Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters ahead of a Wednesday visit by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who will address a joint meeting of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
On Thursday’s “Just the News, No Noise,” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he and his colleagues are feeling good about Friday’s vote to reelect him to Speaker.
“I’ve been working with all of our colleagues here today. We have a very small margin. We can only shed two votes. I think we’ll get over that threshold, and we’ll get this done,” Johnson said.
He said he’s confident that Congress will make “significant” cuts to the budget, and they’ll use the budget reconciliation process to accomplish that, which allows Congress to enact legislation on taxes, spending, and the debt limit with only a majority.
“We’ve got to reduce the size and scope of government. Government’s too big. It does too many things and does almost nothing,” Johnson said.
He said while some parts of the budget, such as Social Security, will need to be preserved, some non-mandatory discretionary spending could be targeted such as the Biden student loan bailout, which he estimated could save $200 billion.
“Unwinding the green New Deal and all these aspects of what the Democrats did for the last few four years will help us substantially. Then we’ll be going through with the fine tooth comb the rest of the budget. So it’s going to be a long, laborious process, but I think in the end, the results will be well worth it, ” he added.
The vote happens at 12 p.m. Friday.
