The warm-up begins for the first political fight of the new year in Washington. The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, provided this Monday on his social network, Truth, his “total and absolute support” to the current president of the House of Representatives, Republican congressman from Louisiana Mike Johnson, in his intention to renew his placed at the head of his party and as the third authority in the country. Voting to elect speaker It is scheduled for January 3, next Friday, when the composition of the 435 seats in the Chamber is renewed, which, after the results of the November elections, the conservatives control by a minimal advantage (220-215).
Trump aligns himself with Johnson two weeks after his authority over the party was questioned with the latest Capitol crisis in 2024, a year that has been characterized by internal struggles and legislative gangrene. Democrats and Republicans had reached an agreement after months of negotiations to advance a law that guaranteed temporary financing of the Administration until March. But then, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and the new president’s closest and most recent ally, entered the scene.
A series of tweets were enough for Musk to overthrow that pact and force two new votes until the Lower House reached a compromise that prevented the closure of the Government, and, among other things, the interruption of the payment of salaries of some 875,000 officials in the middle of Christmas. A new rule had to be hurriedly renegotiated that left out some of the provisions of the first. Along the way, there were measures to reduce the cost of medicines, money to promote medical research and limits on investments in China.
Next Friday’s vote promises to be a severe test of Johnson’s ability to lead his party and move forward with Congress’ legislative initiative. Two years ago, it took up to 15 rounds of voting and a good handful of concessions to the hardline of Trumpism to elect his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. He only lasted 10 months in the position, from which he was evicted through a motion of confidence promoted by former congressman Matt Gaetz. The support of Trump, who has control of both Houses and needs them to move forward with his agenda as soon as possible, is a wake-up call to representatives who want to go off script. Trump theoretically exercises enormous power over American conservatism, which he has molded in his image and likeness.
Friday will serve to test how far this capacity for persuasion really goes in a country where there is no such thing as party discipline. To force the hand of those who do not plan to support Johnson, Trump has the veiled threat of not supporting those who abandon the path indicated by him in the next legislative elections of 2026. If the president-elect decides to request the vote for another candidate in those primaries, could mean the end of the political career of the wayward congressmen. When the government shutdown crisis occurred, one of them, Chip Roy (Texas), openly confronted the president-elect, who reacted by insulting him on his social networks. There is another, libertarian Thomas Massie, who announced that he would not vote for Johnson on January 3.
And that is not good news for the current speaker. He needs all but one of his party’s votes, since it is highly unlikely that he will receive the endorsement of any of the Democratic congressmen. Another problem is added for Johnson. Trump recruited Gaetz for his government in formation, whom he wanted to hire as attorney general, but he had to resign harassed by a scandal of sexual relations with a minor, prostitution and drug use. He is no longer a congressman either, so the president of the House of Representatives has a limit of 219 votes, and needs 218.
The message with which Trump mediates a brewing dispute in the Republican Party dedicates only a couple of sentences to Johnson at the end of a string of ideas that mix his latest obsessions, that particular use of capital letters, his trademark, the trend to exaggerate and a few jabs at the Democrats. “We are the party of COMMON SENSE, one of the main reasons why we WON, in a landslide, the magnificent and historic 2024 Presidential Election. [Nos llevamos] ALL SEVEN DECISIVE STATES, [obtuvimos] 312 VOTES IN THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND [vencimos en] THE POPULAR VOTE OF MILLIONS OF VOTERS (Despite the large-scale voter fraud occurring in numerous states, including California, where votes remain ridiculously counted or under review!), WE WON EASILY, CALMLY AND PROFESSIONALISM. “The Republicans are being praised for having carried out a ‘legendary’ campaign!” says the president-elect at the beginning of the message.
Criticism of Harris
He then launches into criticizing Kamala Harris’ campaign for having “wasted $2.5 billion.” [de financiación]many of them without justification, and some used to buy support illegally (11 million dollars to Beyoncé, who never sang a song, two million dollars to Oprah for doing almost nothing, and even 500,000 dollars to the Reverend AL [Sharpton]a professional scammer and instigator, who agreed to “interview” his “embellished” candidates, Kamala and Joe).” Trump has been drawing blood for several days from the Democrats’ decision to pull his agenda of famous friends, who gave them support that was of little use. After that, the president-elect complains again about the political persecution that he maintains that he suffered from the Department of Justice and the FBI during the four years in which he was not in the White House, in which he was accused in four criminal trials of a total of 91 serious crimes and convicted in one of those processes.
The message ends with the statement that “the American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all the destructive policies of the last administration,” and with “full and absolute support” for Johnson,” “a good, hardworking, religious man.” “He will do the right thing and we will continue WINNING.” The post ends with the usual shout “MAGA!!!”, acronym for Make America Great Again.
To do this, Trump first needs to restore sanity to the Republican Party in the United States Congress.
