Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was re-elected speaker of the House on Friday’s first vote, but not after some drama. During the roll-call vote, several Republican members remained quiet as their names were called, and three voted for other Republicans. At the end of the roll-call vote, those who had remained quiet first went to the fountain and cast their votes for Johnson, bringing the total number of votes to 216 for Johnson and 215 for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
However, that wasn’t the end of this vote. The vote was left open because without a speaker, the House would either have to take a break or begin a recent round of voting immediately. Johnson’s team swung into action and worked to convince Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), two of the members who had voted for someone other than Johnson, to change their votes . Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was seen talking on her cell phone (to Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles) and then chatting with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the other holdout, but it happened doesn’t seem like a concerted effort to convince him to change his mind.
MTG speaks on the phone with the recent White House chair, Susie Wiles, shortly before the speaker vote
Great photo of @evelynpix pic.twitter.com/9Cpiqyf6Zt
– Gram Slattery (@G_Slattery) January 3, 2025
About half an hour later, Johnson, Self, Norman and several others left the room to discuss matters. After about 20 minutes they returned and Self and Norman went to the fountain to exchange votes with the clerk. With these changes, Johnson reached the 218 vote mark, securing the speakership.
READ MORE BREAKING: We have a speaker on the first vote
What happened? Obviously there was some sort of arm twisting going on, but Politico is reporting now that President-elect Donald Trump spoke to both Norman and Self during that time, according to two Republicans who were granted anonymity to speak freely, and that they and other holdouts “obtained general commitments from Johnson and other Republicans, that the GOP conference will work more together.” According to another Republican who spoke to Politico, “[Trump’s] One-on-one conversations didn’t cut it.”
Self confirmed that he had spoken to Trump several times and described it as “lively.” But he added that they had the same agenda. He also said he and Norman wanted transparency in the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans plan to use to pass ambitious border, energy and tax legislation.
“We need to make sure that this Congress is as strong as possible when we go up against the Senate on the reconciliation package, because there are debates about what the reconciliation package will even look like. That’s all I wanted to do today “Make this Congress successful for the Trump agenda,” Self said.
After the vote was complete, Trump congratulated Johnson on Truth Social, writing:
Congratulations to Speaker Mike Johnson for receiving an unprecedented vote of confidence in Congress. Mike will be a great speaker and our country will be the beneficiary. The people of America have waited four years for common sense, strength and leadership. They will get it now, and America will be greater than ever!
The House Freedom Caucus, which includes Massie, Norman and Self, published a letter to their Republican colleagues After the speaker’s vote was completed, he called for “the House to deliver results quickly” in implementing President-elect Trump’s legislative agenda.
