Bannon warns Speaker Johnson he’s ‘on the clock’ after passing spending bill 

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon on Wednesday dug into Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), arguing the new House leader is “on the clock” after passing an unconventional two-step continuing resolution (CR) earlier this week.

“And I don’t mean to get on you [Johnson], but we’re going to get on you because you’re on the clock, brother,” Bannon said on his podcast, “Bannon’s War Room.” “Christian … biblical viewpoint or not, you’re on the clock.”

Mediate was the first to highlight these comments.

Bannon also took to social media to voice his criticism of the bill, writing, “This was a Surrender/Cave to the UniParty—it can’t be looked @ in any different light —only win was the dropping of all the Supplemental Ukraine funding….Speaker now ‘on the clock’ with 75 Days to achieve ‘Conservative Victories.'”

The House passed the short-term funding measure on Tuesday in a 336-95 vote, days before the looming Friday night funding deadline. Republicans had to lean heavily on support from Democrats in the wake of conservatives’ opposition to the spending levels.

The bifurcated bill would extend funding at current levels for some agencies and programs until Jan. 19 and all others through Feb. 2. Johnson’s two-step or “laddered” CR helps avoid an end-of-year omnibus spending bill, which is heavily disliked by Republicans.

The measure did not include aid for Israel, with a separate measure having yet to move through both congressional chambers, nor funding for Ukraine, which Johnson has said he wants to tackle next.

Speaking on his podcast, Bannon also took a dig at Johnson’s recent media appearances, saying, “You told us yesterday, and you’re running up on Fox all the time — you’re spending way too much time on ‘Murdoch News.'”

“Murdoch News does not run the deal, you should understand that your predecessor was on Murdoch News all the time and you saw what happened to him,” Bannon added, referring to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

McCarthy in September introduced and passed a “clean” CR that extended funding through Nov. 17, provoking the ire of some hard-liner conservatives who later joined all Democrats in voting to oust the California Republican from the top spot. 

The Hill reached out to Johnson and Fox News for comment.