Overview
- Elise Stefanik told The Wall Street Journal that Mike Johnson would not have the votes to remain speaker and claimed most House Republicans want new leadership.
- She successfully pushed to restore language in the defense authorization bill requiring the FBI to notify Congress when it opens a counterintelligence probe of a political candidate.
- Stefanik publicly criticized Johnson as a political novice, sharpening a personal rift that has spilled into legislative negotiations.
- Rank-and-file unrest is growing, with more discharge petitions filed to bring bills to the floor without the speaker’s approval.
- Johnson faces immediate tests as he readies a vote on the defense bill and works on a health care package while his majority stands at two votes and will temporarily drop to one when Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation takes effect in early January.