Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to “drastically” reduce the size of government and pass legislation to roll back “the administrative state” in his first speech after being re-elected Speaker by the narrowest of margins.
Johnson managed to retain the gavel on the first vote after two members changed their votes to support him following phone calls from President-elect Donald Trump, according to CNN.
“We have a mandate, and that was shown in the election cycle. People want an America First agenda,” said Johnson. “Sadly for the past four years of divided government, too many politicians in Washington have done the opposite; open borders and over-regulation have destroyed our cities and stifled innovation.”
He claimed that inflation and “weak leadership” have made Americans worse off and left the U.S. in a “perilous” place.
“As heirs to the American Revolution and the descendants of patriots who defy tyranny, in the coming months, we are going to pass legislation to roll back the totalitarian fourth branch of government known as the administrative state,” said Johnson.
“We will create a leaner, faster and more vigorous federal workforce,” he added.
Before the vote to re-elect Johnson as Speaker, he put out a lengthy post on X, claiming that the American people have “demanded” a “return to fiscal sanity.”
“If we don’t follow through on our campaign promise for fiscal responsibility, we don’t deserve to hold power,” he added. “The national debt is a grave threat to America’s economic and national security – and no issue exemplifies the Congress’ failures more.”
The Speaker argued that Republicans have an opportunity to remove “trillions in waste, fraud, and abuse” and that they can end the “weaponization of government.”
He made three commitments ahead of the vote, to create a “working group” to liaise with the Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy-led outside commission Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and House committees to make spending reforms to “protect” taxpayers.
That group will also look at audits of federal agencies and issue a report to the office of the Speaker to be shared with the public.
Johnson also said he would “Request House committees undertake aggressive authorizations and appropriations reviews, including providing additional resources where needed, to expose irresponsible or illegal practices and hold agencies/individuals accountable that have weaponized government against the American people.”
Trump and Republicans have often claimed that the investigations of him and his allies by both state and federal authorities are evidence of the weaponization of government.
Meanwhile, Republicans have used House Committee investigations to aggressively go after the Biden family and Hillary Clinton.
Johnson committed Thursday to investigate the now-disbanded House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
The Speaker criticized President Joe Biden for awarding two members of the panel, former Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Bennie Thompson the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second highest civilian honor.
Johnson said on X that Biden “is foolishly giving an award to members of Congress who intentionally and repeatedly lied to the American people.”
“The Jan 6 Select Committee manipulated AND destroyed evidence – created a fake, phony narrative all to try and hurt Trump,” Johnson claimed. “They even hired a TV producer from the legacy media in a desperate attempt to legitimize what Americans knew was a total hoax and complete waste of time.”
“Be assured of this: House Republicans WILL continue our investigation into this corrupt committee and it will be FULLY FUNDED so it can continue next Congress,” said Johnson.
Republicans shared a report last month claiming to outline the “failures and politicization” of the panel. The report included a recommendation that Cheney be criminally investigated.
It went on to say that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “multimillion-dollar Select Committee was a political weapon with a singular focus to deceive the public into blaming President Trump for the violence on January 6 and to tarnish the legacy of his first Presidency.”
The report went over claims pushed by Republicans since the panel was first created, accusing Cheney of witness tampering because of her contact with former Trump White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified before the committee.
Cheney has rejected such accusations and slammed the report.
“January 6th showed Donald Trump for who is really is – a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave,” she previously said in a statement.
