Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) has officially been reelected as Speaker of the House, allowing lawmakers to move forward with their other critical responsibilities.
Several lawmakers delayed casting their votes for Speaker until the end of the first round Friday, leaving Johnson’s fate uncertain throughout the initial rundown of representatives.
Those initially remaining silent on their votes were: Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX). All six ultimately supported Johnson.
Three Republicans initially voted against Johnson, including: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Rep. Keith Self (R-TX).
With a vote tally of 216 for Johnson, 215 for Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and 3 for other candidates, it originally appeared that another round of voting would be necessary.
The vote was held open for an extended period of time, however, giving Johnson the opportunity to speak with the Republicans who opposed him. Following these conversations, Reps. Self and Norman switched their votes to Johnson, giving him the 218 needed to secure the Speakership. Massie maintained his opposition to Johnson.
Although Johnson told members of the media that he did not make any promises to Norman and Self in order to gain their support, multiple sources told CNN that president-elect Donald Trump (R) reached out to the representatives to earn their support on Johnson’s behalf.
After the vote tally was finalized in his favor, Johnson told CNN that he is “ready to get to work.”
Ahead of Friday’s vote, Johnson told reporters outside the House chamber that there’s “there’s no quid pro quo” when it comes to his effort to retain the Speakership, emphasizing that he has no plans to make deals or concessions with Republican holdouts.
“I don’t do anything in exchange for a vote, other than commit to make this institution work as effectively and efficiently as possible,” Johnson said.
Prior to the vote, Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) — the representative who formally nominated Johnson for the Speakership — said that she was “cautiously optimistic” he would be able to secure the position in the first round of voting.
Johnson released a lengthy statement on X in advance of the House vote detailing the commitments he has made if he were to be reelected as Speaker.
“The American people have demanded an end to the status quo, and a return to fiscal sanity. That’s why the citizens of our great country gave President Trump the White House and Republican control of both chambers of Congress,” Johnson said. “If we don’t follow through on our campaign promise for fiscal responsibility, we don’t deserve to hold power. The national debt is a grave threat to America’s economic and national security – and no issue exemplifies the Congress’ failures more.”
“Along with advancing President Trump’s America First agenda, I will 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,” he wrote.
The three explicit promises outlined in Johnson’s post focused on reigning in government spending from all sides, including by working with the newly-proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“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 concluded. “Republicans have a mandate to implement the America First Agenda, and as Speaker, this will be my priority.”
Johnson rose from relative obscurity to become House Speaker in October of 2023 after a roughly three-week period in which the House operated without a Speaker, beginning when Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted via a motion to vacate filed by Rep. Matt Geatz (R-Fla.).
This kicked off an arduous process in which the House Republican Caucus went through multiple unsuccessful candidates for the Speakership. Ultimately, Johnson was elected as Speaker with unanimous support from the House Republican Caucus.
[RELATED: Mike Johnson Elected As Speaker of the House With Unanimous Support From Republican Caucus]
This time around, however, Johnson’s ability to maintain his seat was called into question, particularly in light of the controversy over the 1,500-page spending bill he negotiated in the face of a looming government shutdown.
After lawmakers rejected both this and a drastically cut version just more than 100 pages in length, a somewhat pared down stopgap bill was eventually approved by both chambers. However, Johnson relied almost entirely on Democratic votes, including the votes of Maine’s Democratic Members of Congress, to get the deal done.
The original 1,500-page legislation negotiated by Johnson drew harsh criticism from many Republicans and some newly minted MAGA leaders—including incoming chiefs of (DOGE), Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy—for being wasteful and inappropriate.
Late last month, president-elect Trump endorsed Johnson to again serve as Speaker of the House, prompting discussion among conservative commentators — including some of the president-elects most ardent supporters — who viewed Johnson’s handling of the pre-Christmas spending package as a betrayal of the president-elect’s priorities.
In a statement posted to Truth Social, president-elect Trump heavily criticized Democrats while simultaneously urging Republicans to make the most of the opportunity given to them by the voters.
[RELATED: Trump Rankles MAGA by Backing Mike Johnson for House Speaker Amid Congressional Disputes]
“We ran a flawless campaign, having spent FAR LESS, with lots of money left over,” Trump continued. “They ran a very expensive ‘sinking ship,’ embracing DOJ & FBI WEAPONIZATION against their political opponent, ME.”
“BUT IT DIDN’T WORK, IT WAS A DISASTER!!! LETS NOT BLOW THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHICH WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN,” said Trump. “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,” Trump concluded. “He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!”
Trump reiterated his support for Johnson on Truth Social Monday morning ahead of the House’s vote.
“Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support,” Trump wrote. “A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party, and yet another acknowledgment of our 129 year most consequential Presidential Election!! – A BIG AFFIRMATION, INDEED. MAGA!”
If a new House Speaker had not been elected Friday — and House Republicans were unable to rally behind a candidate by Inauguration Day — the nation may have seen the president pro tempore of the Senate, the most senior member of the majority party in the Senate, assume the role of “acting president” until a Speaker was elected and the election results were able to be certified.
According to Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram, this would have meant that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) would have “likely” assumed the role.
With Friday’s vote, however, the possibility of this unprecedented and never-before-seen situation was successfully averted.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="33800 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=33800">1 Comment
Good deal .
Let’s take some names and kick some ass .
Shed all the RINOS in the future elections ….primary them out .
Exactly like we did to Liz Cheney .
Bye Susan C – Bye Lisa M – Bye Bye Mitt R
Unseat some more off the democrats ….gain a larger “ advantage “ .
Like Kamala said : “ There’s more work to be done “ ….LETS GET TO IT