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    House Democrats have made it clear to Speaker Mike Johnson that they won’t launch another rescue attempt to allow him to retain the speakership.

    Johnson is set to have the narrowest of majorities in the next Congress and will have little room to maneuver with a caucus in which some members are angling to take him out.

    Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has said that he’ll vote against Johnson as speaker on January 3. A number of other members of the party have said that they’re undecided, according to Axios.

    Johnson may only be able to lose a single vote with a majority of 219 to 215. Last week, Johnson decided not to push on with the federal funding package he negotiated with the Democrats to instead launch a slimmer version with an extension of the debt limit as demanded by President-elect Donald Trump.

    House Democrats accused the speaker of reneging on their agreement, and they chose not to support the bill as a caucus.

    While Johnson subsequently succeeded in passing the legislation without raising the debt ceiling, the trust with Democrats had already been broken.

    Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York made clear during a caucus meeting Friday that relations with Johnson were going downhill, according to Axios.

    He noted that Johnson had gone back on his word on the funding deal and that he had allowed communications to cease at times during the past week, three lawmakers told the outlet.

    Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the House Democratic Caucus chair, said that he won’t ask members to save Johnson like they did in May.

    Appearing on MSNBC on Sunday, Jeffries told host and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki that there’s a “real risk” that Johnson may be unable to be elected speaker on January 3.

    “There will be no Democrats available to save him,” he said.

    U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to reporters outside of the House Chambers in the U.S. Capitol on December 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. He’s facing an uncertain future as the trust between the speaker and House Democrats appears broken
    U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to reporters outside of the House Chambers in the U.S. Capitol on December 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. He’s facing an uncertain future as the trust between the speaker and House Democrats appears broken (Getty Images)

    Several House Democrats who voted to save Johnson earlier this year told Axios Sunday that Johnson can no longer rely on them to retain the speakership.

    Centrist Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas said he’ll “follow leadership.”

    Meanwhile, fellow centrist Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York said he was voting with Jeffries.

    Michigan Democrat Rep. Haley Stevens told the outlet that Jeffries “is correct.”

    "It’s up to the Republicans to lead on governance now," she added. "If they need us they have to really make it worth our while, but [it] doesn’t seem likely that they will.”

    This comes as Trump is considering attempting to boot Johnson from his post, according to Politico. Trump is reportedly unhappy with the funding deal and that he didn’t get the debt ceiling hike he sought.

    “The president is upset — he wanted the debt ceiling dealt with,” a person in Trump’s circle told the outlet.

    “In the past couple weeks, we’ve questioned whether [Johnson has] been an honest broker,” another person said.

    “I don’t see how Johnson survives,” yet another individual told Politico.

    But Johnson’s bid for the speaker’s gavel is still officially backed by Trump and the Republican conference, which unanimously nominated him for another term as speaker in November.

    However, even if Johnson manages to win the speakership another time on January 3, there’s no guarantee that he’ll last the full two-year term. While the threshold to introduce a motion to remove the speaker has been raised to nine lawmakers, Johnson may still face the boot.

    Johnson is facing outrage from both his party’s conservatives and the grassroots activists outside Congress. They are both saying that he needs to do more to cut government spending.

    Rep. Troy Nehls, Republican of Texas, remains undecided on whether he’ll support Johnson. He told Axios last week that Johnson will need Democratic votes to keep the gavel.

    A Democrat from a swing district told Axios that they thought they would help Johnson “in a tough Speaker vote because he was true to his word even in hard times.”

    "That has absolutely changed now. Trust is all we have in these negotiations,” they added. “I thought Johnson was truly different. He’s no better than [former Speaker Kevin] McCarthy. He’s getting no help from me and I know many of my colleagues feel the same."

    "He has betrayed our trust and we will never trust him again to hold to any agreement,” Vermont Democrat Rep. Becca Balint told Axios. She also voted to support Johnson in May.

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