Press Releases

WASHINGTON — At the House Republican leadership press conference this morning, Speaker Johnson addressed President Trump’s first 100-day agenda, the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act, and the JUDGES Act.

“We spent a lot of time and effort working on it, because our servicemembers and their families deserve our best efforts. That's why we made the landmark investments in their quality of life, as you heard, with a 14.5% pay raise for junior service members,” Speaker Johnson said. “It’s really important right now. We improved housing for our military families and other benefits, and it's also why we stopped funds from going to CRT in our military academies. We banned TRICARE from prescribing treatments that would ultimately sterilize our kids, and we gutted the DEI bureaucracy.” 

On the first 100-day agenda:

Speaking of President Trump, we have just 41 days until his oath of office is taken. And as Whip Emmer said, there's a palpable sense out there that this is a new day in America. It's not just a catch phrase, we feel that. We sense it everywhere we go, and American families are ready to see an America First agenda, and we're excited about that. You hear a lot of talk about the agenda and how it will be formulated and come together right out of the gates in early January. We're working on that right now. 

In fact, House Republicans are already working to enact that agenda. As you know, last week, we brought Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy here to discuss how we cut waste, fraud, and abuse from the federal government. And it was a very productive series of meetings. We had a smaller group discussion and then the larger one in the congressional auditorium. Thank you all for being here for that. We're continuing to lay the groundwork for our very aggressive first 100 days agenda in the Congress that we've all been planning for a long time and talking about for a while, but in the waning days of this Congress and until President Trump is sworn in, we're still actively advancing conservative priorities.

On the FY25 NDAA:

You heard about the NDAA. We're proud of this product. It was released over the weekend, and it includes critical wins for our troops and for our country at a very important time. I want to thank Chairman Mike Rogers of the House Armed Services Committee and all the committee members and all the staff for their really hard work on the bill […]

Because we believe in peace through strength, we blocked the Biden administration's plan to reduce the number of US special forces. We supported the deployment of the National Guard at the border. We expanded us joint military exercises with Israel, and we increased funding for US Defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific, and that includes Taiwan. At the same time, while we plussed up those other accounts, we cut $31 billion in bloated Pentagon bureaucracy, obsolete weapons, and inefficient programs. A lot of that will continue into the new year, and those are some very important innovations. The safety and security of the American people is our top priority, and this year's NDAA ensures our military has the resources and the capabilities needed to remain the most powerful fighting force on the planet. 

On the JUDGES Act:

Also this week, we'll be voting on the JUDGES Act to ensure there's a sufficient number of federal judgeships for our growing population. Look, Republicans believe in the rule of law, and we've got to uphold that principle. We can't overburden the courts and our judges with these excessive caseloads, and that's what's been happening.

It's been 35 years since Congress has authorized a package like this, and our population and caseloads have grown, and we just have to address this for the judicial branch to keep peace. More judges means more Americans can access equal and impartial justice without waiting years to get it. I'm excited to see this bill pass. I used to be a federal court litigator, and I can tell you, it's desperately needed.

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