Exhausted Republicans tap Johnson for speaker

WASHINGTON—Late into Tuesday evening, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., secured the near total support of the Republican conference to become the GOP nominee for speaker of the House. Despite over 14 hours of deliberation and much frustration on the path to Johnson’s rise, Republicans appear solidly behind their nominee—for now.

On the way out from the closed-door vote, several GOP representatives confirmed that not a single member had voted against Johnson. According to several accounts, three members voted “present” and an additional group of about 20 Republicans were not in the room to participate in the final vote. But members like Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., seem assured those outstanding votes wouldn’t get in the way.

Just a few hours earlier in the day, Johnson had been on the ballot—one of the many options Republicans had already considered—and then dropped out due to a lack of support. I asked Rutherford: What had changed?

“I think certain people had to fall before Mike could step up. Once Mike was there, he had votes in the end,” Rutherford said.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the powerful rules committee and a prominent voice of the conservative-leaning House Freedom Caucus, echoed the sentiment.

“We’re all in general agreement with what we need to do: Stand with Israel, get appropriations bills done—we have to do our job,” Roy said. He gestured back towards the room Republicans had just come out from. “There’s a lot of support for Mike in there.”

Johnson must still contend with a thin five-vote margin for error if he hopes to turn the nomination into a reality.

The sense of optimism was a stark contrast to the mood of Republicans throughout much of the day on Tuesday. Inside the Longworth House Office Building, Republicans voiced mounting frustration as the day dragged on.

“I think it is apparent to the American people that the GOP conference is hopelessly divided,” Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., at one point told reporters just outside of the deliberation room. “It was absurd last week. We’re testing the patience of the American people. It’s sad. I’m sad.”

Republicans met at 9 a.m. on Tuesday ready to vote for one of the nine candidates who jumped into the race last Friday. But by 5:30 p.m., not only had the party failed to coalesce; it had eliminated all existing candidates.

The most likely among them, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, had won a majority of the party’s support at one point but still faced opposition from as many as 26 Republicans—more obstruction than any candidate had faced since McCarthy’s removal, which took only eight GOP votes.

Around 9 p.m., Republicans went back to the drawing board with a fresh set of candidates. By 10:30 p.m., Johnson’s name had risen to the top despite his previous lack of support.

Following his nomination, Johnson struck an assured tone.

“I am very confident,” Johnson said when asked if he could reach the needed 217 votes. “This group here is ready to govern, and we are going to govern well. I believe people are going to reward that next year. We stand with our ally Israel. You are going to see this group working like a well-oiled machine. We owe that to the American people.”

Now, the House must either bring Johnson’s nomination to the floor for a vote or return to the selection process if it becomes clear Johnson doesn’t have the needed support before then.

As turbulent as the fight for a speaker had been, I asked freshman Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., if the prolonged struggle was a sign of strength or weakness of the American system of government.

“We’ve been gifted a constitutional democracy that keeps up from settling these things with riots in the streets,” Duarte said. “That’s how I see it. If we go back in there and we frustrate ourselves some more and we take another week, it still beats any alternative to just working and grinding through our constitutional democracy as we’re doing.”