Republicans held the first vote open, so Johnson officially elected in round one.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R., S.C.) and Rep. Keith Self (R., Texas) switched their votes under pressure.
Johnson is in.
Good luck. Nothing has really changed.
It is going to be very hard to pass legislation without support from some Democrats and that alone likely means bigger budget deficits.
Addendum – Late Drama
Mike Johnson was re-elected House speaker on the first ballot after some late drama, with President-elect Donald Trump forced to intervene. Two Republicans changed their votes after initially opposing the incumbent.
Three House Republicans—Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Keith Self of Texas—had initially denied Johnson a majority by voting for someone else. But Norman and Self switched their votes, giving the win to Johnson.
Trump spoke by phone with Norman and Self after the initial voting–telling them to stop the nonsense and back Johnson, according to people familiar with the discussions. Johnson didn’t agree to any specific concessions, a Republican lawmaker said.
Several hard-right House Republicans said they only voted for Johnson to make sure the chamber was ready to certify Trump as president in the coming days: “We did this despite our sincere reservations regarding the Speaker’s track record.”
The Late Drama courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.