Hawley: 'We need to have a serious look at who is leading this Congress'

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) slammed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for having “cooked” up a massive year-end spending bill that he claims is full of Democratic priorities, declaring “We need to have a serious look at who is leading this Congress.”

“This is the same old, same old,” Hawley told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday. “This bill right here would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit, and the worst part is, it is all for Dem priorities.

“Why would you saddle Donald Trump with this terrible spending bill before he even gets into office?” Hawley asked, referring to the 1,547-page short-term funding bill that includes an array of add-ons such as $100 billion in disaster relief, economic aid for farmers, reforms for pharmacy benefit managers and a pay raise for lawmakers.

“I tell you what, we need to have a serious look at who is leading this Congress, because if this is the best they can do, I mean, it is total incompetence," Hawley said. "This is a disaster."

The Missouri Republican, who just won reelection, was disappointed Johnson did not include language and funding to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to cover people in the St. Louis area affected by radioactive materials left over from the World War II-era Manhattan Project.

Hawley blamed the Speaker for killing a bipartisan deal to expand the program, which expired in June.

He posted on the social platform X that Johnson “personally killed a bipartisan, bicameral expansion + spending cap RECA deal. It was him alone.”

The stopgap spending package appeared to be headed toward defeat Wednesday after President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance called on Republican lawmakers to instead pass a clean stopgap spending bill combined with legislation to raise the debt limit.

“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” Trump and Vance said in a statement. “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country. Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH.”

Already one House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), has said he will not support Johnson's bid to remain Speaker because of the spending bill, and other GOP lawmakers have begun to discuss alternatives to lead the chamber.

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said the talk about replacing Johnson is “the most I’ve ever heard.”

Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell contributed.