By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-03 20:16:23 | Updated at 2025-01-05 19:58:07
1 day ago
US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson was reelected to the chamber’s top job on Friday in a lengthy vote that highlighted persistent divisions among Donald Trump’s Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Johnson appeared to initially fall short of the majority he would need to retain his job in an hour-long roll-call vote, but two Republican opponents switched their votes to support him after more than half an hour of negotiations. He won re-election with 218 votes – the minimum number needed.
Republicans control the chamber by a razor-thin 219-215 majority.
The vote was an early test of the party’s ability to hang together as it advances Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and border enforcement. It also tested Trump’s clout on Capitol Hill, where a handful of Republicans have already shown a willingness to defy him.
House Republicans have been racked by internal divisions over the last two years. Johnson was elevated to speaker after the party ousted his predecessor Kevin McCarthy in the middle of his term.
Members of Congress milled around the chamber for more than half an hour after voting had concluded, while Johnson and his lieutenants could be seen trying to persuade the holdouts.
