U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was reelected to Congress’ top job Friday in a long-running vote that highlights deep divisions among President Donald Trump’s Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Johnson initially appeared to fall short of the majority needed to keep him in office after an hour-long roll call vote, but two Republican opponents voted in his favor after more than 30 minutes of negotiation. I switched. He won re-election with 218 votes, the minimum required.
Republicans control the chamber by a narrow margin of 219-215.
The vote was an early test of whether the party can unite to advance President Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and border security. Trump’s influence on Capitol Hill has also been tested, with a small number of Republicans already showing signs of defiance.
House Republicans have been plagued by internal divisions for the past two years. Mr Johnson was elevated to the chair after the party ousted his predecessor Kevin McCarthy midway through his term.
Lawmakers milled around the chamber for more than 30 minutes after voting, with Johnson and his aides seen trying to persuade protesters.
A Reuters photographer captured an image of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who voted for Mr. Johnson, talking on her iPhone and the name of Mr. Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, appearing on the screen.
The House elected Speaker McCarthy in 2023 after 15 votes over four days.
The mild-mannered Louisiana congressman, 52, rose from obscurity to become the most powerful man in Washington during three weeks of turmoil in October 2023, when Republicans ousted Mr. McCarthy and struggled to agree on a replacement. I got one of the jobs. The conservative Christian lawyer emerged as the consensus choice but has since struggled to maintain party unity.
He has sought to forge a closer relationship with Trump, who endorsed him on Monday after weeks of uncertainty.
“Mike’s win today will be a huge win for the Republican Party,” President Trump posted online on Friday. President Trump will return to the White House for Inauguration Day on January 20th.
As the second-in-command in the presidency after vice president, Johnson has a big job ahead of him. In addition to tackling President Trump’s far-reaching legislative agenda, Congress will also have to tackle the national debt ceiling issue later this year.
The federal government already has more than $36 trillion in debt, and many Republicans in Congress are expected to push for deep spending cuts.
Republicans also swore in a new Senate majority on Friday with a 53-47 vote, with Sen. John Thune replacing longtime Sen. Mitch McConnell as their new leader. Sen. McConnell has stepped down from leadership, but remains in office.
Mr. Johnson has angered some conservatives by repeatedly asking Democrats to provide votes to pass important legislation, including bills to keep government agencies open. It also faced a last-minute hurdle late last month when President Trump directed House Republicans to scrap government funding agreements and also called for raising the nation’s debt ceiling.
A revised version of the bill that does not include Trump’s debt ceiling request passed the House just hours before the government shutdown, with more Democratic support than Republicans.
Congress is scheduled to meet on Monday to certify Trump’s presidential election victory, but it cannot function without a speaker.
Mr Johnson is also seeking to ease his path over the next two years by changing the rules agreed to by Mr McCarthy that any member of the House of Commons can ask the Speaker to step down through a so-called “motion to resign”. . Mr Johnson’s proposed rules would require a majority of nine senators to agree before forcing the type of vote that led to Mr McCarthy’s ouster.
