Live Updates: Johnson on Track to Lose Speaker Post in First House Vote
Mike Johnson has President-elect Donald J. Trump’s support to retain his role, but three fellow Republicans voted for other lawmakers.
Hard-right Republicans appeared set to sink Representative Mike Johnson’s first bid to be re-elected speaker on Friday, refusing to back him and instead naming other G.O.P. lawmakers to lead the House in the new Congress.
While the vote had not yet closed, with three defectors opposing his bid, Mr. Johnson was two votes short of the 218-vote majority necessary to win another term as speaker. In a tense and confusing scene on the House floor, as Republicans feverishly calculated how much support Mr. Johnson would need to clinch the gavel, he won 216 votes, while Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, won 215.
And the scene that played during the voting reflected the deep divisions within Republican ranks. In addition to the defectors who voted for others, several more far-right G.O.P. members initially withheld their votes for Mr. Johnson, staring straight ahead silently as their names were called, in a clear rebuke to the Louisiana Republican that for a time made it appear as if Mr. Jeffries was on track to prevail.
But they cast their votes at the last moment in support of Mr. Johnson.
Here’s what else to know:
The defectors: The three Republicans who have voted against Mr. Johnson are Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Keith Self of Texas. Six other Republicans initially refused to back Mr. Johnson and did not vote at all, leaving him twisting until, at the last minute, they voted to support him. They were Representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona, Michael Cloud of Texas, Eli Crane of Arizona, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Andy Harris of Maryland and Chip Roy of Texas.
House vote: After both parties nominated their candidates, the House clerk called the role in alphabetical order. If no speaker is chosen, the chamber will have to vote again.
Congressional math: With 434 members present and voting, Mr. Johnson needs to win a majority of the total votes cast, at least 218, to take the speakership, leaving him room to lose only a single Republican if Democrats continue to unanimously support Mr. Jeffries. (Republicans hold 219 seats and Democrats 215).
A sign of influence: The speaker vote is yet another test of Mr. Trump’s ability to hold together fractious House Republicans, who have an extraordinarily thin majority. Mr. Trump has endorsed Mr. Johnson, including in a social media post hours ahead of the vote. A prolonged speaker fight could thwart Republican leaders’ plans to quickly begin pushing through Mr. Trump’s agenda, including a major border bill and tax cuts. It could also delay the certification of his electoral victory on Jan. 6.
Not a formality: The election of the speaker has typically been a pro forma affair. But that changed in 2023, when House Republicans first took back the majority and conservatives subjected Mr. McCarthy, Republican of California to a 15-ballot, four-day round of voting. Read more about how the process works.
Ralph Norman and Keith Self just flipped for Johnson, giving him the 218 votes he needs to become speaker.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Capitol, Vice President Kamala Harris is swearing in every senator, including political adversarires like Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and Bernie Moreno of Ohio. Today, at least, everyone is all smiles and polite chitchat as they pose for photos with Harris.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTAs a reminder, earlier today, Johnson said he would not barter for votes to remain speaker. “I don’t make deals with anyone. There’s no quid pro quo here. I don’t do anything in exchange for a vote other than commit to make this institution work as effectively and efficiently as possible.”
The chair has not yet gaveled the vote closed, as Johnson huddles with some of the holdouts in a chamber off the House floor. The vote is not final until it is gaveled down — meaning that if Johnson were to achieve some sort of breakthrough with the defectors, they could still change their votes on the first ballot.
Two of these holdouts, Ralph Norman of South Carolina (who voted for Jim Jordan) and Keith Self of Texas (who voted for Byron Donalds), are both conservative members of the House G.O.P. conference but were not seen as strident Johnson critics.
Neither Norman or Self supported the effort last year by two other Republican members, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, to depose Johnson as speaker.
Johnson is now huddling with Ralph Norman, one of the holdouts, on the center aisle of the House floor.
Included in the huddle is Representative Andy Harris of Maryland, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, who initially withheld his support for Johnson but voted for him at the last minute.
In the meantime, everyone else is left twiddling their thumbs, and we cannot officially declare the first ballot cast.
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Reporting from the Capitol
And on the first day of the 119th Congress, Representative Nancy Pelosi wore flats.
The former speaker arrived in the House chamber on Friday morning for the first time since fracturing her hip in a fall on a marble staircase at a palace in Luxembourg and undergoing emergency hip replacement surgery.
Gone were her signature four-inch stilettos, which Ms. Pelosi, 84, has worn religiously decades after most women have forsaken uncomfortable shoes for more forgiving, if less fashionable, footwear.
Instead, she was wearing cozy slip-on clogs.
The sight of Ms. Pelosi, otherwise perfectly coifed with a periwinkle sweater draped on her shoulders over a matching pantsuit, in a shoe that looked vaguely orthopedic was a jarring one. High heels have been such a fixture on the master tactician of the House that it seemed as if she might have permanently arched feet like Barbie.
“Nancy Pelosi is 84 and wearing stilettos and I have refused to go to a concert unless there are chairs since I was like 26,” the comedian Jill Twiss wrote on social media last summer.
Flats may be only a temporary fix: In a text message, her daughter Alexandra Pelosi said that Ms. Pelosi’s doctor actually told the family that it was better for her to stand on the ball of her foot.
Ms. Pelosi’s husband Paul has long been her personal shopper, and her sleek designer suits and heels have long been her signature look projecting feminine power. “He’s got Armani on speed dial,” Alexandra Pelosi said in an earlier interview. “He’s the full-service husband.”
On Friday, as members gathered to vote for a speaker, Ms. Pelosi was greeted with applause and hugs from colleagues, and made small talk with admiring children and grandchildren of members on the House floor. When she cast her vote for Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader from New York, for speaker, she received a standing ovation.
For Ms. Pelosi, the heels have long been part of how she presents herself as superhuman. In 2018, when she was the House Democratic leader, she took the House floor to speak about young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers and stood talking for eight hours and seven minutes in the House equivalent of a filibuster.
That she did it in four-inch heels only added to the drama.
“She likes to wear high heels — very high,” recalled Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, who was standing next to her when she took her recent fall on one of the last steps of the marble staircase, which did not have a railing. Even after the fall, Ms. Pelosi stood up and posed for a group photograph with the rest of the congressional delegation, still wearing her elegant black stilettos.
The clogs may be a short-term measure for Ms. Pelosi. But heels end for everyone some day, and Ms. Pelosi already has set something of a world record in her spikes.
Even though voting has concluded, the vote has not officially been gaveled closed, even after Johnson left the floor to huddle with his deputies. That means the first ballot is not finalized, and lawmakers could still technically change their votes.
Just off the House floor, Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, who was one of the three Republicans to vote for someone other than Johnson, was seen chatting with Hogan Gidley, an aide to Johnson and former Trump administration official, and two other G.O.P. members.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTA reminder: we’re getting action shots of the House floor that are typically not available. For instance, a C-SPAN camera just zoomed in on Marjorie Taylor Greene with her hand over her mouth, in what looked like a very serious phone call. This is because the party in control of the chamber decides what portions of the floor action viewers can see and hear. But with no Speaker elected, there is no party in charge to set the rules, and C-SPAN cameras can shoot freely wherever they see an interesting moment unfolding.
It’s worth remembering that less than a year ago, 11 Republicans voted to oust Johnson as speaker. He retained the speakership only because he was saved by Democrats. From the looks of it, a similar-sized contingent of House Republicans remains opposed to his leadership.
The House can’t do anything, including swear in members, until it elects a speaker. The entire Capitol is buzzing with dressed-up family members and small children who have come from across the country to watch their loved ones get sworn in. Now they are just hanging around indefinitely.
House Republicans certainly relish their internal drama.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou saw at the end several House Freedom Caucus members vote for Johnson to prevent Jeffries from becoming speaker. If too many hard-right members had refused to vote at all, there was a danger they would accidentally cause a Democrat to be elected.
Johnson needed a majority of those voting to retain the speakership. He has 216 currently, but needs 218 votes because 434 members voted.
Johnson, who looks anxious, is conferring on the floor with Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, the chairman of the House Main Street Caucus.
Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona, the two final holdouts, vote for Johnson.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTChip Roy of Texas now votes for Johnson.
Andy Harris of Maryland, another holdout, has also now voted for Johnson.
One of the holdouts, Michael Cloud of Texas, just voted for Johnson. But Andrew Clyde of Georgia remained silent.
Johnson has left his seat and is heading back to the cloakroom.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTWhat was once a once-in-a-century occurrence — a speaker of the House losing a leadership vote on the floor — has now happened on the opening day of consecutive Congresses.
Representative Keith Self votes for Byron Donalds. Johnson, who could afford to lose only one Republican vote, has now lost three.
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