Mike Johnson Wins Reelection As House Speaker After Convincing Two First Ballot Holdouts To Switch Votes

The first major drama of the new Congress took place as the House of Representatives sought to elect a new speaker, with Mike Johnson managing to secure a majority after finally winning over two holdouts.

The vote was 218 for Johnson and 215 for Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. All Democrats voted for Jeffries. After two Republican holdouts initially voted for other candidates, denying him a majority, Johnson huddled with them and, after a protracted period in which the first ballot was held open, they changed their votes for the Louisiana Republican.

Had no speaker been in place, House members cannot be sworn in and, technically the House could not conduct the business of certifying the results of the presidential election on Monday.

With C-SPAN cameras allowed independent access to the chamber to capture candid moments, the vote was a bit of a deja vu of two years ago. That’s when Kevin McCarthy failed to capture the speakership on the first vote, and ultimately went through 14 more rounds before taking the gavel. But he was voted out later that year, and replaced by Johnson after a protracted, intra-party battle.

Johnson’s wrenching process of convincing the holdouts is a signal of the tough challenge he will have in achieving unity in Congress with little room to spare. As it became clear that he would not have the votes during the roll call, murmurs could be heard on the Democratic side of the aisle, as they already have been warning of the chaos of the last Congress to continue, even with Donald Trump returning to office for another term.

This time around, the Republican majority is even smaller, 219-215, and the GOP could afford to lose no more than one vote to another choice for speaker.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) voted for Tom Emmer, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) voted for Jim Jordan and Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) voted for Byron Donalds. After the roll call was finished, it looked as if the House would head to a second ballot, but no official tally was announced.

But after about 45 minutes of talks on the floor and in the GOP cloakroom, Norman and Self appeared before the rostrum and, standing by Johnson, changed their votes.

Massie (R-KY) said last month that he would vote against Johnson, while Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) was a visible holdout. After not responding to the initial roll call, he ultimately voted for Johnson, standing in the aisle stone faced.

Roy arrived in the chamber about a half hour before the session began, seated along the main aisle. He was close to the seat where former Rep. Matt Gaetz sat as he held out on McCarthy in his speaker battle two years ago.

Trump endorsed Johnson earlier in the week, hoping to stave off internal drama to kick off the new Congress. But that did not sway holdouts, upset over a deal that Johnson reached with Democrats last month on a new government spending plan.