(Adnkronos) – Republican leader Mike Johnson will face his critics today, in a congressional vote that could see him confirmed as one of the top-ranking officials in the US or relegated to the back benches and the shadows of American politics. After winning the gavel in a palace maneuver in 2023, the Louisiana conservative is vying for reelection as Speaker of the House of Representatives, with the support of President-elect Donald Trump, as the deeply divided Congress begins its new term.
Johnson is seen by extremists in his party as overly consensual and weak on spending cuts, and is hanging by a thread as Washington’s top legislator, who presides over the House’s business. There will be intrigue until the last vote is cast. The 52-year-old attorney’s ambitions could go up in smoke if more than one member of the depleted 219-215 Republican majority defects, assuming all members are present and voting.
It took 15 ballots over four days to elect Kevin McCarthy to the speaker’s podium at the start of the last legislature. He was then ousted and replaced by Johnson 10 months later, in a rebellion that paralyzed the House for weeks. If there is no speaker by next Monday, Congress will not be able to certify Trump’s election victory and the Republican, who has only one more term having served in the White House from 2017 to ’21, will face delays in implementing his agenda.
The fact is that Johnson’s fate rests with at least a dozen right-wing Republicans who are irritated by his handling of major spending bills and either oppose or withhold support from him. One of them expresses a clear and firm “no.” Eleven Republicans voted to oust Johnson last May after he angered the Trump wing by proposing a massive aid package to Ukraine.
“We’re in constant conversation about all of this. I think those members, and all of them, want to be part of the solutions,” Johnson told Fox News Monday. “They made big promises to their constituents in this election cycle and we need to keep them.” All 215 Democrats are expected to vote for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries, as they did when Johnson first won the gavel. Should Johnson fail to win reelection, the process would continue with a second ballot, also likely later today.
Failure in subsequent rounds would pave the way for potential rearguard action by anti-Johnson conservatives and talks between the two parties, which could see the emergence of a consensus Republican candidate backed by Democrats. But no credible alternative to Johnson has been publicly floated so far.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan have already expressed interest in the job, but none of them were able to win the gavel in 2023, when Johnson won. The speaker has been working the phones over the holidays, though it’s unclear how he can appease his detractors. Specialty media outlet Punchbowl News quotes aides as saying Johnson is not interested in “backroom deals.”
The more he is seen as giving in to right-wing critics, the more likely he is to alienate moderates, increasing the potential for conflict between Senate and House Republicans, who already dislike each other.
“The first time he was only eligible because he hadn’t held any kind of leadership position, nor had he ever fought for anything, so no one hated him and everyone was tired of voting,” Kentucky conservative Thomas Massie, the only one to say he wouldn’t vote, said via social media. “He won because he was the least objectionable candidate, and he no longer holds that title.”
