During an interview on Mornings with Maria with Maria Bartiromo, Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) issued a stark warning about the implications of removing Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House.
Tenney emphasized the chaos that could ensue if the GOP cannot rally behind a leader in time to certify President Trump’s election victory.
This development comes amid growing dissatisfaction among some Republicans with Speaker Johnson’s recent decision to collaborate with Democrats on a 1,500-page bloated bill to prevent a government shutdown.
The CR, which extends government funding temporarily, has been criticized by conservative members who feel it concedes too much to Democrat priorities.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) accused Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) of secretly negotiating a bloated $1.7 trillion spending bill behind closed doors for nearly three months.
Lee revealed that the controversial legislation had been in the works for 85 days without the public’s knowledge, an act he characterized as an affront to transparency and accountability.
During the interview, Bartiromo pointed out the names being floated as potential replacements, including conservative heavyweights like Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Byron Donalds, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
Even options like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been whispered in political circles.
However, Tenney emphasized the potential consequences of removing Johnson just weeks before Congress is set to certify the electoral college results.
Maria Bartiromo: They’re saying Mike Johnson is surrendering to the Democrats. That’s why his leadership role is being questioned right now. Do you think his leadership role is in jeopardy? The vote is January third.
Rep. Claudia Tenney: Probably because there are people that won’t vote for him. I think he’s done a really good job as speaker in a really difficult situation. But here’s the situation: Who are they going to put in that’s going to do a better job? There’s never going to be anyone.
Maria Bartiromo: Look at the names being floated right now. You got Congressman Jim Jordan, Congressman Byron Donalds, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. There are even people who are talking about Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Talk about unelected. Would you vote for any of these people for speaker? Are you going to vote for Mike Johnson?
Rep. Claudia Tenney: Look, we’ll see who’s up in the speaker race. I voted for Jim Jordan last time when he was up for speaker, and then he didn’t get the votes. I voted, and then Mike Johnson came up, and that’s who we had.
But understand, here’s another important point, Maria, for you next year: If we don’t have a speaker on January third, and we go through the circus that we went through with everybody demanding and leveraging Kevin McCarthy like we did last year in his speaker race, and we don’t get a speaker by January sixth—this is a presidential year.
We cannot certify our President Trump to be the President of the United States, to start the agenda, in order for him to take office on January 20th. So are we going to continue to scapegoat a speaker who I think is doing a very tough job in a very tough environment?
WATCH:
Be careful what you wish for.
To everyone calling for Mike Johnson’s head, if we do not have a Speaker of the House on January 6th…
WE CANT CERTIFY PRESIDENT TRUMP.
It’s clear that Mike Johnson is working with President Trump and has his support.
Let it play out. https://t.co/LEqqgOZt76 pic.twitter.com/8aL0uuJGyu
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) December 21, 2024
Jim Hᴏft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016.
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