POLITICS NEWS – House speaker vote tests Republican party unity

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

On Friday, the newly sworn-in Congress faced its first test of unity with the vote for Speaker of the House. The previous speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, fell short by two votes in the initial roll call, receiving 216 out of the 218 votes needed for election.

Key Republican holdouts—Reps. Thomas Massie, Ralph Norman, and Keith Self—initially withheld their support, creating uncertainty within the party. With the Republican majority in the House narrowly holding, Johnson could only afford one GOP defection, making the stakes high for his bid to regain the speakership.

After extended negotiations during the open vote, Johnson successfully convinced Self and Norman to change their votes, securing the exact 218 votes needed to win. While Johnson’s election restored Republican control of the House, the contentious process underscored potential challenges for party unity in the months ahead.