BREAKING NEWSHouse Republicans vote to keep Mike Johnson in power after Trumps urging
House Speaker Mike Johnson will retain his top GOP leadership position after Donald Trump urged Republicans to vote for him Wednesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson will retain his top GOP leadership position after Donald Trump urged Republicans to vote for him Wednesday.
House Republicans huddled at the Hyatt Regency just off Capitol Hill for hours to deliberate as to who should be named the next party leader.
The GOP lawmakers voted unanimously for Johnson to become the GOP nominee for speaker, sources in the room told DailyMail.com.
He will still need to solidify his support with his members before a full vote in the House on January 3, 2025. Some hardline Republicans remain unconvinced he should lead them again this next Congress.
The other current House GOP leaders, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, will also stay in their positions after Republicans voted to keep them in power.
Johnsons victory comes after Trump joined the lawmakers Wednesday morning at the Hyatt before meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
Trump told the Republicans he 100 percent supports Johnson retaining the speakership. This is a tremendous guy. I’m with him all the way, Trump said.
President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., as he arrives to speak at a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. During Trumps remarks before House Republicans he mentioned that he supports Johnson retaining his spot as the GOP leader
Trumps major priorities out the gate include enacting strict border security laws, streamlining the bureaucratic machine and restoring American energy dominance.
Johnson retaining the role is a vote of confidence for the leader whos path to power was a rocky one.
In October 2023, Republicans shockingly voted to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy after eight House GOP members voted with Democrats to oust him.
That set off a weekslong search to find another leader and started power vacuum as multiple candidates threw their hats in the ring for the top job.
After Scalise, firebrand House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Emmer failed to secure enough votes to be leader a number of others angled for the speakers gavel.
Eventually after multiple weeks without a leader and the House being rendered ineffective without a rudder to steer the body, Republicans eventually settled on Johnson.
President-elect Donald Trump, escorted by House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., for a meeting with the House GOP conference
Since being elected speaker, Johnson has faced multiple rounds of funding fights with Democrats and members of his own party.
Multiple government funding debacles cropped up for the speaker throughout this year.
In the spring those funding disagreements led to threats to remove Johnson from Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Tomas Massie, R-Ky.
The pair were upset with the continuous extension of government funding levels that were set under former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Speaker Johnson was able to navigate the internal threats without issue, and the warning from Greene and Massie never materialized into a formal vote to strip power from the leader.
The Republican speaker has also surprised critics skeptical of his fundraising prowess.
Johnson has served as speaker since October 2023 after Kevin McCarthy was ousted
Johnson has often touted his extensive travels across the country during the campaign season.
In the end he was able to raise millions for critical GOP races across the country and under his tenure the Republicans were able to secure a supermajority.
Johnson will officially become speaker of the 119th Congress in early January if he is captures enough support in a full House vote.