WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Republicans are 鈥渞eady to deliver鈥 President-elect Donald Trump's agenda after his election victory, insisting the GOP won't make the mistakes of last time and will be much better prepared for a second-term Trump White House.
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, projecting strength on the world stage and ending 鈥渨okeness and radical gender ideology.鈥 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
With the Capitol as a backdrop, he said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to raise an 鈥楢merica First鈥 banner above this place."
Trump will meet with Johnson at the Capitol on Wednesday while the president-elect is in town for his visit to the White House, and Johnson said he will be spending the weekend with Trump 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.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who saw his party's control of the chamber vanquished by Republicans, said the election wasn't what many Democrats had hoped for, but he would speak with Trump soon.
"We should regard this election not merely as a defeat, but more importantly as a challenge,鈥 he said.
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, the leadership race to replace outgoing GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is turning into a test of Trump loyalties, with the president-elect鈥檚 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 Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking GOP leader, and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
All three Republican senators have rushed to agree with 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 plan for quick confirmation of presidential nominees. The outcome of Wednesday鈥檚 private balloting behind closed doors is highly uncertain.
In the House, Johnson wants to retain the speaker鈥檚 gavel and told colleagues in a letter last week he is ready to 鈥渢ake the field鈥 with them to deliver on 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 agenda. But he is expected to face detractors behind closed doors.
While Johnson only needs a simple majority during Wednesday鈥檚 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 would 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.
Johnson鈥檚 troubles stem in part from his slim numbers, which are narrowing as Trump taps 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.
The speaker said he doesn't expect more departures and Trump 鈥渇ully understands and appreciates the math here.鈥
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."
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.
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.
