Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Newsmax on Monday that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., needs to "make some changes" in four days to secure his vote to remain speaker of the 119th Congress.
"Or we might need new leadership," Harris said in an appearance on "Finnerty."
The new Congress will vote Friday for a new speaker, and Johnson's reelection for the gavel is anything but a lock. Harris said there are at least a dozen House Republicans who remain noncommittal about voting for Johnson, while one, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has said he will not vote for Johnson.
"Well, we still have four days left. I'm going to be speaking with the speaker shortly. And I will tell him that he has to make some changes in ... how we are dealing with things in the House," Harris told host Rob Finnerty.
Johnson's handling of the stopgap funding bill ahead of the Dec. 21 deadline turned off many Republicans and enraged conservatives.
It took the House three tries to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government through March 14, and the final version still fell flat with conservatives who raged against the spending levels. And with a 219-215 majority, Johnson can't afford any more defections in addition to Massie.
"[W]e can't have a repeat of what happened two weeks ago when we spent over $110 billion without paying for it. When, you know, President [-elect Donald] Trump supported that bill and still 34 Republicans voted against it," Harris said. "So the process doesn't work that he's using now. He's got to change it."
Harris added that Massie is the only hard "no" vote but that Johnson "has his work cut out for him" to convince the undecided Republicans.
"And, again, the speaker has four days to try to convince people that, again, what happened over the past year, and especially what happened two weeks ago, is not going to happen next year. Because if it does, we will not be able to deliver on President Trump's agenda," Harris added.
Harris said that Trump's full-throated endorsement of Johnson on Monday "didn't change anything for me."
It's all about what Johnson commits to before Friday's vote.
"I know it's New Year's Eve tomorrow, New Year's Day the day after, but we intend to be dealing with this right up until Friday morning. Because I think we all want to see Speaker Johnson succeed, but he is not succeeding," Harris said.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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