If Donald Trump returns to the White House, House GOP wonders: Who will talk to him?

WASHINGTON – As former President Donald Trump has all but secured the Republican nomination in his quest to retake the White House, House Republicans are grappling with one key question as he marches towards the nomination:

Who’s gonna deal with him if he wins a second term?

If Trump wins reelection, someone in the House Republican conference will have to be the liaison between the former president and the lower chamber. Who that person will be isn’t exactly clear to some GOP lawmakers.

Of course, all administrations coordinate closely with Capitol Hill to enact their agenda, but the designee for Trump will be especially consequential because of his at times erratic behavior compared to his predecessors. Its unclear who he will listen to as Republicans attempt to advance their priorities. House GOP members have been in disarray for much of the past few months, and have failed at times to coalesce around major legislative policy.

From the sidelines as a candidate, Trump has already irritated some Republican lawmakers after derailing a bipartisan emergency spending deal that would have significantly overhauled border and migrant policy.

The lawmaker previously assumed to be the ambassador between the House and Trump has been forcibly removed from that position. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted last year, spoke with the former president multiple times every day during his administration to brief him on legislation during his term. At times, the former president deferred to his judgment on big-ticket legislation.

“The question isn’t who would talk to Trump. It’s who Trump would listen to and who he would trust,” a senior House GOP aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. “I don’t think there’s anyone here right now that Trump would listen to like he listened to McCarthy.”

With McCarthy gone, the GOP conference is scratching its head over who will handle Trump.

“That’s a good question. I don’t know,” said Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, Trump’s former physician in the White House and an ally in the House. “I obviously have a relationship with him and I’m gonna try to be as useful to him as I can possibly be.”

A 'good working relationship' with Speaker Johnson

The presumed point of contact between the GOP conference and a Trump White House is naturally the top House Republican, in this case, current House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. But there very well could be a leadership shakeup if Republicans lose the lower chamber in the elections – which Democrats are feeling bullish about considering the lower chamber's dysfunction in recent months. Right now, Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House and Democrats would need a net gain of just four seats in order to win control of the chamber.

Regardless, Johnson has started to cultivate a relationship with the former president since assuming the mantle as speaker.

“Circumstances have required them to talk pretty frequently and I think that’s helped build the relationship,” Jackson said. A person familiar with the relationship between Johnson and Trump also described it as a “good working relationship” and said the two speak frequently through a range of issues.

One of McCarthy’s former top lieutenants, Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., noted Johnson was on Trump’s defense team in his first impeachment trial in 2020 and that has helped build a “close relationship” between the two. But nothing in the future is “guaranteed,” he added.

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, an unabashedly pro-Trump lawmaker, didn’t express much worry since the former president has already built lines of communication with other lawmakers throughout his first term.

“I think there are people up here that will try to keep him informed.” Nehls said he does “what I can” to loop in Trump to the temperature of the House GOP conference and his priorities.

Among Trump’s other most ardent supporters in the House include Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio and House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the No. 4 ranking House Republican.

The number of lawmakers who have positioned themselves as Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill underscores the conundrum: no one knows who will lead along with the former president.

One lawmaker thinks Trump will personally pick someone himself.

“I think he’s gonna anoint someone,” Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, a former Trump aide who regularly speaks with the former president, told USA TODAY.

Nehls also thought it was possible Trump personally picks someone out of the conference to be the point of contact between the White House and the House. As expected from the former president, Nehls said “loyalty is very, very important,” to Trump.

A 'multi-pronged approach' for a House GOP ambassador

If fealty to the former president is non-negotiable, that could rule out leaders of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chair of the loose group of hard-right lawmakers, opted to endorse then-candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump in the presidential primary, drawing the ire of Trump allies.

If he does select someone out of the GOP conference to serve as House Republicans’ main ambassador, one former Trump White House official described it as a “multi-pronged approach,” with various factors that could determine Trump’s pick.

That includes defending the president on television and strong decision making. McCarthy, the official said, “had a good gut about things and more often than not, Kevin’s advice has been correct.”

Conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., another one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters, pitched herself as one of those key members that could have the president’s ear.

“I’m always happy to be a point person for the president,” Greene said. “I would argue I’m probably his strongest supporter in the House.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: If Trump wins a second term, House GOP wonders: Who will talk to him?