It also consists of $6.1 billion in COVID spending cuts.

Moreover, Mr. Johnson’s office said the deal allows for Republicans to fight for more conservative victories such as appropriations policy riders and reprioritizing funding along the lines of the top-line spending figure.

But the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus slammed the deal in a statement on social media, calling it a “total failure” and “even worse than we thought.”

Some Republicans are calling for shutting down the government.

“SHUT DOWN THE BORDER OR SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) posted on X.

Mr. Roy told Iris Tao of The Epoch Times’ sister outlet, NTD, that Republicans can’t do what they usually do, “which is ... to go cut some watered-down deal that won’t do the job in order to get something else.”

Finally, Mr. Johnson did not rule out the possibility of a continuing resolution to fund the government at current levels.

“I’m not ruling out anything, committing to anything other than getting these appropriations done,” he said. “And I think we can. And we’re pushing everybody hard. I mean, they’re working overtime, and dutifully and valiantly. And I’m very optimistic we can get it done.”

Mr. Johnson said that congressional leadership, appropriators, and congressional staff have been working hard to reach final spending appropriations levels that can pass both chambers of Congress.