Washington (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is imploring his fellow Republicans to stop venting their frustrations in public and take their complaints directly to him.
“They’re going to get upset about things. That’s part of the process,” Johnson told reporters Thursday. “I don’t mind. But when there’s a conflict or a concern, I always ask all members to come to me, not go to social media.”
More and more, they ignore him.
Fissures inside the GOP conference were stark this week as a member of Johnson’s leadership team openly accused him of lying, rank-and-file Republicans acted unilaterally to force votes and a leadership-backed bill fizzled. It’s all underlined 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 the workplace,” GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley of California said Thursday.
Kiley, who became critical of Johnson after the GOP’s national redistricting campaign backfired in California, said the speaker has been critical of rank-and-file Republicans, so he “has to be prepared to take any criticism that comes with the job.”
“And I think, unfortunately, there were ample grounds for criticism,” he added.
GOP lawmaker asks, ‘Why do we have to legislate through discharge petitions?’
In the early part of 2025, Johnson held together his slim Republican majority in the House to advance a number of President Donald Trump’s priorities, including his massive spending and tax cut plan.
But after Johnson kept members out of session for nearly two months during the government shutdown, they were eager to get back to work on priorities that had been delayed for months — and with the reality that their majority time may run out.
First was a discharge petition to force a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, which was successful after reaching the 218-signature threshold. Other MPs are launching multiple petitions, a step previously seen as a major affront to the party leadership.
“The discharge petition, I think, always shows a little bit of frustration,” said GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota.
Another discharge petition for a bill that would repeal Trump’s executive order ending collective bargaining with federal unions reached the signature threshold last month with the support of seven Republicans.
And this week, GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida filed a long-awaited discharge petition for a bill to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. A number of Republicans have already signed on, in addition to Democrats.
“Anxious is what happens when you get nervous. I’m not nervous. I’m angry,” Luna wrote on social media Thursday night, responding to management’s comments that she was too anxious.
Rep. GOP Nancy Mace of South Carolina signed both Luna’s petition and the one to release the Epstein files. She told reporters Thursday that she expressed her frustrations directly to Johnson in a phone call and in what she described as “a deeply personal, deeply passionate letter that we’re legislating through a discharge petition.”
“We have a very thin majority, but I want President Trump’s executive orders to be codified,” Mace said. “I want to see his agenda implemented. Why do we have to legislate through discharge petitions?”
Speaker Johnson’s leadership team is going after him
At the center of Johnson’s pleas for members to bring concerns to him privately, not on social media, is the chairwoman of the House Republican leadership, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York.
Upset that a provision he supported was not included in a defense authorization bill, Stefanik blasted Johnson’s claims that he was unaware of the provision as “more lies from the President.” She has conducted a series of media interviews criticizing Johnson, including one with The Wall Street Journal in which she said he was a “political novice” who would not be re-elected speaker if the vote were held today.
Johnson told reporters Thursday that he had a “great conversation” with Stefanik the night before.
“I called her and said, ‘Why didn’t you come to me, you know?'” Johnson said. “So we had an intense fellowship about that.”
Asked if he apologized for calling him a liar, Johnson said: “Um, you ask Elise about that.”
Illinois Rep. Mary Miller released a statement Thursday offering her support for Johnson, saying that while there are differences among members, “our mission is bigger than any individual or title.”
Democrats, who had their own leadership critics, rejoiced in the GOP disarray. House Republican leaders tried to push through an NCAA-backed bill to regulate college sports after the White House approved it, before support among Republicans collapsed. Some GOP lawmakers have made it clear they have higher priorities before the end of the year.
“It’s not that Congress can’t legislate, it’s that House Republicans can’t legislate. It’s the gang that can’t legislate directly. They continue to take the ‘my way or the highway’ approach,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
There is underlying GOP unease about losing the House in 2026
All eyes in the US House were on a special election Tuesday night in a Tennessee district that a Republican won in 2024 by nearly 21 percentage points, with Trump carrying the area by a similar margin.
Republicans hoped the contest would help them regain momentum after losing several key races across the country in November. Democrats, meanwhile, argued that keeping the race close would signal strong political winds at their backs ahead of next year’s term, which will determine control of both chambers.
Republican Matt Van Epps ultimately won by nearly 9 percentage points.
“I think that district that carried over 20 points a year ago to be reduced to nine should be a wake-up call,” said GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska.
He argued that Republicans need to “get economic progress, like immediately,” adding that “the president and his team need to understand” that tariffs don’t lead to economic growth.
“I just feel like they’re going to have to come out of their bubble,” Bacon said of the White House. “Get out of your bubble. The economy needs to improve. Fix Ukraine and we need a temporary health fix.”
Bacon is among a growing number of House Republicans who have announced they will retire after this term. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia suddenly announced last month that she would resign in January, citing several reasons, including that “the Legislature has been largely marginalized” this year.
Those withdrawals add to the GOP’s challenge in holding the House, as the party must now defend several open seats. Republicans also saw a redistricting battle — sparked by Trump’s pressure on Republicans in Texas and then several states — partially reversed. In November, California voters gave Democrats a victory by approving a new congressional map.
“That’s living in a fantasy world if you think this redistricting war is going to save the majority,” said Kiley, who is now at risk of losing his California redistricting seat.
He added, “I think what would have a much bigger impact is if the House played a proactive role in introducing legislation that matters.”
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Associated Press reporter Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina contributed to this report.