House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pushed back on House Republicans‘ criticism over getting “rolled” by House Democrats over a provision of the annual defense authorization bill, saying that “all of that is false.”
Johnson’s remarks follow Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), chairwoman of House Republican leadership, blasting him for allowing Democrats to remove an amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act, which is part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment would require congressional notice if the FBI opens investigations into presidential and federal candidates.
The speaker said it was incorrect, and he had no hand in that.
“I don’t exactly know why Elise won’t just call me,” Johnson said. “I texted her yesterday. She’s upset one of her provisions is not being made, I think, into the NDAA. … As soon as I heard this yesterday, I was campaigning in Tennessee, and I wrote her and said, ‘What are you talking about? This hasn’t even made it to my level.’”
“I’m not sure exactly why it wasn’t included, so I don’t know why she’s frustrated with me,” he added. “I literally had nothing to do with it, but I’m happy to roll up my sleeves and help her.”
Stefanik responded Tuesday, saying it was “more lies from the Speaker.”
“And in true to form, the Speaker texted me yesterday claiming he ‘knew nothing about it.’ Yeah, right,” she said. “This is his preferred tactic to tell Members when he gets caught torpedoing the Republican agenda.”
She added that the House is not operating in “regular order,” and that Johnson “torpedoed” the provision after it passed out of the House Intelligence Committee.
“You said you would fix it, so fix it,” Stefanik said.
The absence of the amendment has drawn criticism from Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who wasted no time hopping on the bandwagon to critique Johnson.
“No surprises here. As usual from the Speaker, promises made promises broken. We all know it,” Greene said Tuesday morning.
No surprises here.
As usual from the Speaker, promises made promises broken.
We all know it. https://t.co/EMQvoEGpaN— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(@RepMTG) December 2, 2025
Greene, who is resigning from Congress in January, has been a vocal critic of the speaker. More recently, she has not been afraid to criticize her party openly and has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, who has taken to calling her a “traitor.”
Luna said she’s “with Elise on this one” and that if the NDAA doesn’t include the provision, “it is DOA.”
While the speaker is used to criticism from Greene and Luna, Stefanik’s vocal pushback comes as more of a shock, given her position as a member of leadership. GOP leaders rarely, if at all, disagree publicly on any given policy position. However, Stefanik threatened to tank the Intelligence Authorization Act if the amendment is not included.
Stefanik has been on the outskirts of the GOP conference ever since Trump pulled her nomination as ambassador to the United Nations due to razor-thin margins in the House. Johnson gave her back committee assignments and created a new position for her on leadership since Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) took over as chairwoman of the House GOP Conference.
Now, Stefanik is leaving Congress altogether and running for governor of New York. She and the speaker got into a similar tiff to the one on Tuesday in April, when she publicly denied claims that she spoke with Johnson about her plans to run for governor, after he said he was “having conversations” with her.
Text for the NDAA is expected to drop this week. Should the intelligence amendment not be included in the NDAA, and Greene, Luna, and Stefanik decide to vote against it, Johnson will not be able to pass the legislation with just GOP votes, given his two-seat majority.
FOUR QUESTIONS WAITING TO BE ANSWERED IN TENNESSEE RACE BETWEEN MATT VAN EPPS AND AFTYN BEHN
A special election in Tennessee on Tuesday night will determine how rough Johnson’s legislative path will be come January, when Greene departs Congress.
Currently, the House majority sits at 219 Republicans to 213 Democrats. If Democrat Aftyn Behn wins, that margin will stay the same. A special election at the end of January in Texas is likely to stay in Democratic hands, which would narrow Johnson’s margin to just one vote.