A House floor vote on the Republicans’ nominee for speaker is expected at noon.
After three weeks of infighting, backstabbing and chaotic wrangling, Republicans appear more unified behind Rep Mike Johnson (R-LA) than any of those that came before him – including Reps Steve Scalise (R-LA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Tom Emmer (R-MN) – but nothing is certain in this Republican Party.
The House GOP has churned through 14 candidates, and now four nominees – including Mr Johnson – in 22 days since the ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on 3 October.
Late on Tuesday night, Mr Johnson crossed the threshold needed within the Republican conference when he received 128 votes in an internal ballot – far from the 217 votes he needs in a chamber with 433 out of 435 seats currently filled.
The feeling that Republicans may finally have their speaker stems from the absence of acrimony following the nomination of Mr Johnson, replaced by cheers, chants of “Mike! Mike! Mike!” and a sense of relief among exhausted officeholders.
But Mr Johnson hasn’t cleared the bar just yet. Three representatives voted present on Tuesday night during a roll call vote of the GOP conference – and 22 members were absent. Mr Johnson can only afford four no-votes, and it’s possible they simply were there last night.
But what was clearly different after the nomination of Mr Johnson was the absence of opposition and vocal support coming from all sides of the party.
One of the more moderate members of the party who pushed back hard against a more far-right speaker, Rep Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), wrote on X just after 11pm on Tuesday: “Proud to announce that we have a Speaker of the House! Congratulations to conservative Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Mike is the son of a firefighter and a straightforward leader who can unite us as Republicans!”
Meanwhile, Rep Chip Roy (R-TX), a hard-right Texan, told CBS News that Mr Johnson is “right guy at the right time”.
“He’s a good friend,” Mr Roy added. “He’s a good man. He’s got his pulse, I think on where the American people are. And, look, there was a lot of unity in that room.”
Rep Ken Buck (R-CO), who voted to oust Mr McCarthy, appeared on CNN on Tuesday night, saying, “Mike will take the floor tomorrow and he’ll get his 217 votes. It’s the closest of anybody we’ve had so far to becoming our speaker, and I think he gets it tomorrow”.
