Washington — House Republicans backed Speaker Mike Johnson to lead for another two years as they voted in leadership elections on Wednesday just as they secured majority control of the lower chamber for another two years.
Republicans voted to return Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both from Louisiana, to their positions in the next Congress, which begins in January. In a pair of letters to their Republican colleagues last week, both Johnson and Scalise laid out similar priorities including border security, extending Trump-era tax cuts, reining in government spending and cutting regulations.
“I’m delighted and honored,” Johnson said Wednesday evening at a news conference.
The leadership elections were held at the same time that President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of the most controversial members of the conference who led last year’s revolt against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as attorney general.
Johnson expressed confidence on Tuesday that he will win the speakership in the first round of voting on the House floor in January. It took his predecessor, McCarthy, 15 rounds and four days to secure the speaker’s gavel in 2023.
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Several House members said earlier Wednesday that Johnson had the support of Trump, who attended their candidate forum earlier in the day with Elon Musk, who Trump has tapped to lead the new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
“You don’t fire people after you win the majority, and every one of those people in our leadership worked hard. Nobody worked harder than the speaker, so I think he had that room going in,” Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma said after their conference meeting. “I think [Trump] made it very apparent how much he appreciated all Mike Johnson had done.”
Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia and Rep. Mike Lawler of New York both said Johnson earned another term as speaker.
Republicans also reelected House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota to his position and elected Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan as conference chair.
Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York currently holds the conference chair title, but withdrew her candidacy after she was offered a role to serve in Trump’s Cabinet as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
In his letter seeking reelection, Emmer acknowledged the infighting that has been a staple of the GOP majority in the current Congress.
“We will always have disagreements over policy and strategy. That’s a good thing,” he said in his pitch. “Governing is messy and imperfect. But I have always believed that there is more that unites us than divides us. I’ve witnessed this as your whip, bringing together members from across our conference to hash out these disagreements and find a path to 218 votes.”
Republicans regained control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections after four years of Democratic rule. But infighting has made it difficult for them to govern with a razor-thin majority amid early retirements and the expulsion of GOP Rep. George Santos, whose New York seat was later picked up by a Democrat.
CBS News estimates that Republicans will win a minimum of 218 seats in the next Congress, with their final number likely ending up between 220 and 222 — a narrow margin on par with their current majority.
A slim majority would again put Johnson in a difficult position, even with Republicans in power in the Senate and White House. Johnson has had to rely on Democratic votes to pass legislation and was even rescued by Democrats from an ouster attempt.
Trump’s personnel selections for his second term could also have an effect on the Republican majority. The former president has tapped three House Republicans to serve in his administration, which will squeeze the GOP majority even further until those seats are filled in a special election.
Cole said members “teased” Trump about cutting into their potential majority after Trump praised two of his picks.
“And somebody said, ‘No more! No more!,’” Cole said.
Hours later, Trump announced he would nominate a third.
Scalise expressed some worry about where the nominations leave the Republican majority.
“Hopefully those special elections happen quickly after these members are confirmed,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “We’re at such a narrow number that hopefully that’s the last one for a little while.”
At his news conference, Johnson said Trump gave him a heads up about his intent to nominate Gaetz when they saw each other Wednesday morning. Johnson also broke the news that Gaetz had given his resignation and it was effective immediately.
“That caught us by surprise a little bit. But I asked him what the reasoning was, and he said, ‘Well, you can’t have too many absences.’ So under Florida state law, there’s about an eight-week period to select and fill a vacant seat. And so by doing so today, that allows me — I’ve already placed a call to Gov. DeSantis in Florida and said, let’s start the clock,” Johnson said.
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