BREAKING: Mike Johnson Re-Elected House Speaker

Today’s Speaker election in the U.S. House of Representatives was a nail-biter, with Mike Johnson securing his position as Speaker on the very first ballot.

You might have heard Speaker Johnson lost the first round, but that’s not exactly what happened.

The vote came down to the wire, with Johnson needing exactly 218 votes to win in a House where Republicans hold a slim majority of 219 seats.

🚨 #BREAKING: Mike Johnson has officially been re-elected Speaker of the House after two Republicans switched their votes at the last second.

President Trump has a mandate, Mr. Speaker.

We WILL hold you accountable to the MAGA agenda. pic.twitter.com/R3SXABjVzc

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 3, 2025

🚨BREAKING: MIKE JOHNSON SECURES SPEAKER VOTES

Reps. Self and Norman flipped their votes to support Mike Johnson, officially giving him the numbers needed to become Speaker of the House.pic.twitter.com/ElButgTAV2 https://t.co/IgK8CDOdCp

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 3, 2025

Here’s how it unfolded:

First Round: The vote was incredibly close. Initially, it looked like Johnson might not make it, with three Republicans—Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Keith Self of Texas—voting for alternative candidates. This left Johnson with 216 votes against Hakeem Jeffries’ 215, with the three dissenters pushing the total against Johnson.

Turnaround: Before the vote was officially closed, a dramatic turn happened. Norman and Self switched their votes to support Johnson, which flipped the tally to 218 votes for Johnson, just enough to secure the Speakership.

Outcome: Mike Johnson was re-elected as Speaker. This last-minute change prevented the need for further rounds of voting, which would have delayed House proceedings, including the certification of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.

Matt Gaetz was initially mocked for this tweet “not aging well” but in fact he turned out to be right:

Mike Johnson will be elected Speaker today.

On the first vote.

People might like or dislike that. I’m just reporting the news.

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 3, 2025

The twist pushing Speaker Johnson into victory came from Ralph Norman and Keith Self changing their votes at the absolute last second:

BREAKING: Ralph Norman and Keith Self just changed their votes to Mike Johnson to allow him to become Speaker.

Johnson must have made critical concessions. pic.twitter.com/SXvYw6Hb3W

— George (@BehizyTweets) January 3, 2025

It is reported that President Trump personally intervened by calling Norman and Self and asking them to switch their votes:

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump PERSONALLY intervened causing Ralph Norman and Keith Self to switch their votes to Mike Johnson for Speaker, per Punchbowl

Trump is the reason you were elected on the first ballot, @SpeakerJohnson

And Trump could be the reason you lose that… pic.twitter.com/GY8v3RwrMn

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 3, 2025

Why would he do that?

With such a fragile majority in the House, and needing the House to certify the Election, it’s likely that President Trump merely wants to get through January 6th and January 20th with no interruptions or distractions or delays.  And this may have been the path of least resistance.

I expect two things will happen in the future….

One, Mike Johnson will once again demonstrate having no spine and sell us out when we need him most at some critical point in the future.

Two, at that point, with President Trump in the White House, his support for Johnson will disappear and Johnson will be removed post haste.