Republican Mike Johnson survived a razor-thin vote to remain House Speaker in a drama-filled, highly-anticipated vote that marked the start of complete Republican control in Washington.
Johnson could only afford to lose two votes because of the tight margin of control Republicans have in Congress. While he came close to losing re-election, he survived the vote after some lobbying.
President-elect Donald Trump previously endorsed Johnson for the role of House speaker, saying “a win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party”.
The House Speaker is one of the most powerful posts in Washington, controlling the lower chamber of the US Congress, and second in line to the presidency after the vice president.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, was backed by nearly all Republicans in his bid for re-election.
But that success was not without some controversary.
The vote for Speaker requires a candidate to receive the support of a majority of the House – 218 votes. But because of a razor-thin Republican majority in the House, Johnson could only stand to face opposition from two Republicans.
Johnson already faced one hard “no” from Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
“You can pull all my fingernails out. You can shove bamboo up in them. You can start cutting off my fingers. I am not voting for Mike Johnson,” Massie said Thursday in a television interview.
Several other Republicans had put themselves in the “undecided” column heading into the vote.
During the initial votes, three of those undecided Republicans voted for other lawmakers over Johnson, preventing him from reaching the 218 votes he needed.
Three lawmakers – Massie, South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman and Texas Congressman Keith Self – named other options to serve as the next speaker.
That led Johnson to flee the House floor and lobby members to back him. Some 45 minutes later, he returned to the House chamber.
Both Norman and Self changed their votes to back Johnson.
The gavel struck and Johnson won re-election.
Norman told reporters after the election that he changed his vote after speaking with Johnson in a room outside the House chamber.
He said Johnson told him there would be more conservatives at the table during negotiations, fewer deals made between congressional and committee leadership without outside input from other lawmakers and enough time to read bill text before votes are scheduled.
“When we left that small room, he convinced me and Keith (Self),” Norman said. “He (Johnson) said I will do that, just give me the chance. He knew and I knew if it went to the second ballot it was going to get tougher and tougher.”
Another player got involved throughout the tense speaker election – President-elect Donald Trump.
Norman spoke with Trump twice during the speaker vote.
The first time was when fellow Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina handed him her phone to speak with the president-elect. The second was while meeting with Johnson, Self and several others.
“(Trump) is as enthusiastic,” Norman said of the call with the presidnet-elect. “He said, ‘Norman, we have the most opportunity we’ve ever had – the House, Senate, a trifecta, you don’t get that opportunity.’ I said, ‘Mr. President I agree with you, I’m just hoping Mike has got the oomph to pull this off.”
Norman said the president-elect also said Johnson is the only one who has the likeability to win the speaker election.
Self told reporters after the vote that he spoke with Trump before and after the speaker election.
He said he changed his mind when Johnson pledged there would be more members, including from the far-right House Freedom Caucus, at the negotiating table.
“We shored up the reconciliation team because we know that this will be a heavy lift to get the Trump agenda across the line in the reconciliation line,” he said.
Friday marked the first day of the 119th Congress. Republicans have unified control of Washington, with majorities in both the House and Senate and with Trump returning to the White House later in January.
During his acceptance speech, Johnson said that this Congress would champion the idea of America first – a slogan promoted by Trump.
After Trump’s re-election, he said Americans are demanding their interests are put first again.
“And we will,” Johnson said.
Voting in a new speaker is the first requirement of the new session of Congress, and without that leader in place, the chamber cannot move on to any other function.
This has led to chaos in the past – including when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had to go through 15 rounds of voting before he was confirmed to the leadership post.
Minutes before the vote on Friday, Johnson posted on X several of his plans, if elected.
He promised to create a “working group comprised of independent experts” to work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that Trump named Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to lead.
That working group, he said, would review existing audits of federal agencies and entities created by Congress and issue a report.
“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,” Johnson wrote.
Who is Mike Johnson, new US House Speaker re-elected amid Republican dissent?
US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson was reelected to the chamber’s top job on Friday after lengthy Capitol Hill voting. Mike Johnson narrowly scored the reelection, overcoming hard-right GOP holdouts in a tense standoff, and was buoyed by a nod of support from President-elect Donald Trump.
With opposition from his own GOP colleagues, Mike Johnson arrived at the Capitol with outward confidence after working into the night to sway dissenters.
However, Mike Johnson initially struggled to score the majority that he would have needed to retain his job, but he managed to make two Republican opponents switch their votes to support him after more than half an hour of negotiations.
Who is Mike Johnson?
Mike Johnson is the 56th Speaker of the US House of Representatives and a Republican member of Congress.
He won reelection on Friday with 218 votes – the minimum number needed – two Republican opponents switched their vote in his favour following hours-long negotiations.
Johnson represents Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District. He is known for his conservative values and has held office in the House since 2017.
Johnson gained national attention when he was elected Speaker of the House in a dramatic vote, overcoming opposition from within his own party. His election came after the previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was removed from office in a historic move.
Mike Johnson’s political stance and standing
Known for his staunch conservative views, Mike Johnson has advocated for major government cuts, including in areas such as federal spending and immigration policy in the past.
According to the AP, Trump had endorsed Johnson and was on the phone during the vote to secure the outcome.
“Mike will be a Great Speaker, and our Country will be the beneficiary,” Trump posted on social media after the vote.
