Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise (R-La.) formally requested Home Republicans to reelect them to their management posts in letters despatched to GOP members on Wednesday.
The asks come forward of management elections scheduled for Dec. 13.
Additionally they come as election forecasters at Determination Desk HQ and elsewhere have not but decided that they’ve sufficient help to maintain management of the decrease chamber. Republicans appeared in good condition to maintain management of the Home on Wednesday, however the remaining breakdown stays unclear, and Democrats are additionally saying they see a path to victory.
Johnson, in his letter, introduced up the legislative plans he has been engaged on for months to rapidly push by way of conservative insurance policies in President-elect Trump’s new administration.
“To truly make America great again, we will need to begin delivering for the people on day one. In preparation, we have worked diligently for the past year to be ready with a priority list of key conservative policy wins that we can achieve together with our Senate Republican colleagues, working hand-in-hand with the new Trump Administration,” Johnson stated within the letter to colleagues.
“We can secure our borders, prioritize the needs of Americans above foreigners, promote investment and opportunity through the tax code, return to American energy dominance, dramatically reduce regulations, expand school choice, end the woke agenda, and restore fiscal sanity to Washington — among other pressing items,” Johnson stated.
Johnson, who was elected to the Speakership a bit greater than a yr in the past after the historic ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), added that 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.”
In subsequent week’s management elections, Republicans anticipating to be within the majority will nominate a candidate for Speaker by a easy majority of all returning and incoming Home Republicans.
However the Speaker can even must safe a majority help on the Home ground when the brand new Congress convenes on Jan. 3, a dynamic that requires near-unanimous GOP help since Democrats will vote for their very own chief.
Johnson has some antagonists within the Home GOP, with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) main a failed effort to take away him from the Speakership earlier this yr. In an ultra-narrow Home GOP majority, that opposition may threaten his path to being elected Speaker on the Home ground. McCarthy’s Speaker election in 2023 took days, as round 20 Republicans withheld help as they aimed to safe sure reforms.
The trail to majority chief is far easier, requiring solely a easy majority within the inner Home GOP convention vote.
Scalise in his four-page letter to colleagues obtained by The Hill additionally highlighted the Republicans’ plans for Trump’s first 100 days: lock within the tax cuts that Trump signed into legislation throughout his first time period; “unleash American energy” by mandating lease gross sales and ending inexperienced subsidies that Democrats handed; and ship sources to the southern border to construct Trump’s border wall.
“We methodically laid out a road map — passing key aspects of Trump’s bold agenda to clearly show how we would govern if given this historic opportunity,” Scalise stated within the letter to colleagues. “Now, we need a Majority Leader who knows how to take that road map and, under President Trump’s leadership, implement a bold, conservative Republican agenda. I am running to continue the work I started as Majority Leader, and I humbly ask for your support.”
Scalise additionally highlighted his in depth efforts on the marketing campaign path and in fundraising.
“Thanks to the support of nearly a quarter-million donors, the Scalise Leadership Fund raised over $70 million this cycle— which went directly to candidates, members, the NRCC, and state parties,” Scalise stated. “I’ve been all over this great country, traveling to 36 states, 112 cities, and 153 districts, standing alongside many of you to ensure our Team had the necessary resources to win.”
