GOP lawmaker warns of Johnson accountability for 'failures'

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Va.) raised concern with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) second stint as the Republican leader in the lower chamber despite his support of the incumbent on Friday.

Perry said there was no deal made to gain his vote for Johnson, but he emphasized his terms moving forward.  

“We don't do the quid pro quo thing around here, but what we did promise speaker Johnson is there's going to be accountability if there's continued failures,” Perry said during a Friday evening appearance on The Hill on NewsNation.

“Remember, he's the one that told us there wasn't going to be any more CRs, there wasn't going to be a Christmas omnibus,” the House Freedom Caucus member added.

Perry, and another 33 GOP lawmakers, voted against a short-term spending bill in December after chaos ensued on Capitol Hill to avoid a government shutdown and threw Johnson's speakership into question.

The Pennsylvania lawmaker was not sure if he would support Johnson's bid for the Speakership late last month.

Members of Congress ultimately confirmed Johnson as the speaker for the 119th Congress on Friday with 218 votes. But, according to Perry, Johnson still has to work to regain the trust of some unhappy Republican lawmakers.

“There are many members of the Republican conference that aren't thrilled about the last 15 months under his leadership,” Perry told anchor Blake Burman. 

“Now we're going to give him some deference, because President Trump is there and because we have a Republican Senate," he added. "But let's face it, he's going to have to negotiate with folks like [Sen.] Lisa Murkowski [(R-Ala.)], who's also a Republican, but not a very conservative member, or [Sen.] Susan Collins [(R-Maine)]."

Perry noted that if Johnson sides with these less conservative Republicans, "they're going to be problems" for the Speaker.

“And we hope that's not the case, but we're going to give him an opportunity,” Perry added.

The House Freedom Caucus, which Perry is a member of, sent a letter to Johnson on Friday after the vote, warning that he must prove he can implement President-elect Trump's agenda come Jan. 20.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar, which also owns The Hill.