Allies of Louisiana Republican Speaker Mike Johnson are urging President-elect Trump publicly reaffirmed his support for House Republican leaders to avoid a messy, drawn-out battle that would delay certification of his own victory.

“If we had some kind of protracted fight and couldn’t elect a speaker — the speaker wasn’t elected; we weren’t sworn in. If we weren’t sworn in, we couldn’t certify the election,” Rep. Florida Republican Carlos Gimenez told Fox News Digital.

“I hope President Trump will chime in and talk to those who may be a little hesitant and say, ‘We have to get started. We don’t have time.'”

Meanwhile, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that “it would be very helpful” if Trump would chime in.

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Speaker Mike Johnson’s allies are looking to President-elect Trump for help in avoiding a messy, drawn-out speaker race (Getty Images)

“Any time is great, but after Christmas, if President Trump says, ‘You know, listen’ — if Mike Johnson somehow ends up spending Christmas at Mar-a-Lago, that’s really cool. Cool… wherever the president is,” Fallon said. “I think it’s going to be very powerful.”

House members will return to Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 3, for a full House vote to elect a Speaker. In a few days, on Monday, January 6, the House of Representatives will meet to certify the results of the 2024 election.

Johnson faces a potentially fierce battle to win the House speaker’s gavel to serve out a full congressional term, with several House Republicans publicly criticizing the Louisiana Republican and his handling of government funding.

His predecessor endured 14 public defeats in his bid to win the gavel, finally triumphing in the 15th full chamber vote after days of negotiations with holdouts.

When Johnson was ousted, he prevailed after a three-week battle among Republicans during which Congress was paralyzed.

But some House Republicans are now warning that they can afford some delays, with Trump himself saying he expects the first 100 days of his second term to be so active.

“To ensure that President Trump can be inaugurated and operational on January 20, we must be able to certify the 2024 election on January 6. However, we cannot complete this process without a spokesperson,” Rep. Claudia Tenney said. RN.Y. told Fox Digital News.

Texas Republican Rep. Pat Fallon is one of Johnson’s defenders (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Taney warned that this could delay “the launch of his agenda.”

Congress narrowly avoided a partial government shutdown hours after the Dec. 20 federal funding deadline, passing a bill that would extend the deadline to March 14 while also extending several other key programs and replenishing the federal emergency response Authority Disaster Relief Fund.

That angered Republican hardliners who opposed adding irrelevant policy riders to what they saw as a more direct expansion of government funding.

Johnson also tried but failed Trump called for debt ceiling action to be tied to his government financing bill, which is on hold until January 2025, after 38 House Republicans and all but two Democrats voted against it.

Fallon told Fox News Digital that if Trump backs Johnson again before January 3, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will rebel against Trump.

“Some of these 38 countries – and this is more important – they really want to solve the debt problem,” Fallon said. “They feel like just leaving the debt ceiling locked in for two years — they like to use it as a negotiating tool to say, ‘Let’s lower the debt-to-GDP ratio.'”

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But one of Johnson’s biggest critics, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, has told reporters he will not vote for Johnson next year.

Two others, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Michael Crowder, R-Texas, said over the weekend they were no longer committed to supporting Johnson.

Meanwhile, media reports said Trump was dissatisfied with Johnson’s handling of government funding and that his demands for a debt ceiling were not taken seriously.

Trump himself has not publicly mentioned Johnson since Friday’s vote. But senior Trump allies, such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have defended Johnson.

It took 15 rounds of voting for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy to win the gavel (played by Valerie Plesch)

“He is undoubtedly the most conservative House speaker in our lifetime,” Cruz said on his podcast “The Verdict.” “If Mike Johnson is ousted as Speaker of the House, we will end up with a Speaker of the House who is much more liberal than Mike Johnson.”

Others also say Trump’s influence will have a significant impact on what ultimately happens.

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one house republicans Earlier last week, an unnamed person told Fox News Digital they were considering opposing Johnson but said Trump would be the ultimate deciding factor.

“I think ultimately it will be decided who President Trump likes because I believe that will have a big impact on the decision-making because right now President Trump works well with Mike Johnson. They have a great relationship.”, The Tennessean Republican Rep. Tim Burchett told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Asked whether Trump would back Johnson if he backed him despite opposing his government-funded plans, Burchett said “probably.”

Johnson will face the Jan. 3 speakership vote, with Republicans holding a slim three-vote lead and little chance of winning Democratic support.