House Republicans want to be in Trump’s Cabinet so badly that they—and the president-elect—are willing to leave Speaker Mike Johnson vulnerable in the next Congress.
Trump on Monday announced that New York Representative Elise Stefanik will serve as his U.N. ambassador and Florida Representative Mike Waltz will serve as his national security adviser.
With even more appointments on the way and a slim GOP majority, some Republicans have warned the president-elect’s transition team that they cannot select any more Republican representatives for Trump’s Cabinet. At least 12 other Republican House members have already been floated for Cabinet positions. Five of them are from Florida alone.
“I have 10 colleagues who think they’re going to the Cabinet,” an anonymous House GOP member told CNN. “If we’ve got a four-seat minority, you can let one or two go. But you’re not going to let three or four go.”
“I think we have some really qualified people. But I wouldn’t want to drop us down to a one, two (seat) majority tactically,” said outgoing GOP Representative Kelly Armstrong. “We have a lot of talent.… But you have to give Mike [Johnson] some room to operate.”
Trump may also dip his fingers further into Senate Republicans’ majority, as he already did with his pick of Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state.