WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson won the House Republican nomination Wednesday to stay in office and move toward a full House vote in the new year after a morning endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump remain.
Although Johnson has no sedate challenger, he faces dissent within his ranks, particularly from the far-right Conservatives and the Freedom Caucus, who are withholding their votes as leverage to push through promises for the future.
Trump told House Republicans during the president-elect’s first trip to Washington since the party’s 2024 election victory that he accompanied the speaker the entire time, according to a person familiar with the remarks but not authorized to speak about them to speak at the private meeting near the Capitol.
Johnson praised Trump and called him the “comeback king.”
It’s been a remarkable political journey for Johnson, the accidental speaker who was the last and best choice to replace ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy more than a year ago and quickly charted a course by standing alongside him in this year’s election positioned by Trump and leading Republicans.
As Johnson puts it, Trump is the “coach” and he is the “quarterback” as they prepare for a unified Republican government in the new year.
Johnson has adopted Trump’s priorities of mass deportations, tax cuts, federal workforce reductions and a more muscular U.S. image abroad. Together, they have worked on what the speaker calls an ambitious 100-day agenda, hoping to avoid the mistakes of Trump’s first term, when Congress was unprepared and wasted “precious time.”
Wednesday’s internal GOP vote was by voice rather than roll call or ballots, according to the same person in the room, and there were no objections to Johnson.
But the result suggests that the speaker has a more challenging path ahead.
While Johnson expects to lead the House in a unified government with Trump in the White House and Republicans having captured the majority in the Senate, the House is expected to remain narrowly divided even with control of the House still up for grabs and the final races, especially in California, are still too early to call.
But the problems that come with a slim majority in the House of Representatives and that plagued Johnson’s first year as speaker, when his own ranks regularly rebelled against his plans, are likely to continue in the new year, potentially leading to a new round of confused government.
Johnson only needs a basic majority in Wednesday’s closed-door vote to win the GOP nomination for speaker. But he needs the majority support of the entire House of Representatives, 218 votes, to actually take the gavel in his hands on January 3, when the new Congress convenes and elects its speaker. McCarthy needed about 15 ballots in a week-long election to win the gavel in 2023.
Trump complicated Johnson’s problems by winning over House Republicans to his administration, which further reduced the numbers. Shortly before the vote, Trump named Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, as his nominee for attorney general, raising eyebrows over the far-right party’s choice.
“Everyone said, Oh my God,” said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.
But with Trump in the White House, the speaker could enjoy a period of goodwill from within his own ranks as Republicans look to break governing norms and institutionalize Trump’s second-term agenda.
“His challenge is what it always has been,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the Freedom Caucus, said of Johnson.
But he said: “If Trump is in charge, it will be easier for him to achieve his goals.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who launched a failed attempt to oust Johnson as speaker last year, said: “Do you know who he has to answer to? Donald Trump.”
And Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, wearing his “Make America Great Again” tie with matching gold Trump sneakers, told reporters the party needs to put the chaos of recent years behind it and unite behind the president-elect.
“If Donald Trump says, ‘Jump three feet and scratch your head,’ then we’ll all jump three feet and scratch our heads,” Nehls said.
The Conservatives have debated whether to field their own candidate as a signal to Johnson as they advance their own priorities, using the same tactics they used with McCarthy to force the speaker to make concessions, particularly on stronger ones Budget cuts.
Instead, they pulled Johnson aside for a lengthy private conversation while other lawmakers watched and waited. The afternoon dragged on.
Simpson, a veteran lawmaker, tired of waiting for the Freedom Caucus’ demands and left.
“It’s nonsense, that’s what it is,” Simpson said. “Sometimes you can’t do everything our exotic members want to do.”
As Johnson begins the budget process for next year, including using a so-called budget reconciliation process that makes it easier in a unified government to get Trump’s agenda through the House and Senate with a basic majority, conservatives want him to bring those packages with him their voices charge their own political priorities.
Johnson met with conservatives delayed Monday night for a private dinner ahead of the votes.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, one of the conservatives weighing their options.
Democrats, who have repeatedly stood by Johnson to govern in Congress – providing him with the votes needed to keep the federal government funded and thwarting Greene’s attempt to oust him – are unlikely to join him in the new year The way they are trying to support thwart Trump’s agenda.
“House Democrats are ready to work with the new administration and will reach out across party lines whenever possible,” said California Rep. Pete Aguilar, chairman of the Democratic Caucus.
But he said Democrats will be “ready to confront efforts” to keep millions of Americans off health care and other GOP priorities.
Not only will the election of the speaker take place on Wednesday, but the Republicans will also decide how they will conduct the election.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, also of Louisiana, and GOP politician Tom Emmer of Minnesota sailed to their re-elections.
The No. 4 position, chairman of the House GOP conference, is the most controversial because Trump has decided to tap Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York as his ambassador to the United Nations. Her departure opens the post to be contested by several Republican lawmakers.
