Mike Johnson narrowly re-elected as US house speaker
US House Speaker Mike Johnson has been re-elected, in a narrow, party-lines vote. Johnson was elected after a pause in voting, with multiple Republicans initially refusing to back him.
Johnson was elected on Friday by 218 votes to 215, with Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie the sole member of the GOP to vote against him. All 215 House Democrats voted for New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries.
With Republicans holding a slim 219-215 majority in the House, Johnson could afford only two defections. When voting opened earlier on Friday, Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas joined Massie in opposing Johnson’s nomination.
However, both lawmakers changed their minds after speaking to Johnson during a brief recess.
Johnson replaced California Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker in October 2023, after a small band of hardline Republicans ousted McCarthy for his perceived loyalty to the party’s Democrat-friendly establishment. While Johnson was previously viewed as a member of the GOP’s establishment wing, he has spent much of his speakership portraying himself as a stalwart ally of President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump lent Johnson his endorsement on Monday. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the incoming president described Johnson as “a good, hard working, religious man.”
“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,” Trump added.
Johnson angered hardline Republicans last year when he passed a series of mammoth foreign aid bills, including one that gifted $65 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. The Louisiana lawmaker has since said that he no longer has “an appetite for further Ukraine funding,” and has backed Trump’s repeated promises to end the conflict shortly after being sworn into office later this month.
