House Speaker Mike Johnson retains his post after tight vote

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries shakes hands with newly reelected House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday in the Capitol.

By Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri and Kevin Freking

Jan. 3, 2025 Updated 2:13 PM PT

Johnson was able to flip two holdouts who switched to support him, drawing applause from Republicans.
Johnson often portrays himself as the “quarterback” who will execute the political plays called by the “coach,” President-elect Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON — Republican Mike Johnson won reelection to the House speakership on a first ballot Friday, pushing past GOP hard-right holdouts and buoyed with support from President-elect Donald Trump.

A collection of hard-line Republicans convened in the back of the House chamber during a tense roll call on the first day of the new Congress, one by one declining to vote or choosing another lawmaker. The standoff sparked fresh turmoil signaling trouble ahead under unified GOP control of Washington.

In the end, however, Johnson was able to flip two remaining holdouts who switched to support him, drawing applause from Republicans.

Johnson, in his first speech, vowed to “reject business as usual” as Republicans take charge.

“We’re going to drastically cut back the size and scope of government,” he promised.

Johnson’s weak grip on the gavel has threatened not only his own survival but Trump’s ambitious agenda of tax cuts and mass deportations as Republicans sweep to power. Even his close alliance and backing from Trump himself, usually a sure bet for Republicans, was no guarantee Johnson will stay in power.

The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, attempted to push past the Republican tumult of the past two years, saying it was time to come together and put party politics aside “to get things done” for Americans.

What was once a ceremonial day with newly elected lawmakers arriving to be sworn into office, often with family, friends and children in tow, has evolved into a high-stakes vote for the office of House speaker, among the most powerful elected positions in Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris was swearing in the senators.

While the Senate is able to convene on its own and has already elected party leaders — Sen. John Thune as the Republican majority leader and Sen. Charles E. Schumer for the Democratic minority — the House first needed to elect its speaker, a role required by the Constitution, second in the line of succession to the president.

Newly elected House lawmakers started casting votes as Johnson’s name was put forward for nomination by the GOP Conference Chair Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.).

“No speaker’s perfect,” she said, adding that the goal is to make progress toward shared priorities for the country. “None of us will get exactly what we want.”

Democrats put forward Jeffries as the only speaker candidate with a track record of compromise and achievement in the face of “chaos and dysfunction” under the GOP majority.

“House Democrats are united behind the most powerful legislative leader in this chamber,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) of Jeffries, recounting the many times their votes bailed out Johnson to ensure passage of important legislation.

With opposition from his own GOP colleagues, Johnson arrived with outward confidence after working into the night to sway hard-line holdouts. A flop by Johnson would have thrown Monday’s congressional certification of Trump’s 2024 election victory into turmoil without a House speaker. Even backing from Trump himself, usually a sure bet for Republicans, was no guarantee Johnson will stay in power.

“We don’t have time for drama,” Johnson said as he walked into the Capitol.

The Louisiana Republican received a renewed nod of support from Trump. “A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party,” Trump posted on social media.

During the dramatic roll call, the strain on Johnson was clear as more than a half-dozen Republicans refused to vote for him, many from the conservative Freedom Caucus. He was falling short.

As the chamber stood still, a few Republican holdouts announced their support, but it was still not enough for Johnson to keep the gavel. One hard “no” was Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who voted for a different GOP leader, as did two other Republicans.

Johnson’s allies huddled with some lawmakers and others took calls, passing their phones to the other holdouts.

But Johnson also had warned that without a House speaker there would be a “constitutional crisis” heading into Jan. 6, when Congress by law is required to count the electoral votes for president, two weeks before Trump is set to be inaugurated Jan. 20.

The final vote was 218 for Johnson, 215 for Jeffries. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) received one vote.

Congress has been here before, when it took Republicans nearly a week and 15 rounds of voting to elect Kevin McCarthy as speaker in 2023, a spectacle unseen in modern times. McCarthy was then dumped by his party, a first, but he was also part of a long list of GOP speakers chased to early exits.

The stakes were higher this year as Trump prepares to return to the White House with the House and Senate in GOP control and promising to deliver on a 100-day agenda.

“He’s the one that can win right now,” Trump said about Johnson at a New Year’s Eve party that drew other GOP leaders to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Trump endorsed Johnson but also said “others are very good, too,” a nod to “Make America Great Again” allies in the president-elect’s orbit.

Johnson had been working diligently to prevent defeat, spending New Year’s Day at Mar-a-Lago. The speaker often portrays himself as the “quarterback” who will be executing the political plays called by the “coach,” the president-elect.

The new Congress brings a roster of history-making members, as the Senate expects to quickly begin hearings on Trump’s nominees for top Cabinet and administrative positions.

In the Senate, two Black women — Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland — were being sworn in, both wearing suits in white of the suffragettes, the first time in the nation’s history two Black women senators will serve at the same time.

Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey also is making history as the first Korean American to join the chamber.

In the House, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) is the first openly transgender person in Congress.

And former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who recently suffered a fall and underwent hip replacement surgery, will make her own return to Washington, a reminder of the power she wielded when Democrats last held the majority.

Mascaro, Amiri and Freking write for the Associated Press. AP writers Adriana Gomez Licon and Matt Brown contributed to this report.