WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� House Speaker said Tuesday that Republicans are 鈥渞eady to deliver鈥� for President-elect after his election victory, insisting the GOP is much better prepared for a second-term agenda.
Standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with the House GOP leadership team, the speaker said there would be no time wasted before work begins on Trump's 鈥淎merica First鈥� agenda of securing the southern border and showing strength on the world stage. He expects Republicans will lead a unified government, even though House control is still too early to call.
鈥淲e are ready to deliver on America's mandate,鈥� said Johnson.
鈥淲e will be ready day one. We are prepared this time.鈥�
Trump will meet with Johnson at the Capitol on Wednesday while he鈥檚 in town for his visit to the White House, and Johnson said he will be spending the weekend with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida as they prepare for the new year.
Congress returned Tuesday to a changed Washington as hard-right agenda is quickly taking shape, buoyed by eager Republican allies eyeing a full on Capitol Hill while Democrats are sorting out what went wrong.
Even as final election results are still being tallied, the House and Senate leadership is pushing ahead toward a second-term Trump White House and what he's called a for governing, with the federal government.
Trump is already testing the norms of governance during this presidential transition period 鈥� telling the Senate to forgo its advise-and-consent role and simply nominees 鈥� and he is and finding lawmakers willing to bend those civic traditions.
鈥湴瞻艹颈桠�檚 going to deliver his deportations, the drilling, the wall 鈥� it鈥檚 going to take all of us getting together,鈥� said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a conservative member of the House Freedom Caucus.
But first, the House and Senate leaders will hold internal party elections this week for their own jobs. Most of the top Republican leaders depend on Trump for their political livelihoods and have worked to to shore up loyalty.
In the Senate, where Republicans seized power from Democrats on election night, three Republican senators who are have rushed to agree with 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 plan for quick confirmation of presidential nominees.
鈥淎s Congress returns to Washington, we must to advance that agenda legislatively and ensure that the president-elect can hit the ground running with his appointees confirmed as soon as possible,鈥� GOP Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who is seeking the leadership job, wrote in a Fox News opinion piece.
All told, it鈥檚 a fundamental reshaping of not only the power centers in Washington, but the rules of governing, as Trump returns to the White House in January with a potential GOP-led Congress that is far less skeptical or wary of his approach than eight years ago, and much more willing to back him.
鈥淭his is going to be a very challenging time,鈥� said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
She described the 鈥渉orrific immigration policies鈥� that Trump promised voters and she insisted the progressives in Congress will provide an 鈥渆ffective check鈥� on the new White House, much the way Democrats did during his first term by fighting efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and other policies.
At the same time, Jayapal warned Trump will have 鈥渕any fewer restrictions."
"Our members are ready to take up the fight again," she said, standing alongside a handful of newly elected progressive lawmakers she called the 鈥渂right lights鈥� joining Congress.
First tests will come during the period of the remaining days of this Congress, the eight-week sprint until Jan. 3, 2025, when the new lawmakers are sworn into office.
As lawmakers return this week they will be joined by dozens of new names in the House and Senate who are in town for freshmen orientation weeks and the private leadership elections scheduled for Wednesday.
But Republican senators were protesting that one of their own, newly elected of Pennsylvania, was excluded from orientation week by Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer because there are still uncounted ballots in his race. Schumer's office had said it is custom to wait until all the ballots are counted but has since invited McCormick. Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, who won his race, also has been invited.
The Senate leadership race to replace outgoing GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is turning into a test of Trump loyalties, with the president-elect's allies 鈥� including billionaire Elon Musk and Make America Great Again influencers 鈥� pushing the senators to elect Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
But Scott has not been the most popular candidate for the leadership post, and senators had been rallying around the two 鈥淛ohns鈥� 鈥� Thune, the second-ranking GOP leader, and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. The outcome of Wednesday's private balloting behind closed doors is highly uncertain.
In the House, some conservative Republicans are quietly suggesting their own leadership elections should be postponed until the final results of the House races are resolved. Democrats will hold their House and Senate leadership elections later.
Johnson wants to retain the speaker's gavel and told colleagues in a letter last week he is ready to 鈥渢ake the field鈥� with them to deliver on Trump's agenda. But he is expected to face detractors behind closed doors.
While Johnson only needs a simple majority during Wednesday's private voting to become the GOP nominee to be speaker, he will need a 218-member majority in January during a floor vote of the whole House.
A low vote total this week will show the leverage Freedom Caucus members and others have to pry concessions from Johnson, much as they forced then-Speaker into a prolonged vote for the gavel in 2023.
And while Johnson predicts next year will launch the 鈥渕ost consequential鈥� presidency and Congress in modern times, he has had difficulty this year leading Republicans who refused to go along with plans, forcing the speaker to often partner with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Johnson's troubles stem in part from his slim majority, but that could persist if Trump continues to tap House Republicans to . Trump has already asked Rep. , R-N.Y., to be ambassador to the United Nations and Rep. , R-Fla., to be his national security adviser.
鈥淲e're pretty much maxed out,鈥� said Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas. 鈥淓verybody understands that.鈥�
In the weeks ahead, Congress faces another deadline, Dec. 20, to fund the federal government or risk a shutdown, and conservatives are redoubling their pressure on Johnson not to cave on their demands to slash spending.
The House and Senate also will consider replenishing the Disaster Relief Fund to help provide aid in the aftermath of Hurricanes and
And with President Joe Biden preparing to exit and Democrats relinquishing their hold on the Senate, there will be pressure to confirm more judicial nominees and to usher out the door any other bills that could possibly become law before Trump takes over.
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Farnoush Amiri, Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press
