After initially facing internal opposition, Trump-supporting Republican Mike Johnson secured the House speakership in the first round on Friday.
Mr. Johnson could not afford to lose more than one Republican vote, and three Republicans initially voted for someone other than the incumbent speaker. All but Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who supported Tom Emmer of Minnesota, later changed their votes to support Johnson, giving Johnson the 218 votes needed to givel the first full term as speaker. was secured.
All Democrats supported House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Ralph Norman of South Carolina, who initially voted for a third-choice candidate before switching to Johnson, said earlier this week that he and several other Republicans before announcing their support for Johnson. He indicated that he wanted commitments on issues, particularly budget cuts.
The House’s first business began around noon Eastern time, with members required to elect a speaker before being sworn in. Each member stood to declare their choice in a roll-call vote, with Mr. Johnson requiring a majority of all members. Vote to ensure victory.
In a last-minute pitch to his colleagues just before the vote, Johnson outlined concrete initiatives for fiscal reform and pledged to establish an independent working group to review government spending. He promised to investigate what he called “irresponsible or illegal conduct” at federal agencies and implement stricter oversight of government spending.
Johnson told I will move it,” he wrote. ”.
Johnson faced a mathematical shortcut to victory. With Republicans holding a slim 219-215 majority and Massey declaring his opposition before the vote, Mr Johnson risks multiple votes reminiscent of the chaos in the last parliamentary election. I couldn’t afford to lose even one more vote without risking it.
Assuming all 434 current members of the House of Commons participated (there was one vacancy), Mr Johnson would have needed 218 votes to win.
Johnson’s team was reportedly working frantically behind the scenes, making last-minute negotiations with factions of the Republican Party to secure their support. This includes heading to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President Trump.
Much of his support came last year, when he helped Democrats launch billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine in the spring against the wishes of conservatives, and last month when he helped Republican megadonor and billionaire Much of that was lost after concessions were made to Elon Musk to seek compromises on short-term government spending.
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Because of these agreements, some Republicans, including Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz, were seeking commitments to cut government spending to implement President Trump’s policies.
“If Chairman Johnson wants to be chairman, he needs to come up with a plan and commit to that plan, not the way he did last year,” Spartz said on Fox News earlier this week. “I can give him a chance, but I want to hear how he plans to implement this agenda.”
The January 2023 speaker election required 15 votes before former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was confirmed. Mr. Johnson emerged as a compromise candidate in October of the same year after Mr. McCarthy’s ouster, when eight Republicans committed voter fraud to vote alongside Democrats. This was the first expulsion case in American political history.
