‘He’s Got To Go’: Bannon Rips Speaker Johnson Following Spending Bill Failure

Former Trump White House advisor and campaign manager Steve Bannon criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday following the failure of the spending bill.

After Johnson’s spending bill failed amid opposition from Elon Musk and a dismissal by President-elect Donald Trump, Bannon fiercely attacked the House Speaker. In the episode of “Bannon’s War Room,” Bannon did not mince words.

“Good god, if it’s not for you, this thing may be done. I mean that, because guess what we’re gonna have to do here. Need the metaphorical wet work, we gotta man the ramparts, got like people up today,” Bannon said. “You cannot under any circumstances vote for this bill, and you got to tell them flat-out. I would. If you vote for a pay raise for yourself. You vote for some of them buried in their pay raise and you vote for an opt-out of Obamacare and I can’t. You’re gonna do that and I ain’t getting a raise.”

Bannon cited a $40 trillion debt looming over the nation, with interest payments alone predicted to reach astronomical sums.

“I’m just saying, it’s $40 trillion. 400 days from now as sure as the turning of the earth. And we’re never gonna pay off a penny of that face amount of that debt. Not one penny will we ever pay off, because folks that’s not the net payment, but the gross payment interest is gonna be, I don’t know 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 trillion dollars, all in or Steve is not a little high,” Bannon said.

Bannon also lambasted the lack of transparency and accountability in Johnson’s leadership, questioning why more robust demands weren’t made when the Speaker failed to disclose details of the bill.

“Yes, it’s got to be purged and reformed and look at this thing up here. It’s so corrupt and so incompetent, so gutless. Why didn’t you demand, why didn’t you guys demand when he wouldn’t show you the thing? Why are you going to kick down the door, say look we’re running up here in the 20s,” Bannon added. “You’re not gonna play any games. You’re not gonna give us something and then and that look like a fool because you all look like fools… He’s got to go, he’s got to go.”

House Republicans are actively discussing a continuing resolution to fund the government until March 14, with many criticizing their leaders for including secretive, unnecessary provisions. Johnson, pushing a 1,500-page spending bill, vowed in September to end the “terrible tradition” of last-minute Christmas omnibus packages.

The spending bill ensures that members of Congress will receive their first pay raise in 15 years. The continuing resolution includes provisions for a cost-of-living adjustment, aligning with a period where many Americans grapple with soaring inflation under President Joe Biden’s administration.

Vivek Ramaswamy and Musk also criticized the federal funding bill.

“The legislation will end up hurting many of the people it purports to help. Debt-fueled spending sprees may ‘feel good’ today, but it’s like showering cocaine on an addict: it’s not compassion, it’s cruelty,” Ramaswamy wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.