The recently elected 119th Congress convenes for the first time on Friday, January 3, 2025. The first item on the U.S. House’s agenda is whether to reelect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Benton, as speaker of the House. If reelected, members of the Louisiana delegation will continue to hold the top two leadership posts in the lower chamber.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
The recently elected 119th Congress convenes for the first time on Friday, January 3, 2025. The first item on the U.S. House’s agenda is whether to reelect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Benton, as speaker of the House. If reelected, members of the Louisiana delegation will continue to hold the top two leadership posts in the lower chamber.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
WASHINGTON – The newly elected 119th Congress convenes at noon today, ushering in a unified government in which Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the presidency.
But the first order of business is to determine if Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson will continue as speaker of the House — and that election could prove bumpy.
Acknowledging his precarious position, Johnson told “Fox & Friends” Thursday: “We cannot afford any palace intrigue.”
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, was more succinct, posting Thursday on X: “Buckle Up…”
Many far-right Republicans are fuming over Johnson’s willingness to negotiate with Democrats to get must-pass bills approved.
Steve Bannon, a former close aide to President-elect Donald Trump, said repeatedly Johnson that has “got to go.”
Trump, however, strongly endorsed Johnson for the speakership on Monday and again on Tuesday, telling the House majority that backing the Benton Republican is the best way to get the GOP agenda off to a running start rather than getting mired in an embarrassing fight over leadership.
“Let’s not blow this great opportunity that we have been given,” Trump said.
Several rightwing Republicans were persuaded and appear ready to support Johnson. But the key point in the speakership plotline is math, which complicates Johnson’s chances.
Republicans hold the House majority with 219 seats. Democrats have 215. Johnson needs 218 votes to win election provided everyone shows up to cast ballots and the Democrats all support Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, as they have promised.
If Johnson loses two GOP votes, then the selection of speaker, which historically has been a quick slam dunk, will take multiple ballots — as happened two years ago when Republicans assumed the majority in the House.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, already has announced he will oppose Johnson for mishandling several issues.
“We’ve seen Johnson partner with the Democrats to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and blow the budget,” Massie wrote Monday in response to Trump’s endorsement.
Massie doubled down Tuesday night with an X post.
“Johnson is not up for this task,” Massie wrote. “The emperor has no clothes and the entire conference knows it but few will say it. The general public knows it too.”
ABC News reported Wednesday that their polling of House members show 15 Republican representatives are vacillating on supporting Johnson.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox Business on Tuesday that Johnson doesn’t have enough votes to win.
Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Indiana, wrote on X: “We still need to get assurances that Speaker Johnson won’t sell us out to the swamp.”
Johnson says he has spoken directly to conservatives reluctant to rally around his speakership.
Johnson Thursday told his hometown talk radio station, KEEL-AM: “We need a speaker right now who’s not only a proven fighter, which I am, and a trusted lifelong conservative, which I am, but somebody who can also work with every single member of this very diverse House GOP, because we’ve gotta get Trump’s priorities over the line.”
What makes the election formula uncertain is the number of representatives who don’t show up or who attend but vote present. That would change how many votes Johnson needs to win.
Those pencil-to-paper calculations are being made behind closed doors, according to a staffer speaking on condition of anonymity.
For instance, assuming Massie votes against Johnson and another House Republican or two vote “present,” then the number Johnson needs could become 217 or 216 instead of 218.
If the speaker election doesn’t turn out to be quick and tidy, additional ballots will need to be taken. Once the speakership is decided, the rest of the House will be sworn and business can begin.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, already has been elected House Majority Leader, the lower chamber’s second highest-ranking leader. He is in charge of pushing legislation through the process.
Louisiana’s six-member House delegation, which had been five Republicans and one Democrat, is set to pick up a second Democratic representative when state Sen. Cleo Fields, of Baton Rouge, takes his oath. It’ll be the first time since 2011 that Louisiana has two Democratic representatives.
Over in the U.S. Senate, Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, will officially assume the chair of the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which oversees issues that use about a third of the federal budget.
Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.
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