House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday won a unanimous closed-door vote for his first, full term as Speaker, despite rumblings of a possible rebellion against him, after he received a full-throated endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, first became speaker after a grueling, nearly month-long search to find a replacement for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted by a small cohort of conservatives last October.
At the time, Republicans were unified in their support of him. In the year since, conservatives have grown dissatisfied with his handling of government funding and Ukraine aid.
But his work to keep the GOP’s majority in the House helped cement him as speaker with the majority of the conference.
Keeping the majority, coupled with Mr. Trump’s endorsement earlier in the day during the House GOP’s candidate forum for a variety of leadership positions, appeared to win over any possible defectors against him.
Prior to Mr. Trump’s endorsement, hardline conservatives from the House Freedom Caucus mulled whether to pit a last-minute challenger against him, but that play seemed to quickly melt away Wednesday morning.
Mr. Johnson’s term as Speaker will become official on Jan. 3, when Republicans elect him on the House floor to kick off the 119th Congress, providing that the GOP captures at least 218 seats as expected. A few races are yet to be called.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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