Mike Johnson Wins Reelection As House Speaker After Convincing Two First Ballot Holdouts To Switch Votes
deadline.comThe first major drama of the new Congress took place as the House of Representatives sought to elect a new speaker, with Mike Johnson managing to secure a majority after finally winning over two holdouts.
The vote was 218 for Johnson and 215 for Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. All Democrats voted for Jeffries. After two Republican holdouts initially voted for other candidates, denying him a majority, Johnson huddled with them and, after a protracted period in which the first ballot was held open, they changed their votes for the Louisiana Republican.
Had no speaker been in place, House members cannot be sworn in and, technically the House could not conduct the business of certifying the results of the presidential election on Monday.
With C-SPAN cameras allowed independent access to the chamber to capture candid moments, the vote was a bit of a deja vu of two years ago.
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