House speaker vote: Trump touts Mike Johnson

Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Friday after two fellow Republicans who initially voted for someone else switched to him on the first ballot.

For more than an hour, Johnson appeared to have fallen short of the 218 votes he needed to win a majority of the 434 House members present because three members of his conference publicly voted for other candidates.

Two of them, Reps. Ralph Norman and Keith Self huddled with Johnson near the floor before formally changing their votes, giving Johnson the 218 votes he needed. Only one Republican, Rep. Tom Massie of Kentucky, voted for someone else — Rep. Tom Emmer — in the final tally.

Johnson defeated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who was nominated by his fellow Democrats. He received all 215 votes of the caucus.

Earlier Friday, President-elect Donald Trump again called on the GOP caucus to keep Johnson in the speaker’s chair. Johnson’s first term as speaker officially ended with the end of the former Congress, at 11 a.m. ET.

“Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

“A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party, and yet another acknowledgment of our 129 year most consequential Presidential Election!!” Trump wrote. “A BIG AFFIRMATION, INDEED. MAGA!”

Republicans have 219 seats in the new Congress. Democrats hold 215 seats.

Johnson was first elected speaker on Oct. 25, 2023, three weeks after then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, was ousted from that slot when a handful of Republican members joined every Democrat to vote for his removal.

Johnson was the fourth nominee considered to replace McCarthy.

McCarthy had only been speaker himself for nine months when he was removed — he was first elected speaker in January 2023 after four days of voting and 15 ballots.

This is developing news. Check back for updates.