House Speaker Mike Johnson, in a last-minute attempt to return to the job, released a list of commitments he has made to help spur “a return to fiscal sanity,” including creating a working group of independent experts.

The vows come as Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, tries to clutch the gavel amid concerns from conservatives questioning his duty to fiscal responsibility after he cut deals with Democrats last Congress to to continue high levels of government spending and provide hundreds of billions to Ukraine and disaster aid.

Mr. Johnson, in an X post Friday, promised that things will be different with President-elect Donald Trump soon in the White House and Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress.

“If we don’t follow through on our campaign promise for fiscal responsibility, we don’t deserve to hold power,” he said. “The national debt is a grave threat to America’s economic and national security — and no issue exemplifies the Congress’ failures more.”

Shortly before the post, Mr. Johnson told reporters he didn’t cut any deals with his critics to win votes for the speaker election.

“I have made no deals with anyone. And I’m very proud to say that,” he said, expressing confidence “we’ll have all the votes.”

Mr. Johnson’s X post came half an hour before the speaker election on the House floor began. He was on track to lose, with enough Republicans voting for someone else to block him as the roll call vote progressed.

Mr. Johnson said he will lead House Republicans “to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, hold the bureaucracy accountable, and move the United States to a more sustainable fiscal trajectory.”

As part of the effort to enact “meaningful spending reforms,” he promised to create the group to work with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency and congressional committees to recommend spending reforms.

The working group will be tasked with “reviewing existing audits of federal agencies and entities created by Congress — and issuing a report to my office for public release,” he said.

Mr. Johnson didn’t say which independent experts would be named to the working group but promised it will “not [be] corrupted by lobbyists and special interests.”

His commitments to fiscal responsibility also include a plan to have House committees “undertake aggressive authorizations and appropriations reviews,” including a focus on exposing practices in which the government has been turned against the American people.

“If we want to restore fiscal responsibility, we must start by being transparent about the dollars that are spent, address the issues we find, and then hold those accountable who have misspent funds,” Mr. Johnson said. “Republicans have a mandate to implement the America First agenda and, as speaker, this will be my priority.”

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.