Republican Mike Johnson elected House speaker after dramatic vote reversals
Source: CNBC
Published Fri, Jan 3 2025 10:21 AM EST Updated 3 Min Ago
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Friday on the first ballot after two of the three fellow Republicans who initially voted for other caucus members switched to him.
Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Texas’ Keith Self 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 — in the final tally, which gave Johnson the minimum 218 votes he needed to win. Neither Emmer nor the other Republicans who Norman and Self first voted for — Jim Jordan and Byron Donalds— 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.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/03/trump-house-speaker-mike-johnson-republican.html
Article updated.
Previous articles -
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Friday after two fellow Republicans who initially voted for someone else switched to him on the first ballot.
For more than an hour, Johnson appeared to have fallen short of the 218 votes he needed to win a majority of the 434 House members present because three members of his conference publicly voted for other candidates.
Two of them, Reps. Ralph Norman and Keith Self huddled with Johnson near the floor before formally changing their votes, giving Johnson the 218 votes he needed. Only one Republican, Rep. Tom Massie of Kentucky, voted for someone else -- Rep. Tom Emmer -- in the final tally.
Johnson defeated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who was nominated by his fellow Democrats. He received all 215 votes of the caucus.
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was re-elected as speaker of the House of Representatives on the first ballot Friday after two of his fellow Republicans who initially voted for someone else switched to him.
Johnson defeated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who was nominated by his fellow Democrats.
Earlier Friday, President-elect Donald Trump again called on the GOP caucus to keep Johnson in the speaker's chair. The Louisiana lawmaker's first term as speaker officially ended with the end of the former Congress, at 11 a.m. ET.
With all 434 House members showing up for the vote, Johnson needed nearly every Republican to vote for him to become speaker.
Original article -
Republican Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was re-elected as speaker of the House of Representatives on the first ballot Friday. Johnson defeated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who was nominated by his fellow Democrats
Earlier Friday, President-elect Donald Trump again called on the GOP caucus to keep Johnson in the speaker's chair. The Louisiana lawmaker's first term as speaker officially ended with the end of the former Congress, at 11 a.m. ET.
With all 434 House members showing up for the vote, Johnson needed nearly every Republican to vote for him to become speaker.
"Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
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