Mike Johnson reelected as speaker after weeks of drama

Former congressman Matt Gaetz kicked off the 119th Congress by not showing up and taking the Capitol Hill press corps to school. After weeks of drama, Mike Johnson was reelected as speaker of the House on the very first ballot — exactly as Gaetz predicted. Some Hill reporters, such as Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, and even Congressman Thomas Massie, had tweeted in response to Gaetz’s declarative prediction that he was wrong.

Heading into the vote, everyone knew that Massie was implacably opposed to Johnson — but everyone else’s opposition proved to be quite placable. The drama kicked off almost immediately, when Democratic congressman Hank Johnson failed to show up before roll was called. 

The Democratic Johnson’s absence would have made the Republican Johnson’s path to the speakership far easier by lowering the number of defections he could afford. He ultimately did show up and voted for Congressman Hakeem Jeffries for speaker, as every Democrat did.

While Johnson didn’t earn the unanimous support from his party that Jeffries did, he got enough votes after a series of initial “present” votes from members of the House Freedom Caucus.

It took some extra lobbying by President-elect Donald Trump and from some frustrating House Republicans, but almost every “present” vote became one in the affirmative, giving Johnson the margin he needed.

“I told ya,” Congressman Derrick Van Orden shouted to those assembled outside the House chamber, as he walked in after his colleagues flipped their votes. Van Orden, alongside members of the Republican Main Street Caucus, held a press conference after the round had initially closed where they uniformly predicted that both Johnson would win his bid and that it would be over by tonight.

It was a “prediction that turned true,” Congresswoman Stephanie Bice, who led the press conference, noted. “Huge congrats to Speaker Johnson,” she said immediately after Johnson’s win was a foregone conclusion.

What comes next is anyone’s guess. Congressman Ralph Norman, who initially voted present before flipping to Johnson, may face a primary from a former South Carolina congressman: Mick Mulvaney, who seemed to float a run after the race. “I might know a little about [Norman’s district]. How can I help?” Mulvaney represented the district for almost a decade before leaving to serve in the first Trump administration.