Mike Johnson's speakership hangs in the balance as Trump tanks CR

Mike Johnson's speakership may be in jeopardy after President-elect Donald Trump and his political allies quickly tanked Johnson's funding bill.

After several delays, Johnson's continuing resolution was made public Tuesday night just days before the December 20 funding deadline. The 1,547-page CR quickly became the center of criticism, with political heavyweights like Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and even Trump weighing in on the funding fiasco.

'DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday.'

Trump added fuel to the fire and demanded that the debt ceiling, which is set to expire in June, also be negotiated before he enters office. Trump further threatened to primary Republicans who failed to do so.

"If Republicans try to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without all of the Democrat 'bells and whistles' that will be so destructive to our Country, all it will do, after January 20th, is bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration, rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden Administration," Trump added. "Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried."

"Increasing the debt ceiling is not great, but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch," Trump said in a joint statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance on Wednesday. "If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration? Let’s have this debate now. And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want."

In fewer than 24 hours, the CR was scrapped, and Johnson went back to the drawing board. Confidence in Johnson's speakership has subsequently wavered.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

When Trump was asked whether he still had confidence in Johnson, he pointed to the CR as evidence of failure.

“We'll see," Trump said. "What they had yesterday was unacceptable. In many ways it was unacceptable. It’s a Democrat trap."

Other lawmakers called Johnson's speakership into question and even floated alternative candidates for the role.

"The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress..." Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said in a Thursday post on X. "Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk... think about it... nothing's impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka 'uniparty,' lose their ever-lovin' minds)."

"I'd be open to supporting Elon Musk for Speaker of the House," Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said in response to Paul's post. "DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way."

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