House Democrats have made it clear to Speaker Mike Johnson that they won’t launch another rescue attempt to allow him to retain the speakership.
Johnson is set to have the narrowest of majorities in the next Congress and will have little room to maneuver with a caucus in which some members are angling to take him out.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has said that he’ll vote against Johnson as speaker on January 3. A number of other members of the party have said that they’re undecided, according to Axios.
Johnson may only be able to lose a single vote with a majority of 219 to 215. Last week, Johnson decided not to push on with the federal funding package he negotiated with the Democrats to instead launch a slimmer version with an extension of the debt limit as demanded by President-elect Donald Trump.
House Democrats accused the speaker of reneging on their agreement, and they chose not to support the bill as a caucus.
While Johnson subsequently succeeded in passing the legislation without raising the debt ceiling, the trust with Democrats had already been broken.
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York made clear during a caucus meeting Friday that relations with Johnson were going downhill, according to Axios.
He noted that Johnson had gone back on his word on the funding deal and that he had allowed communications to cease at times during the past week, three lawmakers told the outlet.
Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the House Democratic Caucus chair, said that he won’t ask members to save Johnson like they did in May.
Appearing on MSNBC on Sunday, Jeffries told host and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki that there’s a “real risk” that Johnson may be unable to be elected speaker on January 3.
“There will be no Democrats available to save him,” he said.
Several House Democrats who voted to save Johnson earlier this year told Axios Sunday that Johnson can no longer rely on them to retain the speakership.
Centrist Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas said he’ll “follow leadership.”
Meanwhile, fellow centrist Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York said he was voting with Jeffries.
