Mike Johnson Narrowly Wins Speaker Vote After Two GOP Reps Flip
Speaker Mike Johnson reclaimed the speakership for the 119th Congress after two Republican holdouts flipped their votes during a vote on Friday.
Johnson initially appeared to fall short after Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas voted for other members of the House Republican conference for speaker.
Self and Norman flipped their votes to Johnson before voting ended, allowing Johnson to reclaim the speakership during the first round of voting.
Massie was the only Republican who had committed to voting against Johnson before the speaker vote and backed Republican Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, majority whip of the House Republican conference, for speaker. Norman initially supported Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and Self originally voted for Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds during the first round of voting.
Notable Johnson skeptics, Republican Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Andy Harris of Maryland, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Michael Cloud of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona, initially passed on voting for Johnson as speaker, but chose to back him before voting had ended.
Every Democratic member in attendance voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Given House Republicans’ slim majority, Johnson can afford to lose just one Republican vote to reclaim the speakership.
The House will continue voting in consecutive rounds until a speaker is elected.
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