Mike Johnson wins Republican support to be House speaker again after Trump endorsement
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was selected to lead the GOP conference again during a closed-door vote on Wednesday.
It comes after President-elect Donald Trump addressed House Republicans earlier in the day and said he was “100%” behind Johnson, multiple sources in the room told Fox News Digital.
Several hard-line GOP members are still holding out their support, however, over his handling of government spending and foreign aid in the current Congress.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on Thursday, September 12, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
It’s been a meteoric rise for the Louisiana Republican, who was a relatively little-known lawmaker when he was elected to succeed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after he was ousted by all House Democrats and eight fellow Republicans.
Johnson has endured much of the same chaos as McCarthy while presiding over a razor-thin House majority, with GOP rebels weaponizing the small margin in efforts to force the conference to pass more conservative policy.
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Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted last year. (Getty Images)
But Johnson did not face any significant challengers on Wednesday, nor was he expected to with House Republicans on track to hold onto the chamber majority in the 119th Congress.
It could be a different story in January, when he will need a majority of the entire House chamber to be elected speaker.
McCarthy infamously had to endure 15 rounds of House votes and was forced to make concessions to a small group of holdouts in exchange for their support.
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President-elect Trump has endorsed Johnson. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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With Johnson projected to win just a slim single-digit majority again, he can afford little opposition – or risk paralyzing the House under a new Trump administration.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., ran uncontested for their current roles and are expected to win.