WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to avoid the same fate that his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, experienced two years ago: an embarrassing, drawn-out floor fight for the speaker’s gavel.
A small band of right-wing rabble-rousers is threatening to derail Johnson’s bid Friday to retain the speakership. It typically would be a difficult task to take on an incumbent speaker. But Republicans hold such a paper-thin majority in the new 119th Congress that just two GOP defectors could block Johnson from winning the top job for another two years.
Three days ago, Johnson received a big boost when President-elect Donald Trump publicly gave the Louisiana Republican his “Complete & Total Endorsement,” arguing that Johnson's election would help the GOP-controlled Congress execute his 2025 agenda. The speaker said he spent New Year's Day with Trump at his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, shortly after an explosion in a Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas.
But Johnson has already lost one GOP vote; Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, is rallying colleagues on X against Johnson, whom he blames for striking deals on government spending, Ukraine aid and the renewal of a powerful surveillance program known as FISA Section 702.
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Lawmakers said the unpredictable Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., is also someone to watch; she has not committed to backing the speaker and is seeking some assurances.
“I respect and support President Trump, but his endorsement of Mike Johnson is going to work out about as well as his endorsement of Speaker Paul Ryan,” Massie wrote on X before the new year. “We’ve seen Johnson partner with the democrats to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and blow the budget.”
On Thursday afternoon, Johnson hosted a handful of detractors in his office to hear their demands. Spartz was there, along with several members of the House Freedom Caucus: Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md.; past chairmen Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Scott Perry, R-Pa.; and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.
Norman described it as a good discussion that focused on things like spending cuts but said he remained undecided and wouldn't announce his decision about Johnson until Friday's floor vote, leaving the chamber in suspense.
Trump's endorsement "matters a whole lot," Norman said, adding that "people trust Mike Johnson."
For his part, Johnson is expressing confidence that he’ll retain the gavel in the public roll call set for noon Friday — the first vote of the new Congress when each House member present must verbally cast their vote for speaker.
Democrats are expected to vote for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. And nearly all Republicans are expected to cast their vote for Johnson, who won his party’s nomination for speaker shortly after the Nov. 5 election.
After his meetings Thursday, Johnson emerged from his office and said he was hopeful he would win the election on the first ballot. "I hope so. That's the plan," he told reporters.
In an appearance on "Fox and Friends" earlier in the day, Johnson touted Trump’s endorsement and warned that any political games with the speakership could delay Congress’ certification of Trump’s election victory on Monday, Jan. 6. The Louisianan also suggested that the House could not afford to delay organizing itself in the new Congress due to national security threats like the deadly New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans.
No other business can get done until the House chooses its leader. That means House committees can't be organized, bills can't be introduced, and other votes can't happen.
“We will get this done. Look, the things that we’re talking about this morning are an illustration that we live in very serious times. We cannot afford any palace drama here. We have got to get the Congress started, which begins tomorrow, and we have to get immediately to work,” Johnson said on Fox.
“We have to certify the election of President Donald J Trump on Jan. 6, on Monday. And we have many important things pressing on us right now, so there’s no time to waste. We have to stay unified.”
Johnson is facing a similar math problem that McCarthy faced just two years ago when a small bloc of conservative rebels — led by then-Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. — teamed with Democrats to prevent McCarthy from winning the gavel. It took 15 rounds of voting over multiple days, and personal phone calls from Trump, to convince the Gaetz group to stand down.
Because of his own small majority, McCarthy would only narrowly win the speakership. But just 269 days later, Gaetz worked with Democrats again to topple McCarthy, sparking a no-holds-barred battle to succeed him which drew all House business to a standstill for three weeks.
In the end, Johnson, then the congenial No. 7 GOP leader in the House with no known enemies, was unanimously elected speaker after more senior-ranking leaders tried and failed.
On Fox, Johnson acknowledged that he's dealing with a challenging "numbers game." Republicans won a 220-215 majority in November. But Gaetz resigned from office after the election and said he would not be sworn in for the new 119th Congress on Friday, cutting the GOP advantage to 219-215.
Johnson would need at least 218 votes — a simple majority — to win the gavel if all House members are present on Friday.
He said he spent the holidays reaching out to “every single one” of his GOP critics. And, he told Fox, he's making the case that he’s the best person for the job and that Republicans — who starting later this month will control all the levers of power in Washington — cannot afford to delay enacting Trump’s legislative agenda, which includes renewing tax cuts and strengthening border security.
He recently told Fox News’ Sean Hannity he had a 45-minute phone call with one of his loudest critics, Spartz.
“We have unified government that begins tomorrow. We have the White House, the Senate and the House — a totally different situation than we dealt with over the last 14 months since I’ve been speaker,” Johnson said on Fox. “So we’re excited to deliver on the America First agenda.”
If Johnson manages to secure the gavel, House Republicans are set to quickly vote on a rules change that would make it harder to oust him from the speaker's office midway through his two-year term.
Under the current rules, any House member can force a vote to expel the speaker by filing a resolution known as a "motion to vacate." It's how McCarthy was removed from power.
But the proposed GOP rules package for the new Congress states that no less than nine lawmakers are needed to trigger a floor vote to oust the speaker and the nine must be members of the majority party — in this case, Republicans.
The rules change was part of a deal negotiated between the leaders of the far-right House Freedom Caucus and the leadership-friendly Main Street Caucus shortly after the November election.
