The GOP-led House chose on Friday to keep Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) on as speaker for the 119th Congress, a triumph for the man who faced some resistance within his own party after roughly 14 months on the job despite being endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump and other key allies.
A total of 218 Republicans voted for Johnson, giving him the majority he needed for victory in the first ballot, while 215 Democrats backed Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). An individual needed 218 votes to win the gavel if all 434 sitting members backed someone by name after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) resigned after last year’s election amid a brief push to become the next U.S. attorney general. Frustrated with Johnson’s leadership in a divided Congress, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) became the sole Republican to reject Johnson’s bid. Other GOP holdouts came around and voted for Johnson.
“No speaker is perfect, and no one will ever be. However, achieving perfection requires incremental gains and hard decisions along the way. None of us will get exactly what we want. The fundamental collective goal of this body is to make progress for the American people, in which we represent. And we have done just that under Mike’s leadership,” said the new Republican Conference chair, Lisa McClain (R-MI), while nominating Johnson on the House floor.
Johnson, who first became the 56th speaker via a late October 2023 vote that ended a weeks-long stalemate after the House booted then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the role, had to contend with a Democrat-led Senate along with a slim GOP majority on issues such as spending. In the new term, following the 2024 election, Republicans still narrowly control the House and have command of the Senate as well as the White House.
The vote on Friday was not without drama. At first, it looked as if Johnson just barely fell short of the threshold for victory in the first ballot.
Massie backed Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), who ran a short-lived campaign for the speakership after McCarthy was ousted. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) picked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who also tried to win the gavel during the 2023 vacuum and also faltered. And Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). Several other Republicans initially declined to vote when their names were called, but ultimately backed Johnson at the end of roll call.
After a long pause and lots of deliberating among members, Norman and Self changed their votes to pick Johnson.
Earlier this week, Trump endorsed Johnson, declaring in a post to Truth Social: “LETS NOT BLOW THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHICH WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN. The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!”
Johnson thanked Trump on X. “I’m honored and humbled by your support, as always,” he said. “Together, we will quickly deliver on your America First agenda and usher in the new golden age of America. The American people demand and deserve that we waste no time. Let’s get to work!”
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is set to help lead Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), also announced his support of Johnson, as did former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA).
On Friday, before the vote, Johnson revealed three commitments for another stint as speaker: creating a working group “comprised of independent experts – not corrupted by lobbyists and special interests – to work with DOGE and our committees on implementing recommended government and spending reforms to protect the American taxpayer.”
He also vowed to task “that working group with reviewing existing audits of federal agencies and entities created by Congress – and issuing a report to my office for public release” and request “House committees undertake aggressive authorizations and appropriations reviews, including providing additional resources where needed, to expose irresponsible or illegal practices and hold agencies/individuals accountable that have weaponized government against the American people.”
With a speaker in place, House business for the new term will get underway, including consideration of a 36-page rules package that includes a provision making it more difficult to cast out a speaker for at least the next two years. This section requires nine majority party members to initiate a privileged “motion to vacate” the speaker — up from a threshold of one member that was used against McCarthy and ultimately led to his downfall.
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