Stefanik, a close ally of President Donald Trump, had picked the fight with Johnson a day earlier, accusing him of lying<\/a>, questioning his leadership, asserting he was not close with Trump<\/a> and threatening to withhold her much-needed support on a defense spending bill. <\/p>\n \u201cWhereas Kevin McCarthy was a political animal, Mike Johnson is a political novice and, boy, does it show, with the House Republicans underperforming for the first time in the Trump era,\u201d Stefanik said in a scathing interview with the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n Her ire, sparked because the defense bill did not include her provision on FBI surveillance, caught Johnson by surprise. <\/a><\/p>\n But roughly 24 hours after venting her outrage publicly \u2014 and getting what she wanted \u2014 she walked back the harsh comments.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Rep Elise Stefanik, a Trump ally, managed to get her provision back into a defense bill after publicly insulting Speaker Mike Johnson (Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cI had a very productive conversation with Speaker Johnson last night and I shared my views that House Republicans need to focus on delivering results to the American people,\u201d Stefanik wrote on X. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a great breakthrough on an important NDAA provision and are moving forward to address the affordability and safety issues impacting New York and the country.\u201d<\/p>\n The provision Stefanik wanted would require the FBI to notify Congress of investigations into presidential or federal candidates seeking office. Stefanik has been working on the provision for years. <\/p>\n The New York congresswoman, who is currently running for governor<\/a>, said she spoke with Trump as well as Johnson over the phone Tuesday evening to secure the provision back into the National Defense Authorization Act.<\/p>\n Stefanik is among the most fervent supporters of Trump. The president initially nominated her to serve as ambassador to the United Nations<\/a> but had to rescind her nomination given Republicans\u2019 narrow majority in the House. <\/a><\/p>\n Tensions between Stefanik and Johnson have been at a low boil since then. She reportedly blamed Johnson for getting her nomination pulled, according to Punchbowl News.<\/a> Johnson and the White House have denied the allegation.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Johnson has been under pressure to keep his party aligned amid contentious infighting (Getty Images)<\/p>\n But Stefanik\u2019s frustration with Johnson appeared to be on full display Tuesday. In addition to accusing Johnson of being a \u201cnovice,\u201d she asserted that he \u201cwouldn\u2019t have the votes to be speaker if there was a roll-call vote tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that the majority of Republicans would vote for new leadership. It\u2019s that widespread,\u201d Stefanik told the WSJ. <\/p>\n Stefanik\u2019s comments were a particular blow because Johnson has been facing pushback from other MAGA allies, including former Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.<\/p>\n After being forced to bring the Epstein files vote to the House floor in November via discharge petition, Johnson may have his hand forced again. Members of his own party are trying to bring forward legislation that would ban members of Congress from stock trading. <\/p>\n![\"Rep](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2216102543.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Johnson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2249116037.jpg\")
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