FILE PHOTO: Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., arrives for the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has reportedly been feuding with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) since returning to Capitol Hill after she did not secure the crucial job she believed was already hers.
Just days before the Senate planned to confirm Stefanik as the next United States ambassador to the United Nations, President Donald Trump reportedly called her and asked her to withdraw.
According to aNew York Times report published Wednesday, Stefanik had already sent off her longtime chief of staff to start a new job at the State Department when she received that call. The New York Republican, who describes herself as an "ultra MAGA" supporter, had even completed a “farewell tour” of her district by that time. She had checked out schools for her son in New York City and was ready to move into "the $15 million Manhattan penthouse that comes with what is considered a fairly cushy job," per the Times.
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Instead, Stefanik had to come back to Capitol Hill. She holds Johnson responsible for her predicament and is no longer hiding her disagreement with the speaker.
On Tuesday, she publicly denied his statement after the speaker said he was “having conversations” with her about the New York governor's race.
“This is not true,” she wrote on the social platform X, adding: “I have had no conversations with the Speaker regarding the [g]overnor’s race.”
Following this, Johnson corrected himself and said: “Elise is one of my closest friends."
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“We haven’t specifically talked about her running for governor. She’s coming in to visit with me and it’s all good," he told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.
But according to the Times' report, their relationship has "collapsed."
"After Ms. Stefanik’s nomination was pulled, the speaker promised her a position back at the leadership table — in the last Congress, she served as conference chair, the No. 4 Republican — and said publicly that she would also return to the Intelligence Committee. That would require removing a Republican from the panel, to keep the number of Democrats and Republicans even," the report said.
"Ms. Stefanik’s plight seemed to crystallize in one succinct cautionary tale [on] the limits of loyalty in the MAGA universe. Even one of the president’s most stalwart defenders, an effective ally since his first impeachment trial, ultimately did not get what she had long been promised," it added.
Since her return, her relationship with Johnson has entirely fallen apart, leading to a conflict between two Trump loyalists. These feud between two House leaders is likely to escalate as the speaker attempts to advance the president’s domestic policy agenda.
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