In a heated political battle on Tuesday, Congresswoman and New York Gubenatorial Candidate Elise Stefanik (NY-21) won a key concession from House Speaker Mike Johnston on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The confrontation started at about 9:00 AM on Tuesday, with Stefanik announcing on her Twitter/X account that Speaker Johnson was blocking a key provision of the NDAA that would require the FBI to notify Congress of any investigations of candidates seeking the Presidency or Federal office.
I just walked out of a briefing on this issue this morning CONFIRMING everything I posted yesterday.
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 2, 2025
That yes, in fact, the Speaker is blocking my provision to root out the illegal weaponization that led to Crossfire Hurricane, Arctic Frost, and more. He is siding with Jamie… https://t.co/6fVow5ALFV
Speaker Johnson claimed not to know of Stefanik’s amendment, saying, “All of that is false. I don’t exactly know why Elise won’t just call me. I texted her yesterday. She’s upset one of her provisions is not being made into the NDAA. I explained to her on a text message as soon as I heard this. Yesterday…I wrote her and I said “what are you talking about? This hasn’t even made it to my level.”
Johnson went on to explain that her provision had not gone through the proper committees to reach his desk. The Speaker said that three out of four of the ranking members on the Judiciary Committees of both House and Senate had to agree to a provision like Stefanik’s amendment to be added to the NDAA.
“Just more lies from the Speaker,” Stefanik shot back on Twitter. “It wasn’t on your radar? This is the ONLY provision in the bill to root out the deep state rot. This is not regular order. Regular order is a Members’ provision that passed out of committee should be heard on the floor and not struck down by a Democrat minority member in a closed door meeting.”
Just more lies from the Speaker.
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 2, 2025
And in true to form, the Speaker texted me yesterday claiming he “knew nothing about it.” Yeah right. This is his preferred tactic to tell Members when he gets caught torpedoing the Republican agenda.
It wasn’t on your radar? This is the ONLY… https://t.co/AKxC6CU8ma
However, relations between Stefanik and Johnson warmed after a a three-way phone call with President Trump. Reported by Politico, President Trump succesfullly mediated the conflict on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday morning, Stefanik posted to her Twitter/X account that her amendment to the NDAA would be included in the bill.
Great news!
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 3, 2025
After a productive discussion I had last night with President Trump and Speaker Johnson, the provision requiring Congressional disclosure when the FBI opens counterintelligence investigations into presidential and federal candidates seeking office will be included in…
The situation shows the precarious position Speaker Johnson has with the Republican base. Johnson has had several public disputes with GOP members of Congress, such as Majorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie. Stefanik said that Johnson “wouldn’t have the votes to be speaker if there was a roll-call vote tomorrow.”
