'I Don't Believe He Has the Votes on Friday'

President-elect Trump has given Mike Johnson his "complete & total endorsement" to return as speaker of the House—but it may not be enough to avoid a messy leadership fight on Friday. "Right now, I don't believe he has the votes on Friday," GOP Rep. Chip Roy told Varney & Co. Tuesday on the Fox Business Network. "I remain undecided, as do a number of my colleagues, because we saw so many of the failures last year that we are concerned about that might limit or inhibit our ability to advance the president's agenda," Roy said, per the Hill. He said his concerns include the spending bill passed just before Christmas.

"We must cut spending if you want inflation to go down and for people to afford to live in this country," Roy said. He named two other House Republicans as possible alternatives to Johnson. "Byron Donalds is a good man and a good friend. I nominated him two years ago. Jim Jordan's a good man and a good friend," Roy said, adding that there are "other members of leadership in the conference who could do the job." With all 215 House Democrats expected to vote for caucus leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote on Friday if all 219 caucus members are present, and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie has already vowed to vote for somebody else.

"I respect and support President Trump, but his endorsement of Mike Johnson is going to work out about as well as his endorsement of Speaker Paul Ryan," Massie said in a post on X Monday. The Washington Post reports that several other House Republicans besides Roy have refused to commit to voting for Johnson, largely because of budget concerns. In a post on X Monday, Rep. Victoria Spartz said she and her colleagues need assurances that Johnson "won't sell us out to the swamp." (More speaker of the House stories.)