Conservatives seek commitments as Johnson scrambles for Speaker votes

A dozen hard-line House conservatives are demanding a host of amorphous commitments from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to win their support Friday, throwing his leadership tenure into uncertainty less than 24 hours before the vote.

The holdouts are largely seeking promises on spending cuts and assurances that rank-and-file members will be involved in negotiations for high-stakes legislation moving forward, multiple sources told The Hill, two topics that hard-line Republicans have griped about for months.

“I would say it’s two things: One, we want a real commitment for real spending cuts. And then the other thing is that we want him to start using the members to negotiate these bills and what’s gonna be in these packages. Let the members work it out amongst each other, not the staff,” one House Republican who is undecided on supporting Johnson told The Hill on Thursday.

Johnson voiced optimism Thursday about the Friday vote.

“People are talking through process changes they want, and those kinds of things. And I'm open to that. And I think tomorrow’s going to go well," he said.

One source said each of the holdouts had specific, individual concerns, making it more difficult for Johnson to appease the entire group.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, for example, has aired annoyance about how funding for the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was handled in December’s spending bill, three sources told The Hill. Harris wanted the bill to prevent renaming of the bridge — something that activists had called for because Key owned slaves — and wanted a project labor agreement to not be required, but allowed.

But Johnson, two sources said, has been clear that he does not want to make side deals with different factions of House Republicans as former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) did when he went 15 rounds over four days to secure the Speaker’s gavel in 2023.

“Johnson’s really adamant on, he’s not making any deals. He’s been very, very, very adamant,” a senior House Republican told The Hill on Thursday.

The Speaker is in an incredibly precarious position as he fields those frustrations.

Johnson cannot afford to lose more than one Republican in the Speakership vote, assuming all members are present and voting. All Democrats are expected to be present Friday to vote for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the Democratic whip’s office told The Hill, meaning Johnson will not get any wiggle room from their absences.

Johnson has already lost one member: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who is widely seen as being immovable as he publicly criticizes Johnson’s handling of spending matters and working with Democrats to pass legislation over the last year.

And he faces another critical wildcard in Rep. Victoria Spartz, the historically unpredictable Indiana Republican who recently called on Johnson to make a series of public commitments on spending issues.

“I think those are your big two right now,” the senior House Republican said of Massie and Spartz.

Spartz met with Johnson on Thursday, telling reporters after the huddle that she would decide her vote on Friday — the day of the election.

“We had a good conversation, I think he’s agreeing with a lot of stuff, but it’s tough to deliver,” Spartz said.

Republican Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Eric Burlison (Mo.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Scott Perry (Pa.), and Harris, among others, have also not taken a public stance on Johnson’s bid.

Johnson was at the Capitol on Thursday meeting with many of those holdouts, continuing conversations he has conducted over recent days.

“I don’t know how long he can sustain this, but literally Johnson is talking to everyone,” the senior House Republican said. “He’s not delegating hardly anything.”

But the sizable number of GOP holdouts is spelling trouble for Johnson’s chances of keeping hold of the gavel Friday, when the House convenes for the first day of the 119th Congress and will be tasked with electing a Speaker before it can conduct any other business.

President-elect Trump has endorsed Johnson to be Speaker again, saying that Republicans should “NOT BLOW THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY” and work quickly to implement the new Republican agenda. But holdouts on Johnson argue that they are trying to ensure he is the right man to implement Trump’s priorities.

“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 said Tuesday on “Varney & Co.” on Fox Business.

“Right now, I don’t believe he has the votes on Friday,” he later added.

That outlook, however, appears to be turning rosier — according to one holdout.

The undecided House Republican told The Hill on Thursday that Johnson was “making some progress,” noting that the Speaker acknowledged "some of the failures of the past, and is trying to course correct and create some systemic changes in the way his office functions, which is what we need to hear.”

“Something substantively has to change in the way in which we function, and I think that he’s moving in that direction, which is good,” they added.

The lawmaker predicted the group would ultimately back Johnson, but would not say if that support would come before the first round of voting Friday or after the Louisiana Republican faced a few failed ballots. The member said they would speak to colleagues ahead of Friday’s vote.

“We’re probably likely to support Johnson, but want to basically get a vision put down on paper and understand that things are gonna change going forward,” the undecided House Republican said.

Yet there is still a high likelihood that Johnson is forced into multiple ballots Friday as hard-liners work to up the pressure on spending on process points.

One item that was a key point of contention with McCarthy two years ago, the threshold on a the “motion to vacate” the Speaker, appears to be a settled matter this time around, sources said. That is a contrast to holdouts on McCarthy in 2023, who made allowing any single member to trigger a recall vote central to their eventual support.

Leaders of the House Freedom Caucus and anti-chaos conservatives in the Main Street Caucus in November struck a deal to raise the threshold to trigger a snap vote on ousting the speaker to nine members, and the House Rules package text released Wednesday — which members are set to vote on after electing the Speaker — reflected that agreement.

As of Thursday, it did not appear that Republicans were looking to reopen that matter.

“That issue for the most part I think has been put to bed,” the senior House Republican said.

Mike Lillis contributed.

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