House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to avoid the same fate that his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, experienced two years ago: an embarrassing, drawn-out floor fight for the speaker’s gavel.
A small band of right-wing rabble-rousers are threatening to derail Johnson’s bid Friday to retain the speakership. It typically would be a difficult task to take on an incumbent speaker. But Republicans hold such a paper-thin majority in the new 119th Congress that just two GOP defectors could block Johnson, R-La., from winning the top job for another two years.
Three days ago, Johnson received a big boost when President-elect Donald Trump publicly gave the Louisiana Republican his “Complete & Total Endorsement,” arguing that Johnson’s election would help the GOP-controlled Congress execute his 2025 agenda. The speaker spent New Year’s Day with Trump at his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago.
But Johnson has already lost one GOP vote; Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has taken to X to rally his colleagues against Johnson, whom he blames for striking deals on government spending, Ukraine aid, and renewal of a powerful surveillance program known as FISA Section 702.
Lawmakers said the unpredictable Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., is also someone to watch; she has not committed to backing the speaker and is seeking some assurances.
“I respect and support President Trump, but his endorsement of Mike Johnson is going to work out about as well as his endorsement of Speaker Paul Ryan,” Massie wrote on X before the New Year. “We’ve seen Johnson partner with the democrats to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and blow the budget.”
For his part, Johnson is expressing confidence that he’ll retain the gavel in the public roll call set for noon Friday — the first vote of the new Congress when each House member present must verbally cast their vote for speaker.
Democrats are expected to vote for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. And nearly all Republicans are expected to cast their vote for Johnson, who won his party’s nomination for speaker shortly after the Nov. 5 election.
During an appearance on Fox News Thursday, Johnson touted Trump’s endorsement and warned that any political games with the speakership could delay Congress’ certification of Trump’s election victory on Monday, Jan. 6. The Louisianan also suggested that the House could not afford to delay organizing itself in the new Congress due to national security threats like the deadly New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans.
