WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson was reelected to the chamber’s top job on Friday by a razor-thin margin that highlighted potential fissures among Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Johnson appeared to initially fall short of the majority he needed to retain his job in a roll-call vote that lasted nearly two hours, but two Republican opponents switched their votes to support him after lengthy negotiations. He won reelection with 218 votes – the minimum number needed. Republicans control the chamber by a razor-thin 219-215 majority.
House Republicans have been racked by internal divisions over the last two years. Johnson was elevated to speaker after the party ousted his predecessor Kevin McCarthy in the middle of his term.
Members of Congress milled around the chamber for more than half an hour after voting had concluded, while Johnson and his lieutenants could be seen trying to persuade the holdouts.
It was not immediately clear what led Representatives Ralph Norman and Keith Self to change their minds and vote for Johnson after first voting against him. Another six Republicans had initially declined to vote at all before casting ballots for Johnson.
Representative Thomas Massie, a vocal opponent of Johnson who has long been a thorn in the side of his party’s leadership, was the lone Republican to vote against him.
Republicans were also sworn into their new 53-47 Senate majority on Friday with Senator John Thune as their new leader, succeeding long-serving Senator Mitch McConnell, who is stepping aside from leadership but remaining in office.
Comments