Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is warning against the repercussions of his own party's attempt to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who is facing harsh criticism for the U.S. spending bill that passed last week to avert a government shutdown.
“The fact is that Mike Johnson inherited a disaster when Matt Gaetz and several of my colleagues teamed up with 208 Democrats to remove Kevin McCarthy, which will go down as the single stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in politics,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said on ABC News on Sunday.
“With that said, removing Mike Johnson would equally be as stupid," he continued. "The fact is that these folks are playing with fire, and if they think they’re somehow going to get a more conservative speaker, they’re kidding themselves.”
Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote when Congress votes on its new leader later this week.
A conservative hardliner and staunch supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, Johnson was selected as the House speaker in Oct. 2023 following the removal of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Though the president-elect has previously said he is with Johnson “all the way,” he slammed the Louisiana Republican’s proposed stopgap U.S. spending bill last week for failing to raise the debt ceiling and including “Democrat handouts.”
“The most foolish and inept thing ever done by Congressional Republicans was allowing our country to hit the debt ceiling in 2025. It was a mistake and is now something that must be addressed,” Trump said in a statement, adding that any legislation without his demands is a “betrayal of our country.”
Trump’s comments prompted further GOP infighting. Billionaire Elon Musk, who will head Trump’s "Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), repeatedly called the bill “criminal.” DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy compared the bill's “debt-fueled spending sprees” to giving cocaine to an addict.
Despite the pushback from Trump and his allies, the stopgap bill that finally passed did not include a debt ceiling increase, which sparked further outrage and dissent among the GOP’s most conservative members.
Last week, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told The Hill that he wouldn’t vote for Johnson in Friday’s speakership vote. Other lawmakers, including Ralph Norman, R-S.C. and Eric Burlison, R-Mo., have also publicly shared their dismay with Johnson.
“I think that it’s shameful that people that celebrate DOGE coming in, I can’t, and yet we’re going to vote for another billion dollars to be added to the deficit, and so it’s ironic. Personally, I’m disappointed,” Burlison told reporters on Tuesday, The Hill reported.
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But Lawler warned that the GOP is only weakening itself by trying to oust Johnson, who he said was “arguably the most conservative speaker ever.” Finding a more right-wing speaker than Johnson is a futile battle that distracts from Congress’ work “on behalf of the American people," namely certifying Trump’s presidency, Lawler added.
In November, Lawler won a key congressional race in New York, 57-41, earning him a significant voice in the Republican Party. He’s said the country’s top priority should be a crackdown on illegal immigration.
"We can't get anything done unless we have a speaker, including certifying President Trump's election on January 6th. So, to waste time over a nonsensical intramural food fight is a joke," he said.
Johnson's fate will be decided when the 119th Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.
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