Trump Backs Speaker Johnson to Retain the Gavel of the House of Representatives in 2025

On November 14, 2024By Pranco

President-elect Donald Trump told House Republicans on Wednesday that he supports Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to retain the gavel in 2025, a source confirmed to Scripps News.

“I’m with him all the way,” Trump told House Republicans on Wednesday.

The meeting with House Republicans was held as Senate Republicans decide who their next leader will be to replace Senator Mitch McConnell.

After Trump’s meeting with Republicans in the House of Representatives, he will meet President Joe Biden at the White House. Trump’s visit to the White House marks his first visit to the complex since leaving office in 2021.

Whether Trump’s endorsement will be enough to avoid another showdown over the gavel remains to be seen.

After gaining the majority in 2023, it took several rounds of votes for members of Congress to elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Within a year, several members of the party rebelled against McCarthy for working with Democrats on a budget bill and forced him out of the presidency. The party then voted for Johnson as speaker.

Much of the wrangling within the party was due to the fact that Republicans had such a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives. After the outcome of the 2024 elections, Republicans are unlikely to significantly increase their majority. Decision Desk HQ expects Republicans to win 219 seats, with only one additional race leaning Republican’s way. A majority of 220 votes in the House of Representatives would represent one of the smallest advantages for a party in the history of the House of Representatives.