Mike Johnson says GOP’s failure to secure Trump’s redistricting plan in Indiana is ‘inconsequential’
Asked Speaker Johnson if Indiana GOP’s rejection of Trump’s gerrymander shows POTUS grip is weakening.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 11, 2025
“He is not a lame-duck. He’s the most powerful person of this generation,” he told me.
“He did not put a major pressure campaign,” despite all of Trump’s threats of primaries pic.twitter.com/PbQqOwIL4V
WASHINGTON, DC: House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday, December 12, that the Republicans' failure to secure President Donald Trump’s redistricting plan in Indiana does not indicate a loss of power leading up to the midterm elections.
The House Speaker interacted with CNN’s Manu Raju in the halls of Congress, and the journalist asked, "Are you worried about Trump’s grip on power after Indiana? Do you think it shows he’s a lame duck?"
Mike Johnson says Trump is 'most powerful president of this generation'
Mike Johnson replied to Manu Raju's question and said, "Not at all! No, he is not a lame duck!"
"He’s the most powerful president of this generation and many others. We have a lot more work to do together. The outcome in Indiana is inconsequential to that," Johnson added.
Meanwhile, Raju asked again, "He put on a major pressure campaign," and Johnson said, "No, he didn’t! He did not put a major pressure campaign for it. He let his opinion be known as he does on everything, all the time, all day long."
Interestingly, Trump had enlisted Johnson and Vice President JD Vance to urge Republican state senators to pass a redistricting map that would have given the GOP the possibility of adding many seats to the House of Representatives.
Furthermore, conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation posted to X before the vote, "President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders: if the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state."
"Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame," the post added.
Mike Johnson remains optimistic that Republicans will prevail in midterms
Mike Johnson said that he has remained optimistic that Republicans will prevail in the midterms.
"We win some, we lose some. It is no indication whatsoever about what’s going to happen next year in the midterm elections," he insisted.
Johnson added, "We are excited about it, we have a great campaign around it, we go forward regardless of how each one of these states comes out. We are going to win whatever maps are presented. I’m very bullish. I’m more bullish today than I was yesterday, and you’ll see that. You guys underestimate us. You’ll see."
The defeat on Thursday in the Indiana Senate is the first time Trump's redistricting campaign has been voted down by members of his own party.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have answered the POTUS' call for an unusual mid-decade redistricting scramble.
The Indiana vote comes after weeks of turmoil and with opposition from some Republicans, who said their constituents did not want to alter the current districts.
