House Freedom Caucus warns Johnson to pass Trump's agenda or face leadership challenge

The House Freedom Caucus on Friday sent a warning to fellow House Republicans and newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, claiming they could renegotiate leadership positions in the House if the chamber does not quickly deliver on President-elect Donald Trump's agenda.

Johnson was reelected as House speaker in a 218-215 vote earlier Friday, despite criticism from several prominent GOP lawmakers. Every Republican lawmaker voted for Johnson except for Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. 

Eleven members of the House Freedom Caucus said they helped elect Johnson because of Trump's support for the speaker, but that they still had reservations about how effective he would be. Trump endorsed Johnson for speaker earlier this week.

"To deliver on the historic mandate earned by President Trump for the Republican Party, we must be organized to use reconciliation — and all legislative tools — to deliver on critical border security, spending cuts, pro-growth tax policy, regulatory reform, and the reversal of the damage done by the Biden-Harris administration," the lawmakers wrote. 

The caucus said Johnson should make some changes in order to achieve Trump's vision, including extending the House calendar to work on all five business days for the first 10 weeks of the new term. They also asked Johnson to ensure that all reconciliation packages reduce government spending and the deficit.

They also urged Johnson to put bills forward that would help achieve Trump's policy goals including securing the border, lowering inflation, and ending stock trading by members of Congress, among others.

"There is always room to negotiate on so-called 'leadership' positions under the rules; in the meantime, each one of our election certificates is still equal," the letter concluded. "Personalities can be debated later, but right now there is zero room for error on the policies the American people demanded when they voted for President Trump — the ones necessary to save the country."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.