President-elect Donald Trump is throwing more weight behind Mike Johnson’s speakership bid, as a handful of Republicans are weighing whether to block Johnson attempt to reclaim the gavel in less than 24 hours.
Johnson’s team and Trump officials have discussed a list of GOP holdouts for the president-elect to call, according to three Republicans who were granted anonymity to speak candidly.
And Johnson has signaled he’s willing to make some concessions to keep the gavel, as hardliners make various demands, including top positions on the Rules Committee and commitments on spending. He told reporters Thursday afternoon that he was “open” to some of the process reforms the hardliners are pushing, though it wasn’t immediately clear what he was referring to.
“He’s been very attentive,” said one Republican familiar with the ongoing conversations with the GOP holdouts.
Trump has argued publicly and privately that Johnson is the only Republican who can secure the 218 necessary to win the post, a critical step for both Trump and GOP lawmakers to quickly implement his agenda.
Trump and key holdout Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) have spoken a couple of times about the speaker race, according to two Republicans familiar with the conversations who were granted anonymity to speak frankly. One said Johnson personally asked Trump to make the call. The other said Roy met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in recent weeks.
Johnson told reporters Thursday that he had not personally asked Trump to make calls on his behalf.
