The Republican presidential candidate could only afford to lose one Republican vote.
21:16•Updated 21:38
Representing the Republican Party Mike Johnson has secured his continuation as Speaker of the US House of Representatives by a vote of 218–216.
Johnson initially did not seem to get enough support in the first presidential vote, but the two Republican candidates who voted against him later reversed their positions.
Among the Republicans, a representative from Kentucky voted against Johnson in the first round Thomas Massie, Representative of South Carolina Ralph Normanas well as Texas Keith Self. However, representatives Norman and Self later stood up to support Johnson’s election as speaker.
Democratic presidential candidate Hakeem Jeffries received 215 votes.
A tight vote was expected
The vote was expected to be extremely tight, as the Republican majority in the House of Representatives is very narrow. The party got 220 seats in the elections, while the Democrats got 215.
After this, the number of seats for the Republicans has decreased by one more, when they sought the position of the Minister of Justice Matt Gaetz gave up his seat.
Thus, Johnson could only afford to lose one vote, as all the Democrats had previously expressed their intention to vote against him.
Johnson said moments before the vote that he believes he has sufficient support in the House of Representatives. At the same time, Johnson thanked the new president in January Donald Trump for urging Republicans to get behind him at the polls.
Trump’s support may have ultimately played a decisive role in Johnson continuing as speaker, as his selection initially appeared to be opposed by an even larger portion of Republican representatives.