Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was re-elected to the top House post in an impressive floor vote on Friday's opening day of Congress, securing the gavel on the first vote.
But the vote was not without drama. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-Texas) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-Texas) initially voted for candidates other than Mr. Johnson — Mr. Norman voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Texas). Mr. Self voted for Congressman Byron Donald (R-Ohio). Florida).
But the clerk held the vote. After negotiating with Johnson, Norman and Self headed to the front of the chamber and sided with Johnson.
Mr. Johnson's chief opponent, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has criticized Mr. Johnson's spending moves over the past year, is the only Republican to vote for a candidate other than Mr. Johnson. He was the only person to vote for Republican Whip Tom Emmer (R-Ky.). Min. ).
After Mr. Norman and Mr. Self changed their votes, MPs lined up to shake Mr. Johnson's hand and hug him.
The vote was also a victory for President-elect Trump, who supported Johnson and helped rally Republicans around the speaker. Several lawmakers had warned that delays in choosing a chair could complicate certification on January 6.
“Mike's win today is a huge win for the Republican Party and reaffirms the most important presidential election in 129 years!! – A huge affirmation indeed. MAGA!” Trump posted on Truth Social Friday morning. did.
The Speaker could not have afforded another defection on the House floor, and would not have been able to secure the gavel with the slim House Republican majority of 219 Republicans to 215 Democrats. All House Democrats supported House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Some conservatives, such as Rep. Andy Biggs (Arizona), Rep. Michael Cloud (Texas), Rep. Andy Harris (Maryland), and Rep. Chip Roy (Texas), initially simply He remained silent and withheld a vote on the floor, but cast his vote for Prime Minister Johnson. The clerk read their names again.
Those who had held off on supporting Mr. Johnson until the House speaker vote had called for a commitment to spending cuts and a more MP-led process.
Prime Minister Johnson met with opponents at multiple meetings in the lead-up to the vote, but refused to make “ancillary deals” that some opponents had raised, such as appointing Roy to chair the House of Commons rules committee. .
But Mr. Johnson made three pledges, fulfilling key demands of some holdouts, such as Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.).
in Post to XMinutes before the House of Commons election began, Mr Johnson said:
“1. Create a working group of independent experts, uncorrupted by lobbyists or special interests, to help DOGE implement government-recommended reforms and spending reforms to protect U.S. taxpayers.'' and our committees.
“2. Task that working group with reviewing existing audits of federal agencies and entities prepared by Congress and issuing a report to my office for public disclosure.
“3. House committees will provide additional resources as needed to expose irresponsible or illegal conduct and to hold accountable government agencies and individuals who weaponize the government against the American people.'' , we call for an aggressive review of authorizations and spending.”
The majority of the resistance held an unexpected vote for Speaker until the full House of Representatives took the vote. A spokesperson for Mr. Spartz confirmed his support for Mr. Johnson ahead of the vote.
In the past two years, intraparty drama in the run-up to House votes has become commonplace in the House, where Republicans lack a majority. It took former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) 15 votes over four days to win, but just nine months later a group of eight Republicans ousted him from office.
House Republicans cycled through potential replacements for three weeks before settling on Johnson. Johnson, a traditional Southern Baptist conservative, was little known at the time and held only a low-ranking seat in the House leadership.
But Johnson quickly faced much criticism from Republicans after being tasked with keeping the government open, approving aid to Ukraine, reauthorizing the federal government's external oversight powers and relying on Democratic votes for major legislation. received.
Last spring, Mr. Massie and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) sparked a snap vote to expel Mr. Johnson, but House Democrats, not wanting to further disrupt the House, defeated that effort. It played a role in this.
A five-page, 26-point memo detailing “missteps” under Johnson's leadership was circulated among House Republicans ahead of the speaker's vote.
A copy of the document obtained by The Hill, which does not identify its author, reads: “The House must organize to carry out the historic mission given to President Trump and the Republican Party. As demonstrated numerous times last year and most recently in the week before Christmas, that is not the case at this time. there is no.”
But Johnson's supporters said it would be incredibly difficult to pass legislation with a narrow majority in one chamber and a minority of Republicans who repeatedly vetoed partisan bills.
“Achieving perfection requires incremental gains and hard decisions along the way,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) said in Johnson's nomination speech.
And Greene, once Johnson's biggest Republican critic, has changed her tune markedly in light of the shifting balance of power in Washington.
Greene posted a video to X on Thursday, urging members to “put aside your pride, put aside your ego, put aside your infighting” and vote for Mr. Johnson to support President Trump's electoral mandate. Then he said.
Given the slim majority, the headaches likely won't end for the newly re-elected Speaker of the House, despite winning Washington for the third time in a row.
Prime Minister Johnson will now have to balance the demands of President Trump with the priorities of the members, which can sometimes conflict.
In December, more than 30 Republicans voted against a short-term spending bill that included a last-minute debt ceiling hike. Before taking office, President Trump urged Republicans to raise the debt ceiling to prevent Democrats from using it as leverage next year. However, Republican fiscal hawks were reluctant to raise the national borrowing limit without reducing federal spending, and the bill failed to pass.
Republicans' immediate priority is to craft a bill packed with Trump's agenda, with the aim of passing it through a partisan “reconciliation” process that avoids the threat of a Democratic filibuster.
But for Johnson, getting the unruly House Republicans behind his policies could be as difficult a challenge as securing the votes for a re-elected speaker.
