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Republican Mike Johnson won reelection as House speaker, overcoming resistance from a small but pivotal group of conservative hardliners after a flurry of last-minute talks and with the help of a critical endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.
Johnson won a majority of the votes necessary after nearly all of the dissident ultra-conservatives acquiesced to his continued leadership. The Louisiana Republican initially fell short of the threshold and the vote was kept open as he conferred with lawmakers in a side room just off the House chamber.
Johnson’s narrow 218-215 win allows him the chance to lead a House with the slimmest margin of control either party has held post-election in nearly 100 years. It also underscores the difficulty Republicans may face advancing their own legislative priorities despite universal governing control in Washington.
Still, Johnson successfully navigated the divisions among Republicans in his first major of the new Congress. Two Republicans, Keith Self of Texas and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, who initially voted for other candidates, switched their votes to Johnson after talks with the speaker’s allies.
Even so, one conservative hardliner who voted for Johnson warned in a social media post that the speaker still has critics in his own party.
“There are many members beyond the three who voted for someone else who have reservations,” Texas Republican Chip Roy said on X.
Thomas Massie of Kentucky was ultimately the only Republican to vote for someone other than Johnson.
The vote, which was held open for more than 30 minutes after the roll call, fulfilled Johnson’s prediction a day earlier of a one-round vote with just one Republican holdout.
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