House speaker's private dinner with GOP reveals tough choices ahead

In a pre-session dinner meet-up House Republicans joined Speaker Mike Johnson to talk about whats coming next in Congress (with special focus on upcoming presidential changes). The get-together happened just before lawmakers return to work

The meeting brought together folks from all five GOP thinking-groups - a real mix-and-match of party views; everyone there backed the presidents plans but needed answers about some tricky stuff. They wanted to know how to deal with hard-to-explain votes that might hurt their chances to keep their jobs back home

The dinner-table talk showed how GOP members are trying to figure out their next moves: balancing what the party wants with what voters back home expect. Johnson listened as the group shared their thoughts on handling these not-so-easy choices that are coming up

The whole thing was pretty hush-hush (as these kinds of meetings usually are) but it showed how Republicans are getting ready for some big changes in DC. With party control looking strong theyʼre trying to get everyone on the same page - even if they dont always see eye-to-eye on everything