House Speaker Mike Johnson and the rest of the current House GOP leadership are urging their colleagues to reelect them to the same positions in the next Congress, another sign that Republicans believe they will again control the lower chamber.
Mr. Johnson’s pitch to House Republicans centered on his playbook that would prime a Republican-controlled government to hit the ground running during President-elect Donald Trump’s first 100 days.
That plan includes following up likely executive action from Mr. Trump on the border with tough border security legislation akin to the House GOP’s marquee border bill, the Secure the Border Act; extending the Trump-era tax cuts; bolstering manufacturing in the U.S.; gutting the Biden administration’s climate policy to begin producing more energy domestically and taking a hatchet to a swathe of federal regulations.
“I’m ready to take the field with all of you, and I am humbly asking for your support to continue leading this conference as your Speaker,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve with you thus far, and I look forward to playing the biggest offense of our lives. We have a country to save — and we will.”
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican; House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana; House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York all sent letters on Wednesday and Thursday pitching to lawmakers why they should keep their jobs in House leadership.
House Republicans are slated to hold candidate forums and an internal election for the leadership roles on Wednesday.
Whether Mr. Johnson keeps his job first hinges on if the GOP holds onto the House. So far, Republicans are defying expectations and holding onto key seats and flipping others, but 34 races have yet to be called and Democrats remain confident that they have a path to victory.
If Republicans hold on, Mr. Johnson will also have to win over his main antagonists in the House: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Next week’s leadership election only requires a simple majority of support, but when Congress convenes for a new session in early January, Mr. Johnson will need near-unanimous support from the House GOP to win the gavel once more.
In his pitch for House majority leader, Mr. Scalise, Louisiana Republican, similarly highlighted the GOP’s first 100 days playbook, and touted his experience working with the first Trump administration as House Majority Whip in 2017 to hammer out Mr. Trump’s tax relief package.
“Next Congress, we will be closely aligned with President Trump and Senate Republicans every step of the way to ensure success,” he wrote. “I have already met with President Trump multiple times during the last year to discuss our shared goals so we will be ready to begin this work quickly and hit the ground running on day one in January.”
Mr. Emmer touched on his work as the previous chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which gave the GOP its slim majority in 2022, and how he has worked to bridge policy differences and disagreements within the conference to get bills passed.
His position during the 118th Congress was tricky, with an unruly House Republican conference often going rogue on key bills, especially once former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was booted from office in October 2023.
“I will always be direct, honest, and transparent,” Mr. Emmer wrote. “I will never make false promises or try to buy your votes. As Majority Whip, my role is to support every member of this conference to help you be successful. It is only by empowering you that we can seize the opportunity in front of us and put our country on a better path.”
As House Republican Conference chair, Ms. Stefanik’s role is to craft messaging for Republicans on any given bill or policy issue. She touted her revamped approach to Republican messaging, and said that during the near monthlong drama of finding a new speaker last year, she kept Republicans on message.
“Together, House Republicans stayed disciplined, elevated all members, and offered the American people an alternative conservative America First vision to the Biden-Harris crises,” Ms. Stefanik wrote. “In return, the American people have entrusted us with the majority and we must deliver real results quickly.”
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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