In a surprising move, Mike Johnson managed to tamp down a conservative rebellion and secured the support to remain speaker on the first ballot Friday, after two Republicans who initially opposed him flipped their votes.
After a long break, Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) switched their votes to Johnson after initially backing others for the top House job.
It’s a major boon for Republican vows to swiftly implement President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. Trump weighed in repeatedly in Johnson’s favor as the contest played out.
Ultimately, only one GOP lawmaker opposed Johnson’s bid, despite about a dozen other conservatives publicly refusing to back him ahead of the vote. The speaker had worked behind the scenes for weeks to secure their backing, after a spending fiasco in December infuriated many of them.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) held to his opposition against Johnson while other conservatives opted to back him. In addition to the two lawmakers who flipped their votes, nearly a dozen other holdouts opted to support him. Democrats, meanwhile, hung together to back Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
In an address after his reelection as speaker, Johnson outlined his party's priorities in the chamber. "We will start quickly and we will start by defending our nation's borders," he said.
Johnson was counseled against making any side deals to placate conservatives — with moderates wary of similar agreements made by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy that significantly weakened leadership and eventually led to his ouster. After the vote, Johnson told reporters that he had changed "nothing" to get Norman and Self to flip their votes.
But a number of House Republicans who reluctantly voted for Johnson to continue on in his role made clear in the immediate aftermath they maintain deep reservations about his leadership.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), former head of the House Freedom Caucus, said in a post on X that he wants Johnson to take steps like securing the southern border, clamp down on federal regulations and implement a congressional stock trading ban, among other priorities, in the early months of his speakership.
“We will hold Speaker Johnson accountable to accomplish the Republican Agenda,” Perry wrote. And he wasn’t alone in expressing continued reservations.
“Everything we do needs to set the Congress up for success and to deliver the Trump agenda for the American people,” wrote Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). “Speaker Johnson has not made that clear yet, so there are many members beyond the three who voted for someone else who have reservations.”
Eleven members of the House Freedom Caucus sent a letter to their colleagues — a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO — outlining what they believe Johnson should have committed to and what they want to see next. It’s a reminder that while Johnson won the gavel, his headaches are far from over.
“Speaker Johnson must prove he will not fail to enact President Trump’s bold agenda,” they wrote.
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
