Mike Johnson hopes to turn into law many of Trump's executive actions

Mike Johnson assured that he expects to be able to sign many of Donald Trump's executive orders into law. The House speaker participated in the Conservative Action Political Conference's (CPAC) latest meeting, where he was skeptical about Trump's suggestion to pay taxpayers back for the money the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has saved. 

The House speaker, always one of the best dressed on Capitol Hill, was greeted with applause by the conservative crowd at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland.

He addressed various topics related to Trump's second administration in his speech. From DOGE's work to the fight between Trump and Volodymir Zelensky.

On the work of the House, and leaving aside the budget reconciliation discussions, he assured that he expects to be able to codify Trump's executive actions. "The president has over 300 executive actions already, and we're going to codify so much of what he's doing so that the next team can't unwind it."

Indeed, the next president, whoever he or she may be, can override all or part of the executive actions signed by their predecessor. In contrast, they cannot override laws passed by Congress by executive action. To change a law, another law must be passed that modifies or directly replaces it.

What will happen to the money saved by DOGE?

Trump recently participated in the FII PRIORITY Miami 2025 Summit, where he hinted that some of the money saved by DOGE may be returned to taxpayers. "[We are considering] a new concept where we give 20% of DOGE savings to American citizens and 20% goes to pay down the debt. (...) We will rapidly grow our economy by drastically reducing the federal government," the president said.

Rob Finnerty of Newsmax asked Johnson about this idea, but the House speaker was less than enthusiastic. Instead, he said he would prioritize paying down the national debt.

"But if you think about our core principles, right, fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives. That’s our brand. And we have a $36 trillion federal debt, we have a giant deficit that we’re contending with. I think we need to pay down the credit card, right?" responded Johnson.

Trump's Ukraine strategy

When asked about Ukraine and the tough back-and-forth between Trump and Zelensky, the House speaker called for giving Trump time for his strategy to end the war.

"We need an end to the conflict. You've got to give him room to operate and do what he does. He's doing a level set, right? You've got to get both parties to come and bring about an end to this conflict, which will serve America's interest and everybody's interest around the world," Johnson explained.

"But I think of it very much like a mediation or arbitration. If you're a lawyer, you know, I'm a recovering lawyer, forgive me, I think of those terms. But when you start a mediation, you start an arbitration between two parties, you don't bring them into the room for that first meeting, you do it separately. So I think Zelensky complaining that he wasn't invited to the first meeting with Saudi Arabia and Russia is misplaced. I mean, what Trump's trying to do is do a level set, put the conditions in place for that real negotiation to happen," he continued.

First look at the midterm elections

Although it is still early in the election calendar, the House speaker assured that Republicans will win seats in the 2026 midterm elections. In the last 85 years, the party in control of the White House has only managed to stretch its majority in the House twice.

"We're gonna defy history and we're going to grow the house majority in two years and not lose the majority. I think everybody recognizes President Trump needs four years and not two. And if they took the majority back, they would try to impeach him, they would open the border wide, they would create all sorts of chaos. So we have to win, and we will," Johnson remarked, adding that there are 13 Democrats "sitting" in districts that President Trump won "fairly easily."