Speaker-designate Mike Johnson, R-La., was re-elected to lead the House of Representatives on Friday, despite losing one Republican colleague in the final vote count.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the sole Republican who voted against Johnson, but things could have been worse for the House speaker. Reps. Keith Self, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., initially opposed Johnson but later modified their votes to back him.
Norman told Headlines.He changed his vote permanently after receiving guarantees from Johnson.
“I asked, ‘Mike, are you going to give us specific examples of fighting for the things we discussed? Will you offer us your word? He replied, ‘Yes.’ So I replied, ‘OK, we’ll take you at your word.’ “That’s why I changed my vote,” Norman explained on “The Story” Friday.
Johnson’s future became dubious on Friday afternoon when Norman, Massie, and Self voted for someone other than him as speaker, thereby putting the gavel out of reach.
Johnson then huddled with Self, Norman, and other lawmakers behind closed doors until the vote was called off. Both later surfaced and changed their ballots to back Johnson.
Norman explained that his original objection stemmed from concerns about Johnson’s “willingness to fight for Trump’s agenda.”
“We had met with Speaker Johnson yesterday for an extended period of time, and I just didn’t come away with the feeling that the oomph or the willingness to fight for Trump’s agenda was there,” he stated during “The Story.”
Norman defended his initial decision to vote against Johnson, claiming it was “the only way I had to let my voice be heard.”
Ultimately, the Louisiana Republican won along party lines in the first round of voting, in sharp contrast to his predecessor Kevin McCarthy’s drawn-out, 15-round struggle in 2023.
Johnson’s re-election triumph came amid saber-rattling by certain conservatives who threatened to withdraw their support for Johnson in protest over his handling of government financing and other issues during the 118th Congress.
“I think now he understands the fact that no more suspension votes, where we allow more Democrat votes than Republicans — that’s what’s killing the country,” Norman told reporters. “If we keep doing the same thing we’ve been doing for the past 14 months, we’ll end up in the same situation. I just wasn’t willing to go along with that, so I didn’t.”
“Mike has an incredible opportunity to demonstrate the American people that he is not only going to speak it, but he is going to fight it. He’ll have Trump’s support, which is all positive.”