WASHINGTON — A triumphant President-elect Donald Trump huddled with House Republicans before their leadership elections Wednesday and threw his support behind Speaker Mike Johnson, a key ally, as the GOP prepares for unified control of government next year.
Endorsing Johnson, R-La., for two more years as speaker, Trump said he is "with him all the way," using such words as “tremendous” and “terrific” to describe him, according to Republican sources in the closed-door meeting at the Hyatt Regency hotel near the Capitol.
Trump, the 45th and future 47th president, got multiple standing ovations from rank-and-file Republicans at the meeting. Introducing Trump onstage, Johnson called him the "Comeback King."
"We did something that no one thought could be done," Johnson said, adding that congressional Republicans rode a Trump wave to victory.
NBC News projected Wednesday that Republicans will win at least 218 seats and maintain control of the House after last week's elections, handing the GOP all levers of power in Washington next year.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, a confidant who has been at Trump's side at Mar-a-Lago, his home in Florida, since his election victory, joined the meeting and was escorted to a seat in the front row. On Tuesday, Trump named Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy co-leaders of a new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
It was Trump's first visit to Washington after his victory last week over Vice President Kamala Harris. After the event with Republicans, Trump headed to the White House for a meeting with President Joe Biden.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Trump's meeting with Republicans was less about specific policy proposals and more of a "rah-rah address."
A Trump loyalist, Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said as he left the meeting, "If Donald Trump says, 'Jump 3 feet high and scratch your head,' we all jump 3 feet high and scratch our heads."
"Everybody loves listening to him. He could have sat in there for another hour, two hours, three hours, and we'd all be listening attentively," Nehls added. "He's the greatest thing since sliced bread."
A January floor fight?
Later Wednesday, House Republicans elected a leadership team that was little changed from their current one — thanks to the Trump-powered GOP sweep that appears likely to keep them in charge of the House for two more years.
Even before Trump's endorsement, Republicans were expected to nominate Johnson to continue as speaker in the 119th Congress.
On Tuesday night, there were rumblings that the conservative House Freedom Caucus could put up a challenger to Johnson to demonstrate his vulnerabilities, with HFC Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., saying “having two people in a race is kind of the norm” in America.
But in Wednesday's private elections, a challenge from the right never materialized, and Johnson was unanimously nominated for speaker by voice vote. That means a recorded vote was not taken.
To secure his first full term in the job, Johnson will still need to win 218 votes — a simple majority of the 435 total House seats — in a public floor vote in January. Because of the GOP's tight margins, a handful of rank-and-file Republicans could team with Democrats to block Johnson, but it would be highly unusual after the party's election performance and Trump's endorsement.
Johnson told reporters Tuesday he was confident he would win the speaker's gavel on the first ballot on Jan. 3 — unlike two years ago, when it took GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., 15 ballots and five days to win the gavel after he faced opposition from his right flank. McCarthy was ousted as speaker just nine months later, paving the way for Johnson.
"Everybody has ideas on how to better improve our processes. And some of the frustrations that we had over the last year with the smallest margin in history, with control of only one-half of one-third of the federal government, will not be our concerns going forward because we have unified government," Johnson said.
Multiple Johnson allies warned their GOP colleagues not to play games with the Jan. 3 speaker election once Johnson wins his party's nomination Wednesday.
FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane
FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts
"I hope we don't put on a s--- show on Jan. 3," said Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., a Freedom Caucus member who backed Johnson.
FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane
FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts
After Wednesday's leadership elections, Johnson appeared with the leaders of two factions of the GOP Conference — Harris of the Freedom Caucus and Main Street Caucus Chairman Dusty Johnson, R-S.D. — and announced a deal to raise the threshold needed to force a vote to oust the speaker from one member to nine. If the rule change passes, Johnson will be breathing a little bit easier in the new Congress.
"Look, the president ... started the day by coming down and asking for unity, asking for making sure that we deliver for the American public," Harris told reporters. "We've been able to work across the conference to eliminate the controversial issues that could have divided us and move forward together to deliver on the president's agenda. That's it. That's what the American people expect us to do, and the first steps were taken today."
Race to replace Stefanik
Also Wednesday, Johnson’s top two lieutenants — Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. — won re-election to the No. 2 and No. 3 jobs. Both ran unopposed.
Across the Capitol, Senate republicans picked Sen. John Thune of South Dakota to succeed Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is stepping down after 18 years leading the GOP conference.
The only other competitive high-profile House Republican leadership race was the one to replace outgoing GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 4 leader, whom Trump said he will nominate to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
While the top tier of House Republican leadership has long been dominated by white men, the conference chair position has been held by a woman for the last decade. That tradition will continue: Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, who serves on Johnson’s leadership team as GOP conference secretary, defeated Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida, who had endorsements from Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and other conservatives.
After a successful election cycle, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina was elected to a second term as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP’s campaign arm.
And Rep. Blake Moore of Utah, who succeeded Johnson last year as vice chair of the GOP conference after Johnson ascended to the speakership, won a second term in the No. 6 job after he briefly flirted with a bid for conference chair.
In an upset, Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma defeated conservative Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama for GOP policy chairman. Palmer had held the leadership post since 2019. This cycle, Hern led the 177-member Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives on Capitol Hill.
And in the three-way contest for GOP conference secretary, Rep. Erin Houchin of Indiana emerged victorious over Reps. Mark Alford of Missouri and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa.
The GOP leadership team will play a significant role in trying to advance Trump's legislative agenda next year.
Johnson, who said he will be with Trump at Mar-a-Lago this weekend to “iron out details" of their strategy, said Republicans have spent the past year discussing how they could use budget "reconciliation" — an arcane legislative tool that allows the majority party to sidestep filibusters and push through legislation with 51 votes — if they win control of Congress and the White House.
He conceded that the last time Republicans had unified control of government, in 2017 after Trump's first victory, "the Republican Party was not fully prepared for that moment, and precious time was wasted at the beginning of that Congress."
"We are not going to make those mistakes again," said Johnson, who was a newly elected freshman lawmaker that year. "We will be ready on Day One. We are prepared this time. And as we wind down, the 118th Congress will be ready to take the ball and run full speed in the 119th Congress that begins in January."
