A Bullish Speaker Johnson Lays Out ‘Big Agenda Items’ Heading Into 2025

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who expressed confidence at his chances of maintaining his leadership post, gave a preview of what “big ticket items” are on tap for 2025 with Republicans in control of the House, Senate, and White House.

Following a potentially contentious election in which Johnson is vying to keep the speaker’s gavel at the start of the new year, Congress will then set its sights on a legislative procedure to facilitate the passage of President-elect Donald Trump‘s priorities, the top House lawmaker indicated during a Monday evening interview on Fox News.

“We have to do a number of things simultaneously. The budget reconciliation process is going to be the key of the first 100 days, because in order to fix all the things that we’ve got to fix, we have to squeeze a lot of policy changes through that process,” Johnson told guest host Kellyanne Conway, a political strategist and former adviser to Trump.

“Not to get too deep in the weeds, but why that’s so valuable is it avoids a 60-vote threshold that’s necessary in the Senate under normal circumstances,” Johnson continued. “So we can move the Republican agenda, the ‘America First’ agenda through reconciliation, but it takes a lot of coordination, planning, and executing those plans with precision to get that done. So you’ll see a lot of energy on that.”

Johnson went on to discuss specific policy areas that will come into focus, including a push to extend tax cuts that were implemented as part of a bill signed into law during Trump’s first term that are set to expire next year unless Congress renews them.

“We’re going to fix the border. We are going to get the economy humming again. We are going to restore our stature on the world stage. Get our energy policy fixed. Make sure that we don’t have the largest tax cut in U.S. history imposed upon the American people at the end of next year when the tax cuts from the Trump era expire,” Johnson said. “A lot of big agenda items on the table, and … it’s going to take a lot of work to build a consensus among all the Republicans to get it done, but I’m absolutely convinced that we can. We’re going to stay unified, and we are going to get this job done.”

The House is expected to vote on the speakership on Friday. Johnson has Trump’s endorsement and the backing of many prominent GOP colleagues, but at least a couple of Republicans are holding out support after yet another clash over spending. A simple majority is needed for victory, but the GOP’s margin will only be a few members wide and it is unclear if any Democrats will support Johnson.

Johnson told Conway he thought that he did have the votes to prevail. The speaker also noted that he was “really humbled and honored” to be endorsed by Trump, contended they have “worked so well together,” and said they have “a lot of big things to do” moving forward.

“He recognizes that what we need right now — I think my colleagues recognize this as well — is a proven fighter and a true MAGA conservative, but also someone who can work with every single member of our very diverse House GOP, so that we can get President Trump’s priorities over the line,” Johnson added. “That’s what’s ahead of us. I think this could be the most consequential presidency and Congress of the modern era because we have to fix everything, and it has to start on day one. So, we can’t waste any time.”