WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is imploring his fellow Republicans to publicly hold back their frustrations and take their grievances directly to him.
“They’re going to be concerned about things. That’s part of the process,” Johnson told reporters Thursday. “It doesn’t bother me. But whenever there’s a dispute or concern, I always ask all members to come to me, don’t go to social media.”
Increasingly, they are ignoring him.
Fissures within the GOP convention were stark this week as a member of Johnson’s own leadership team openly accused him of lying, rank-and-file Republicans acted unilaterally to force votes and a leadership-backed bill failed. All this is underscored by growing concerns that the party is on course to lose its majority next year.
“I definitely think the current leadership and especially the speaker needs to change the way they approach work,” GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley of California said Thursday.
Keele, who has been an outspoken critic of Johnson since the GOP’s nationwide redistricting campaign returned in California, said the speaker has criticized rank-and-file Republicans, so “he needs to be ready to accept any criticism that comes with the job.”
“And I think, unfortunately, there is ample reason for criticism,” he added.
GOP lawmaker asks, ‘Why should we legislate with a discharge petition?’
For the first part of 2025, Johnson held together his slim Republican majority in the House to pass President Donald Trump’s priorities, including his massive spending and tax cut plans.
But after Johnson kept members out of session for nearly two months during the government shutdown, they returned anxious to work on priorities that had been backlogged for months — and with the reality that time was running out on their majority.
First was a high-profile discharge petition to force a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, which succeeded after reaching the 218-signature threshold. Other MPs are launching more petitions, a move that was considered a major insult to the party leadership.
“Discharge petitions, I think, always show a little bit of desperation,” said GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota.
Another discharge petition on a bill repealing Trump’s executive order to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions reached the signature threshold last month with the support of seven Republicans.
And this week, GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida brought a long-awaited discharge petition for a bill that would bar members of Congress from trading stocks. Most Republicans, in addition to Democrats, have already signed on.
“Anxiety is what happens when you’re nervous. I’m not nervous. I’m angry,” Luna wrote on social media late Thursday, responding to comments from the leadership that she was overly anxious.
GOP Rep. Nancy Mays of South Carolina signed both Luna’s petition and the release of the Epstein files. She told reporters Thursday that she expressed her frustration directly to Johnson in a phone call, and in which she wrote a “deeply personal, deeply emotional letter, that we are legislating with a discharge petition.”
“We have a very slim majority, but I want to codify President Trump’s executive order,” Mays said. “I want to see his agenda implemented. Why do we have to legislate discharge petitions?”
Speaker Johnson’s own leadership team is following him
At the center of Johnson’s plea for members to bring their concerns to him privately instead of on social media is House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
Outraged that a provision he championed was not included in the defense authorization bill, Stefanik blasted Johnson’s claim that he was not aware of the provision as “another lie from the speaker.” She conducted a series of media interviews criticizing Johnson, including one with the Wall Street Journal in which she said she was a “political novice” who would not have been re-elected speaker had the vote been held today.
Johnson told reporters Thursday that he had a “great conversation” with Stefanik the night before.
“I called him and I said, ‘You know, why didn’t you come to me?'” Johnson said. “So we had some intense fellowship about that.”
Asked if she apologized for calling him a liar, Johnson said, “Um, you ask Alice about that.”
Illinois Rep. Mary Miller issued a statement Thursday offering her support for Johnson, saying that while there are differences among members, “our mission is bigger than any one person or title.”
Democrats critical of their own leadership have fallen into disarray with the GOP. House Republican leaders tried to muscle through an NCAA-backed bill to regulate college sports after the White House approved it, before support within Republican ranks crumbled. Some GOP lawmakers pointed out they have bigger priorities before the end of the year.
“It’s not that Congress can’t legislate, it’s House Republicans who can’t legislate. It’s the gang that can’t legislate straight. They’re continuing to have a ‘my way or the highway’ approach,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
The underlying GOP is uneasy about losing the chamber in 2026
All eyes in the US House were on Tuesday night’s special election in a Tennessee district that Republicans won by nearly 21 percentage points in 2024, with Trump carrying the area by the same margin.
Republicans hoped the contest would help them regain momentum after losing several marquee races across the country in November. Meanwhile, Democrats argued that keeping the race close would signal a strong political wind at their backs ahead of next year’s midterms, which will determine control of both chambers.
Republican Matt Van Eps eventually won by nearly 9 percentage points.
“I think that District 9, which went up by over 20 points a year ago, is down in nine, it should be a wakeup call,” said Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon.
He argued that Republicans “need to get some economic progress, like immediately,” adding that “the president and his team have come to grips” that tariffs won’t drive economic growth.
“I think they need to get out of their bubble,” Bacon said of the White House. “Get out of your bubble. The economy needs a fix. Fix Ukraine and we need a temporary health care solution.”
Bacon is among a growing number of House Republicans who have announced they will retire after this term. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia abruptly announced last month that she would resign in January, citing a number of reasons, including that “the Legislature has been largely excluded” this year.
Those retirements add to the GOP’s hold on the House, as the party must now defend more open seats. Republicans have also seen the redistricting battle — Trump’s pressure on Texas Republicans and then more states — partially backfire. In November, California voters approved a new congressional map, giving Democrats a victory.
“It’s living in a fantasy world if you think this redistricting battle is going to save the majority,” said Kelly, who is at risk of losing his seat after redistricting in California.
He added, “I think it would have a much bigger impact if the House actually took an active role in moving important legislation forward.”
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Associated Press reporter Meg Kinard in Columbia, South Carolina contributed to this report.
