Rep. Mike Johnson fails to secure enough votes to retain his speakership after the first round of voting, signaling a potential shift in House leadership.
Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson lost his bid to retain speakership of the House of Representatives after the first round of voting on Friday. In the first ballot, 215 Republicans voted for Johnson, while three called for the appointment of a new speaker. Republicans maintained control of the House in the November 2024 election, but by a razor-thin margin, meaning Johnson could keep the gavel only if nearly every GOP lawmaker voted for him.
The House will now run the roll call again and continue to do so until someone gets the 218 votes required to win the gavel. Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Keith Self of Texas voted against Johnson. Massie voted for Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Norman voted for Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Self voted for Representative Byron Donalds of Florida. Johnson was prepared for the possibility of defeat heading into Friday's highly anticipated vote. With the resignation of Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, there are 219 Republicans in the House GOP conference. Johnson needed to garner 218 votes to hang onto the speakership, meaning he could only afford to lose a single vote. The math gets more complicated if a member is absent or votes 'present,' since the Speaker needs to be elected by only a majority of those voting for a candidate. Johnson acknowledged that, telling Fox News on Thursday that he could 'only afford to lose one or two' GOP votes to hold onto the gavel. ABC News reported that Johnson met on Thursday with a number of possible Republican holdouts to gain their support. According to ABC, several lawmakers in the conservative House Freedom Caucus were seen entering Johnson's office the day before the vote, including Republican Representatives Andy Ogles, Ralph Norman, Victoria Spartz, Chip Roy, Michael Cloud, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs, Andy Harris, Eli Crane and Andrew Clyde
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKERSHIP MIKE JOHNSON REPUBLICANS ELECTION
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