Trump’s Last-Minute Push for Mike Johnson: Will GOP Rebels Derail His Speakership?, You Won’t Believe What’s Going On
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was facing a difficult fight on Friday to keep his job as Speaker of the House. To win the vote, he could only afford to lose one Republican vote if all members supported a single candidate. However, things didn’t go as planned.
Early in the voting process, two Republican members chose not to support him. This meant that unless they changed their votes, Johnson would not have enough support to stay as Speaker.
President-elect Donald Trump had openly backed Johnson, giving him a much-needed endorsement. Trump didn’t stop there—he personally called several Republicans who were still undecided to convince them to support Johnson.
This showed how involved Trump was in trying to secure the win for Johnson. Despite Trump’s efforts, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) made it clear he would vote against Johnson. He was joined by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), who also voted for other Republican candidates instead of Johnson.
Fox News anchor Bret Baier reported earlier on Friday that Trump was working hard behind the scenes. Trump had spoken to several Republicans who hadn’t yet made up their minds, and according to Baier, these calls were mostly positive for Johnson.
However, Trump didn’t reach out to Rep. Massie, likely because Massie had already firmly decided to vote no. Trump’s team was hopeful that Johnson could win the vote on the first try but admitted they weren’t entirely sure. Trump was paying close attention to the process and was ready to make more calls if needed to help Johnson.
House Republicans were also eager to avoid a messy, drawn-out vote like what happened in January 2023. Back then, it took 15 rounds of voting before Kevin McCarthy finally won the Speaker role. This time, they hoped to settle everything quickly and avoid any drama, but with some Republicans voting against Johnson, it was unclear if that would happen.
