Republican House speaker Mike Johnson is bracing for what could be a fraught battle on Friday as he seeks to hang on to the gavel when Congress returns from its holiday recess.
Despite having the full-throated endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump, the Louisiana Representative can only afford one Republican rebellion against his re-election bid when the lower chamber’s members cast their votes, so tight is the GOP’s 219 to 211 majority over the Democrats.
One congressman, Thomas Massie, has already stressed his objections to Johnson, telling One America News’s Matt Gaetz Show on Monday evening that he would not back the incumbent.
“You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my fingers,” Massie said.
“I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow, and you can take that to the bank.”
Several of his colleagues have likewise said they are unconvinced by Johnson or will require major concessions in exchange for supporting him.
A number of alternative candidates have been mooted should Johnson fail, from the plausible like Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan to the utterly fanciful in the case of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
House speaker Mike Johnson seeking re-election with minimal margin for error as Congress returns
Republican House speaker Mike Johnson is bracing for what could be a fraught battle on Friday as he seeks to hang on to the gavel when Congress returns from its holiday recess.
Despite having the full-throated endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump, the Louisiana Representative can only afford one Republican rebellion against his re-election bid when the lower chamber’s members cast their votes, so tight is the GOP’s 219 to 211 majority over the Democrats.
Here’s Eric Garcia on how it might all play out.
Joe Sommerlad3 January 2025 10:05
Hello and welcome
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage as the 119th Congress convenes in Washington DC and the House of Representatives elects its speaker, with Donald Trump’s Republican ally Mike Johnson seeking a new term but facing opposition from skeptical members of his own conference, a situation that has the potential, at least in principle, to delay the formal certification of Trump’s November election win on Monday.
Joe Sommerlad3 January 2025 09:55
