House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Thursday canceled his upcoming appearance at Turning Point USA's America Fest in Phoenix after a bipartisan spending package he helped broker collapsed under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump.
The bill, had it passed, would have avoided a partial government shutdown and has put the upcoming speaker vote in focus.
Trump said Thursday, though, Johnson will "easily" keep his role if he "acts decisively and tough" and eliminates "all of the traps being set by Democrats."
"Anybody that supports a bill that doesn't take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible," Trump told Fox News Digital.
Republicans in Congress huddled Thursday to find a path forward after Trump rejected the deal and demanded lawmakers abolish the nation's debt ceiling.
Unless a deal passes the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-majority Senate, the U.S. government will begin a partial shutdown on Saturday that would interrupt funding for everything from air travel to law enforcement in the days leading up to Christmas and cut off paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers. Many government operations, such as Social Security retirement payments, would continue.
The unrest has threatened to topple Johnson, a mild-mannered Louisianan who was thrust unexpectedly into the speaker's office last year after the party's right flank voted out then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy over a government funding bill. Johnson has repeatedly had to turn to Democrats for help in passing legislation when he has been unable to deliver the votes from his own party.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.