Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), Chair of the House Freedom Caucus, told Fox Business that the House GOP needs to consider if new leadership is needed to advance President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
“Before the last couple of weeks, I was in his corner, but now we should consider what’s the best path forward. We do need to consider whether — if we’re going to advance Mr. Trump’s agenda — whether the current leadership is what we need,” he told the outlet, as per Politico.
The House Speaker vote will take place on January 3.
Harris added that Trump needs “strong leadership” in the House due to a thin Republican majority.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) suggested that Elon Musk replace Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as House Speaker.
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Paul wrote 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).”
Other Republicans have floated the idea of ousting Johnson as House Speaker.
“Members are calling Trump to dump Johnson,” a source familiar with the development told The Hill.
A second source said, “The president recognizes that [Johnson] is somebody he can push around,” they added. “I think he’s weighing the benefit of that with, can this guy get it done.”
Another source told the outlet that there are “real concerns about [Johnson’s] ability to manage the place.”
Trump said Johnson can “easily remain Speaker” if he “acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country,” he told Fox News, discussing a spending measure.
