Amid GOP infighting, Rep. Lawler says Johnson should remain as speaker

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler argued Sunday that House Speaker Mike Johnson should be reelected despite Republican infighting on whether he should keep the position after how he handled a spending bill that prevented a government shutdown last week.

“Mike Johnson inherited a disaster when Matt Gaetz and several of my colleagues teamed up with 208 Democrats to remove Kevin McCarthy, which will go down as the single stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in politics,” the New York lawmaker told ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.

“With that said, removing Mike Johnson would equally be as stupid. The fact is that these folks are playing with fire, and if they think they’re somehow going to get a more conservative speaker, they’re kidding themselves,” he said, pointing out that Johnson was successful in keeping a Republican majority.

“I’m not going to bend to their will,” he continued. “So if they think somehow that they are going to end up in a stronger position by removing Mike Johnson, they’re not.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Amid GOP infighting, Rep. Lawler says Johnson should remain as speaker originally appeared on abcnews.go.com