Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson Secures Position After Tight GOP Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KPEL News) - House Speaker Mike Johnson will keep his job after initially appearing to lose the first ballot vote on Friday.

Given the GOP's razor-thin majority, Johnson could only afford to lose one vote and remain Speaker. The one GOP holdout who was a committed "No" was Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Republicans Ralph Norman and Keith Self joined Massie in voting for a different candidate.

However, the two flipped their votes when others who were on the fence ultimately voted with Johnson.

Johnson received a big last-minute push from conservatives like Jim Jordan, as well as a major push from President-elect Donald Trump. Several holdouts were concerned over the Speaker's push for continuing resolutions during the tail-end of the Biden administration. However, Johnson supporters noted that the GOP only had control of the House and virtually no leverage over Senate Democrats or President Joe Biden.

The House will now seat its members officially and begin voting on the rules package, which will govern House processes for this term.