Jan. 3 (UPI) — Mike Johnson will retain the speaker’s gavel after a fluid round of voting in the U.S. House on Friday.
The tally of the first vote was 216 for Johnson and 215 for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. After nearly 40 minutes from the final vote, the gavel still had not fallen. Two Republicans who voted for other candidates left the chamber with Johnson, R-La. When they returned, they changed their votes, casting them for Johnson.
In Johnson’s first address following the vote, he echoed the calls from the Republican Party to challenge bureaucracy and said Americans want an “America first” agenda.
“In recent months we’ve witnessed something happening. A groundswell of Americans from every state, race and religion who now demand that we put the interests of Americans first again,” Johnson said. “This is a powerful new coalition in our country. To that end this Congress will renounce the status quo. We will start by defending our nation’s borders.”
Johnson, R-La., could only afford to lose one Republican vote and still receive the 218 votes needed to be named speaker of the House again — that is, if all members vote. In the first round of voting, seven Republicans withheld their votes before casting votes for Johnson. Three voted for other candidates.
Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted for Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., voted for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, voted for Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. Self and Norman changed their votes after conversing with Johnson.
Several Republicans did withhold their votes in the first round of voting when their names were first called, sinking Johnson’s initial bid to resume his speakership. Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Andy Harris, R-Md., Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., Michael Waltz, R-Fla., and Michael Cloud, R-Texas did not cast votes. Rep. Neither did Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind.
Biggs, Cloud, Clyde, Roy, Waltz, Gosar and Harris voted for Johnson when called upon after the vote. Carson cast his vote for Jeffries.
The House came into session at 11 a.m. EST and went into recess about three minutes later.
Introducing Johnson as the Republican Party’s nominee, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., underlined the need for compromise within the party.
“Over 14 months ago, Mike Johnson took on a daunting task. No speaker is perfect and no one will ever be,” McClain said. “None of us will get exactly what we want.”
Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., introduced Jeffries as the nominee from the Democratic Party.
“There is only one leader in this chamber with the track record of compromise, conviction and compassion,” Aguilar said. “There is only one leader who knows how to negotiate a bipartisan deal and then stick to that deal. House Democrats are united behind the most powerful legislative leader in this chamber, Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn.”
Jeffries congratulated Johnson when introducing him as the newly re-elected Speaker of the House, calling for lawmakers to resume governing. He went on to argue on behalf of maintaining Social Security and Medicare, as Johnson stood by.
“Not now. Not ever. No means never,” Jeffries said.
Massie signaled his plan not give Johnson his vote during an interview on Thursday.
“Oh no. You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my fingers,” said Massie. “I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow and you can take that to the bank.”
Massie has expressed concern that Republicans will not be able to exercise their narrow majority and carry out the agenda of President-elect Donald Trump if Johnson is the speaker. Trump has endorsed Johnson.
“Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support,” Trump posted on social media Friday. “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!”
Several Republicans, including Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., have said their support for Johnson is contingent on him naming Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, as chair of the House Rules Committee.
The House Rules Committee is an influential committee that has the authority to rewrite bills and determine how bills are presented.
Roy notably drew the criticism of Trump over his opposition to the version of the stopgap government funding bill Trump supported last month.
Republicans hold 219 seats in the House to Democrats 215. The number of votes required to be confirmed as speaker can change if some members do not vote or vote “present.”
Johnson became speaker in October 2023 following a drawn out process to replace Kevin McCarthy, the former Republican representative from California. After rounds of closed door votes and multiple frontrunners, all 220 Republicans voted for Johnson.