WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) –– Embattled Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson won retention of his leadership position Friday, following the reversal of two votes to oust him and great consternation over how best to pursue a new GOP agenda with the incoming Trump administration.
Republican Reps. Ralph Norman (SC), Thomas Massie (KY) and Keith Self (TX) voted against Johnson on the first ballot, but Norman and Self changed their votes later in the afternoon, giving Johnson the majority needed to win, and cutting off a lengthy spectacle of the sort that followed the revolt last year that replaced former Speaker Kevin McCarthy with Johnson.
The American people have demanded an end to the status quo, and a return to fiscal sanity. That’s why the citizens of our great country gave President Trump the White House and Republican control of both chambers of Congress. If we don’t follow through on our campaign promise for…
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 3, 2025
Johnson became a lightning rod for criticism almost as soon as he became speaker, largely over differences between Republican leadership and parts of the grassroots over federal spending and foreign aid. Most recently, he presided over a bitter government funding battle that was complicated by returning President Donald Trump’s calls for the debt ceiling to be eliminated before he is sworn back into the White House. Johnson eventually approved a stopgap funding bill that did not include that demand, prompting many in Trump’s “MAGA” base to call for his ouster.
Trump himself, however, gave Johnson his “Complete & Total Endorsement,” calling him a “fine man of great ability” and urging House Republicans to support him so that settled Congressional leadership is in place. Some such as Massie continued their opposition to Johnson, but the lack of a viable alternative that wanted the job or had a chance at getting enough votes stymied their efforts.
Republicans won both chambers of Congress along with the presidency in the 2024 elections, but the new House majority is just 219-215 thanks to the resignation of scandal-plagued Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and will temporarily be even smaller when additional House members resign their seats to accept appointments in the new Trump administration.