Mike Johnson elected House speaker after Trump backs Republican

Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was reelected speaker of the House of Representatives on Friday on the first ballot after two of his three fellow Republicans who initially voted for other caucus members switched their votes to him.

Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas flipped their votes to Johnson after huddling with him near the House floor as the chamber’s clerk kept the ballot open for more than an hour.

Only one Republican, Rep. Tom Massie of Kentucky, voted for someone else — Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota — in the final tally, which gave Johnson the minimum 218 votes he needed to win.

Neither Emmer nor the other Republicans whom Norman and Self first voted for — Jim Jordan of Ohio and Byron Donalds of Florida — had been nominated for or sought the speaker’s gavel.

Johnson defeated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who was nominated by his fellow Democrats. Jeffries received all 215 votes of the caucus.

President-elect Donald Trump, who had backed Johnson’s candidacy, in a social media post congratulated him on “receiving an unprecedented Vote of Confidence in Congress.”

“Mike will be a Great Speaker, and our Country will be the beneficiary,” Trump wrote. “The People of America have waited four years for Common Sense, Strength, and Leadership. They’ll get it now, and America will be greater than ever before!”

Johnson took his place presiding over the House after the vote and called for a moment of silence for the victims of the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans.

Johnson was first elected speaker on Oct. 25, 2023, three weeks after then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted from that slot when a handful of Republican members joined every Democrat to vote for his removal.

Johnson was the fourth nominee considered to replace McCarthy.

McCarthy had only been speaker himself for nine months when he was removed — he was first elected speaker in January 2023 after four days of voting and 15 ballots.