House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, right, congratulates House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, upon Johnson’s re-election as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, left, speaks with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, after Johnson secured the two votes he needed to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in the new 119th Congress at the Capitol on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, speaks after being re-elected as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, left, hands the gavel to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, in a customary nod to the peaceful transfer of power as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, right, congratulates House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, upon Johnson’s re-election as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, left, speaks with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, after Johnson secured the two votes he needed to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in the new 119th Congress at the Capitol on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, speaks after being re-elected as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, left, hands the gavel to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, in a customary nod to the peaceful transfer of power as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
Washington — After cloakroom negotiations and a call from President-elect Donald Trump, Louisiana’s Mike Johnson won over two holdouts and was reelected Friday as speaker of the House.
Johnson then took the gavel and outlined issues on which he wants the newly installed 119th Congress to focus.
“We have a mandate: People want an America First agenda,” Johnson said to the applause of only Republicans.
Republicans have a 219 to 215 majority and Johnson received the 218 votes needed to retain the post he has held since October 2023. All 215 Democrats backed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of New York.
Initially, Johnson came up two votes shy of the majority. But nearly an hour passed before the ballot count was officially announced.
In the meantime, Johnson huddled in the cloak room off the side of the House chamber with two of the three holdout Republicans — Rep. Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina, and Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas — who had cast votes for other GOP representatives.
The third, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, has said for weeks he was a solid “no.”
President-elect Donald Trump phoned Self and Norman, according to The Hill, a political trade publication.
After the quick meeting, Johnson returned to the floor smiling, stopping to chat with Jeffries, who patted him on the back.
Then Norman and Self went to the clerk and changed their votes to Johnson, giving him the majority. The gavel quickly came down to announce Johnson had won on the first ballot.
Self told reporters that Johnson agreed to allow conservative Freedom Caucus members more say-so in crafting legislation.
“We know that this will be a heavy lift to get the Trump agenda across the line in the reconciliation package, so we shored up the negotiating team,” Self said. “That’s all we did.”
Trump repeatedly endorsed Johnson this week and he did again Friday morning.
After the vote was officially announced, Trump congratulated Johnson on social media: “Mike will be a Great Speaker, and our Country will be the beneficiary.”
Louisiana members have held the top two leadership spots in the lower chamber for the past 14 months and will continue to do so.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the Jefferson Republican who serves in the second-ranking leadership post, was elected by Republicans members of the House in November.
He sat next to Johnson during the balloting and kept a tally of every vote. Louisiana Republicans Julia Letlow of Start and Clay Higgins of Lafayette joined Scalise in voting for Johnson.
Rep. Cleo Fields, a Baton Rouge Democrat, cast his first vote as a new congressman for Jeffries as speaker. He sat next to Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, who also backed Jeffries.
After Johnson’s election was officially announced, he climbed the podium, received the gavel and spoke about the agenda he wants the House to tackle over the next two years.
But first, Johnson asked for a moment of silence for victims of the terrorist attack in New Orleans.
At first, members of both parties responded with standing ovations as Johnson spoke of American exceptionalism. But the Democratic representatives kept their seats when Johnson moved to Trump’s legislative agenda.
“We will start by defending our nation’s borders — that’s the number one priority,” Johnson said, adding that includes finishing the wall on the Mexican border.
He said the Republican majority would also restore “America’s energy dominance;” eliminate funding for the Green New Deal, which refers to efforts by the Biden administration to slow the emissions that cause global warming; and get rid of “the ridiculous” mandates to incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles.
He also promised bills that would cut back on the scope of government and lead to fewer federal employees. Johnson also promised to extend tax cuts passed under Trump’s first administration.
Johnson’s reelection as speaker was expected to need several ballots.
A dozen or so far-right Republicans had lambasted Johnson for compromising with Democratic members to get must-pass legislation approved last year.
Johnson had been on the phone and meeting behind closed doors over the holidays, talking with members who had reservations about him.
Publicly, Johnson and his supporters said his election needed to be quick in order to get started immediately on Trump’s legislative agenda.
Johnson was nominated by Lisa McClain, R-Michigan, chair of the Republican Conference, which includes all members of the GOP in the House.
“Over 14 months ago Mike Johnson took on a daunting task. No speaker is perfect and no one will ever be. However, achieving perfection requires incremental gains and hard decisions along the way,” McClain said.
Jeffries was nominated by the head of the Democratic members caucus, Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California.
“In the face of chaos and dysfunction over the past two years our caucus has kept the government funded, kept our allies protected and our economy secured,” Aguilar said.
Two years ago, in January 2023, House Republicans took 15 ballots to elect Kevin McCarthy, R-California, as speaker. His nine-month reign was tumultuous.
McCarthy was ousted the following October in a coup orchestrated by a small group of conservatives angered that he had negotiated with Democrats on a spending bill.
It took three weeks and the failure of three GOP candidates before Johnson emerged as speaker.
Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.
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