Listen To Story Above
Rep. Mike Johnson secured the Republican nomination to continue serving as the Speaker of the House on Wednesday, putting him on track to retain the gavel after receiving an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump earlier that morning ahead of a full House vote in the new year.
While Johnson faces no serious challenger, he is confronted with dissent within his own ranks, particularly from the hard-right conservatives and the Freedom Caucus, who are withholding their votes as leverage to extract promises ahead of time.
It’s official, @SpeakerJohnson keeps his job. Go bold or go home in two years. That would mean a whole new round of impeachments in 2026. Get’er done! https://t.co/50fUU7DNoV
— Senior Chief (@SeniorChiefEXW) November 12, 2024
During his first trip back to Washington since the Republican sweep in the 2024 election, Trump informed House Republicans that he fully supports the speaker, according to a person familiar with the remarks made during the private meeting near the Capitol, though unauthorized to discuss it publicly.
Johnson lavished praise on Trump, referring to him as the “comeback king.”
Johnson’s journey to the speakership has been remarkable. Initially an accidental choice to replace the ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy over a year ago, he quickly positioned himself alongside Trump and led Republicans during the elections.
As Johnson describes it, Trump is the “coach,” and he is the “quarterback” as they prepare for unified Republican government in the new year.
Johnson has embraced Trump’s priorities: mass deportations, tax cuts, downsizing the federal workforce, and projecting a more muscular U.S. image abroad. Together, they have been working on what the speaker calls an “ambitious” 100-day agenda, hoping to avoid the mistakes of Trump’s first term when Congress was unprepared and wasted “precious time.”
With support of @realDonaldTrump speaker @MikeJohnson was easily and without opposition re-elected to save the gavel on Wednesday evening, Nov 13th pic.twitter.com/mLWJtHIW9L
— Kateryna Lisunova (@KaterynaLis) November 14, 2024
While Johnson expects to lead the House in a unified government, with Trump in the White House and Republicans having secured a Senate majority, the House is expected to remain narrowly split, even as control of the House remains undecided with final races, particularly in California, still too early to call.
“We want to provide more options so that people are raising families in a thriving and happy way in this country.”
