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| Mike Johnson secures US House speakership after facing internal dissent | Mike Johnson secures US House speakership after facing internal dissent |
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| Three Republicans voted for someone else, but two later changed their votes while all Democrats backed Jeffries | Three Republicans voted for someone else, but two later changed their votes while all Democrats backed Jeffries |
| After initially facing internal dissent, the Trump-endorsed Republican Mike Johnson secured the House speakership in the first round of voting on Friday. | |
| Johnson could not afford to lose more than one Republican vote, and three Republican members of Congress initially voted for someone other than the incumbent speaker. All but Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, who backed Minnesota’s Tom Emmer, later changed their votes to support Johnson and secure him the 218 votes needed to hold the speakership for his first full term with the gavel. | |
| All Democrats backed House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. | All Democrats backed House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. |
| South Carolina’s Ralph Norman – who initially voted for a third candidate before flipping to Johnson – indicated earlier this week he and other GOP lawmakers were seeking assurances on several issues, particularly budget cuts, before lending their support to Johnson. | |
| As the House’s first order of business – which began around noon Eastern time – members had to elect a speaker before they could be sworn in. Each representative stood to declare their choice in a roll-call vote, with Johnson needing a majority of all members voting to secure victory. | |
| Just before the vote, Johnson made a last-minute pitch to his colleagues, outlining specific commitments on fiscal reform and promising to create an independent working group to review government spending. He pledged to investigate what he called “irresponsible or illegal practices” in federal agencies and implement stricter oversight of government expenditures. | Just before the vote, Johnson made a last-minute pitch to his colleagues, outlining specific commitments on fiscal reform and promising to create an independent working group to review government spending. He pledged to investigate what he called “irresponsible or illegal practices” in federal agencies and implement stricter oversight of government expenditures. |
| “Along with advancing President Trump’s America First agenda,” Johnson wrote on X that he would “lead the 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”. | “Along with advancing President Trump’s America First agenda,” Johnson wrote on X that he would “lead the 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”. |
| Johnson faced a close mathematical path to victory. With Republicans holding a slim 219-215 majority, and Massie declaring his opposition before the vote, Johnson could not afford to lose a single additional vote without risking multiple rounds of voting reminiscent of last session’s speaker election chaos. | |
| Assuming all 434 current House members participated (there is one vacancy), Johnson needed 218 votes to win. | |
| Johnson’s team had reportedly been working frantically behind the scenes, conducting last-minute negotiations with various Republican factions to secure their support. That includes heading to Mar-a-Lago to have a sit-down with Trump. | Johnson’s team had reportedly been working frantically behind the scenes, conducting last-minute negotiations with various Republican factions to secure their support. That includes heading to Mar-a-Lago to have a sit-down with Trump. |
| Much of his support was eroded in the last year, after helping Democrats usher in billions of aid to Ukraine in the spring against conservative wishes and caving to billionaire GOP mega-donor Elon Musk for compromises on short-term government spending last month. | |
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| Because of those deals, some Republicans including Indiana representative Victoria Spartz were seeking assurances on cuts to government spending to deliver on Trump’s agenda. | |
| “If Speaker Johnson wants to be speaker, then he needs to lay out a plan and commit to that plan, not like what he did last year,” Spartz said on Fox News earlier this week. “I can give him a chance, but I would like to hear from him how he’s going to be delivering this agenda.” | “If Speaker Johnson wants to be speaker, then he needs to lay out a plan and commit to that plan, not like what he did last year,” Spartz said on Fox News earlier this week. “I can give him a chance, but I would like to hear from him how he’s going to be delivering this agenda.” |
| The speaker election in January 2023 required 15 rounds of voting before former speaker Kevin McCarthy was confirmed. Johnson emerged as a compromise candidate in October of that year following McCarthy’s removal from the position, when eight Republicans went rogue to vote alongside Democrats – the first such ouster in American political history. | The speaker election in January 2023 required 15 rounds of voting before former speaker Kevin McCarthy was confirmed. Johnson emerged as a compromise candidate in October of that year following McCarthy’s removal from the position, when eight Republicans went rogue to vote alongside Democrats – the first such ouster in American political history. |