Johnson wins House Speaker vote after late talks with holdouts

Republican Mike Johnson was reelected speaker of the House on first ballot, winning over GOP critics to retain the gavel.

Key GOP detractors flipped their votes to back Johnson at the last minute, after the Louisiana Republican was initially on track to lose. He ultimately won with 218 votes.

While Johnson will keep the gavel, he’ll face a big challenge in Congress with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years.

How it unfolded: After the initial roll call vote, Johnson had come up short, with three GOP defections — more than he could afford to lose. Rep. Thomas Massie had voted for Rep. Tom Emmer; Rep. Ralph Norman had voted for Rep. Jim Jordan; and Rep. Keith Self had voted for Rep. Byron Donalds.

With all members voting, Johnson could only afford a single GOP defection.

But after everyone had voted, the vote was held open for an extended period of time — meaning that it was not gaveled to an official close — and Johnson worked to lock down the votes. Then, Self and Norman flipped their votes in support of Johnson.

If the first vote for House Speaker is any indication, even though Representative Mike Johnson was reelected Friday to lead Congress, his trouble keeping the gavel may be far from over.

Johnson nearly failed to win the first vote, with Representatives Thomas Massie, Ralph Norman, and Keith Self voting for other candidates.

If the first vote for House Speaker is any indication, even though Representative Mike Johnson was reelected Friday to lead Congress, his trouble keeping the gavel may be far from over.

Johnson nearly failed to win the first vote, with Representatives Thomas Massie, Ralph Norman, and Keith Self voting for other candidates.

Nine lawmakers united against the speaker, and they could choose to drop the trap door again anytime they please—so even though Johnson was reelected, his potential firing squad may be beginning to materialize.