House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris told Fox Business on Thursday that the chamber’s Republicans need to consider if current leadership “is what we need” going into unified GOP government next year.
“Before the last couple of weeks, I was in his corner, but now we should consider what’s the best path forward,” Harris (R-Md.) said of Speaker Mike Johnson. “We do need to consider whether — if we’re going to advance Mr. Trump’s agenda — whether the current leadership is what we need.”
Harris’ comments come after he signaled last week that he was on the fence about whether or not to support Johnson during the Jan. 3 speaker vote, saying in a statement that he was “now undecided on what House leadership should look like in the 119th Congress.”
Johnson is on thin ice with his right flank after his handling of short-term government funding. Though the speaker kept opposition on the final proposal, which will fund the government until mid-March, at only 34 GOP no votes, he sparked conference-wide frustration over his handling of the funding debate.
The growing ire toward Johnson is coming at a bad moment for the Louisiana Republican’s political future. Because Republicans are expected to have a 219-215 majority on Jan. 3, due to Matt Gaetz’s early resignation, Johnson can only afford to have one Republican vote against him.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) became the first Republican to vow to vote for someone else. But several Republicans, including Harris, have said they are undecided or have refused to say if they will support Johnson in the wake of the continuing resolution.
Some of Johnson’s allies have publicly urged Trump to back him before the vote to help shore up his support and reduce the chances of a protracted speaker gavel fight. They’ve also warned that if they can’t quickly settle the speaker race, they risk not being able to certify Trump’s electoral college win on Jan. 6.
Johnson has worked hard to keep Trump on his side. And while the president-elect hasn’t publicly crossed Johnson since the funding debate, one Trump adviser told POLITICO earlier this month that there wouldn’t be pushback if someone challenged Johnson.
Harris on Thursday said that Trump is going to need “strong leadership” given House Republicans’ thin margins and floated that the incoming president is “evaluating whether that exists.”
Though Harris said on Thursday that he was supporting Johnson until his handling of the spending debate, he floated Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as a potential speaker candidate during a campaign stop with outgoing Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) and other Freedom Caucus members in March. Jordan has repeatedly said that he is not running for the speaker’s gavel, or any other leadership position.
“I like Jim Jordan. I think he should have a shot at being speaker. I think he will have a shot at being speaker after the election,” Harris said in March, while explaining why he didn’t support a potential ouster vote against Johnson at that time.
Jordan was one of the GOP’s speaker nominees last year in the wake of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster but he was unable to get 218 votes on the floor.
