New Congress will be sworn in today as Johnson faces House speaker vote – CNN

• Speaker chosen: Mike Johnson was re-elected speaker of the House on Friday after flipping two GOP opponents following an intervention by President-elect Donald Trump, but he’ll face a big challenge in Congress with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years. See how every lawmaker voted here.

• Trump’s challenge: The first vote of the 119th Congress underscored the president-elect’s hold over the Republican Party — and the tall task of keeping it together over the next two years ahead of the 2026 midterms, which could threaten the GOP’s Washington trifecta.

• Key procedural change: In a significant victory for Johnson, the House made it harder to remove a speaker by approving a key procedural change that requires a minimum of nine GOP lawmakers to force a vote on an ouster. Previously, it only required one member to force a vote.

Our live coverage of the new Congress and presidential transition has moved here.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy posted a picture with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, hours after House Speaker Mike Johnson was re-elected on the first vote – starkly different from McCarthy’s election in 2023.

“Always great spending time with President Trump tonight,” McCarthy posted alongside Trump, who gave a thumbs up.

In another post with the same photo over music, McCarthy wrote, “Catching up with President Trump today. 17 days to go.”

McCarthy was elected speaker after 15 votes and ultimately ousted after former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz offered a motion to vacate the chair on the House floor, which prevailed.

Johnson succeeded McCarthy about three weeks after McCarthy was ousted. Ahead of Friday’s vote, Johnson earned Trump’s endorsement.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that Morgan Ortagus would serve as “Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Middle East Peace.”

“Early on Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “These things usually don’t work out, but she has strong Republican support, and I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for them. Let’s see what happens. She will hopefully be an asset to Steve, a great leader and talent, as we seek to bring calm and prosperity to a very troubled region. I expect great results, and soon!”

The president-elect, in his post, also detailed Ortagus’ experience as an active US Navy Reserve Intelligence Officer and as spokesperson at the Department of State.

Trump named his longtime friend Steve Witkoff as special envoy to the Middle East last year.

Some House Republicans and Democrats are warning Speaker Mike Johnson of the challenges ahead in a tight 119th Congress where the GOP has one of the narrowest House majorities in nearly 100 years.

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, who had declined to say if she would back Johnson before ultimately voting for him Friday, said if he “does everything right” he can stay speaker.

Boebert said she would prefer if it only required one member to threaten to oust Johnson. The House voted to adopt a rules package earlier today that allows for a 9-member motion to vacate the speakership.

“If there’s enough compromise that is damaging to the agenda, there very well could be a motion to vacate,” Boebert said. “Do I have a plan to do that? I’m sure that’s your next question. No, but I haven’t seen what we’re doing at this time either. I hope Mike Johnson has the most successful speakership that we’ve seen.”

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal warned that Johnson may have a tougher time actually governing with his narrow margin because “if you can’t get a majority, you’ve gotta work with Democrats.”

“The mood is not to bail him out this time around, especially after he screwed us on the last agreement that we made and he backed away from it,” she said, a reference to the bipartisan bill to fund the federal government that was scrapped in December after President-elect Donald Trump’s intervention.

GOP Rep. Troy Nehls emphasized Trump’s role in helping Johnson secure the speakership as well as House Republicans winning the majority in the first place.

“Trump gave us the gavel,” Nehls said. “I think Mike Johnson and the House of Representatives, we probably owe Donald Trump.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he has not seen a letter signed by Rep. Chip Roy and other detractors, and that he can’t comment on their demands.

“I haven’t seen it. I can’t comment on it,” he said.

Roy was joined in the letter by 10 other House Republicans — Reps. Andy Harris, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs, Clay Higgins, Michael Cloud, Andy Ogles, Eli Crane, Eric Burlison, Ralph Norman and Andrew Clyde — who resisted Johnson’s return to the speakership but ultimately backed him on the first ballot Friday.

In the letter, the lawmakers demanded that Johnson make several commitments to “prove he will not fail to enact President Trump’s bold agenda.”

These demands included legislation banning member stock trading, rolling back Biden-Harris environmental policies, and cutting spending.

Johnson has insisted he did not cut any deals in order to secure the gavel.

Mike Johnson will keep his job as House speaker after a dramatic vote on Friday as the 119th Congress prepares to get to work.

He won in the first round — but only after flipping two GOP opponents as the vote was held open to give Republicans more time to secure support for Johnson, who was backed by President-elect Donald Trump.

Now that he is elected, Johnson faces a tough legislating challenge with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years.

However, in a key victory for Johnson, the House made it harder to oust a speaker. Included as part of the sweeping package was a procedural change that will require a minimum of nine GOP lawmakers to force a vote to oust a speaker. Previously, it only required one member to force a vote.

House speaker vote:
Mike Johnson was elected Speaker of the House after flipping two votes from the nine Republicans who initially refused to support him. Johnson will face a big challenge in Congress with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years. CNN’s Jake Tapper breaks down the vote.
In the Senate:
Mike Johnson was elected Speaker of the House after flipping two votes from the nine Republicans who initially refused to support him. Johnson will face a big challenge in Congress with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years. CNN’s Jake Tapper breaks down the vote.
House Republicans will meet this weekend to flesh out their legislative priorities, planning for an ambitious agenda now that the GOP controls both chambers of Congress and the White House.

The new Congress was sworn in Friday, and Speaker Mike Johnson was re-elected despite a very slim majority.

The lawmakers will debate how to proceed on budget reconciliation, an expedited process for considering bills that would allow the party to push through their agenda without Democratic support.

The House Republicans are expected to meet at Fort McNair in Washington, DC, on Saturday, and elected leadership is set to meet in Baltimore on Sunday.

The House voted to make it harder to oust a speaker on Friday – another victory for Johnson after he retained the gavel in a nail-biter of a vote earlier in the day.

The chamber voted to adopt a new rules package for the 119th Congress – a lengthy document that covers a wide array of rules and regulations.

Included as part of the sweeping package is a procedural change that will require a minimum of nine GOP lawmakers to force a vote to oust a speaker. Previously, it only required one member to force a vote. That one-member threshold is what led to the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy when former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz forced a vote on his removal.

The House voted 215 to 209 to approve the overall rules package.

House Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern, the ranking member on the Rules Committee, criticized two additional provisions in the rules package.

One is that the speaker can only entertain a motion to suspend the rules on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – an apparent concession to the initial GOP holdouts in the speaker’s vote.

House GOP leadership has sometimes brought bills – including major spending legislation – to the floor under suspension as a way of bypassing the House Rules committee, which Rep. Ralph Norman – one of the initial defectors who later flipped – sits on, lessening the panel’s power. This would limit leadership’s ability to do that.

McGovern said Republicans “worked out another backroom deal,” and argued that the change could paralyze the House’s ability to move swiftly in the event of a major emergency, like a national disaster or terror attack. The congressman also said Republicans moved to “change words like child to son or daughter in our ethics rules” – with McGovern calling it “weird,” and saying, “they’re obsessed with this stuff.”

Sens. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware became the third and fourth Black Democratic senators in the current Congress on Friday when Vice President Kamala Harris swore them in on Friday.

There have only been 14 Black senators to serve in the US Senate. From slavery and Jim Crow laws to suppression of minority voters, Black political candidates have long faced stumbling blocks. Hiram Revels, the first Black US senator, took office in the late 1800s as part of a wave of African American lawmakers during the Reconstruction era, but he was elected by the Mississippi legislature, not the state’s voters.

Also on Friday, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott became the longest-serving Black US senator. He is the sole Black Republican in the Senate.

Scott will serve as the first Black chairman of a Senate standing committee, leading the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, where he previously served as the ranking Republican member when Democrats held control of the chamber in the previous session.

Republican Rep. Ralph Norman, who initially voted against Mike Johnson before changing his vote, said the speaker had signaled in negotiations that he would allow more GOP voices at the table under his leadership this Congress.

Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if Johnson had made any commitments that made him change his mind, Norman said the speaker promised “more conservatives will be at the table on negotiations.”

“Let’s put people like Chip Roy, and I’m just using him as an example, like other people who are true…know how to negotiate and we’ll fight and we’ll put things to the American people, much like what the DOGE commission intend to do,” he said, a reference to the newly created department aimed at cutting government spending led by Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk.

Norman said he trusted that Johnson would “give us that platform,” and that the speaker had convinced both him and Rep. Keith Self, another Republican who voted against Johnson at first, to give him a chance.

“He knew if it went to a second ballot it was going to get tougher,” Norman said.

Asked what Donald Trump had said when they talked on the phone, Norman said the president-elect was “in the middle of a golf game” and brought up how the South Carolina Republican had voted for Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley in the primary.

“I said, Yes sir, I did. We’re with you now and I said we will be with Mike Johnson,” Norman told reporters he responded to Trump, adding that he told him the president-elect would have to help House Republicans push his agenda.

Norman said Trump had told him that Johnson was the only one who had the “likeability” to be speaker.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is insisting that he did not cut deals with Reps. Ralph Norman and Keith Self to get over the finish line during today’s speaker vote.

“There were no deals cut,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I took suggestions and requests from all members on process reforms and changes, which I was already committed to. We made no deals to anyone, no quid pro quo to anybody on any position, or anything at all. Through the entire — I haven’t done that in 14 months, and I was not about to start today. And I think that’s important, because there needs to be transparency. Every member needs to be on a level playing field, and we maintained that today and I’m really proud of it.”

Johnson said there would be a “new paradigm” and noted plans to “decentralize the speaker’s office and power.”

“We’re going to have unified government with Republican control of the House, the Senate and the White House, so very different environment — 60% of the House Republicans have never served in a unified government situation. So, I had explained to them how the processes are different and the procedures, and that we are in, effectively, a law-making exercise every single day,” he said.

Johnson said he had to “convince them that it will be a member-driven process.”

Johnson acknowledged that President-elect Donald Trump’s support was very important. He argued Trump is “the most powerful president, certainly of the modern era, maybe in all of American history” and said the two work “very well together.”

South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, one of the key Republican holdouts who eventually switched his vote to support Speaker Mike Johnson, said he didn’t get anything for throwing his support behind the Louisiana lawmaker.

“I didn’t get anything personally. Other than a commitment that things are going to change,” he said. “There will be a drastic change from the next 14 months.”

Norman said the hour delay in the vote was worth it: “Absolutely. I would do it all over again.”

He said his mind was eventually changed after talking with President-elect Donald Trump and Johnson, and assurances that things would change.

“We had a good discussion. We had a talk with President Trump when we got in there. I never know how this stuff is going to come out, I don’t know how people are going to vote, we got together, Mike gave us his assurances, he is going to fight for the things we think are important for the country,” Norman said.

Trump shored up support from the fairway: The president-elect, who publicly backed Johnson earlier this week, also talked to other key GOP holdouts before the vote was gaveled and the speaker emerged victorious. CNN’s Manu Raju reported Friday that Trump was in the middle of his golf game when he made calls for Johnson.

This post has been updated with more details on Trump’s calls to lawmakers.

Oklahoma GOP Rep. Tom Cole said the drama that unfolded on Capitol Hill on Friday over electing a speaker demonstrates that it’s going to be difficult to manage the House this Congress but said the positive outcome is also a “hopeful start.”

“It’s going to be a challenging Congress and that’s not something new,” Cole said. “But the fact is it all got done on one ballot and that’s a lot better than 15, which is what it took last time. So, I’ll take that and I’m pleased.”

Asked if he was worried critics of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was reelected Friday, might turn on him over the course of the next two years, he said, “I worry about everything everyday. That’s just the nature of the business, but I thought this was a very hopeful start and it went very well.”

Shortly after the House chose a new speaker, a New York judge upheld Donald Trump’s conviction in the hush-money case, rejecting the president-elect’s effort to throw out the jury’s verdict because of his re-election in November.

New York Judge Juan Merchan set the sentencing for January 10, 2025 and said Trump can appear virtually or in person.

However, in his ruling Merchan said Trump will face no legal penalties, indicating the case is essentially over.

Trump was found guilty by a jury in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Trump lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. They previously indicated they would appeal any effort to sentence him prior to Inauguration Day on January 20.

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment.

The headine and the post have been updated with additional details from the ruling.

Rep. Andy Biggs said Friday that President-elect Donald Trump’s endorsement of Mike Johnson was important in the House speaker’s reelection.

When asked if he believes Johnson would’ve survived without Trump’s endorsement, Biggs said, “No. I think it was important.”

Biggs also said he still has concerns about Johnson leading the conference but added that Trump’s endorsement was taken into consideration.

“I have concerns, but President Trump said he wanted to work with Johnson, and basically — basically, that we took that into account,” Biggs said leaving the House floor.

Additionally, Biggs said Johnson indicated “he’s going to work on various aspects of processes that we think need to be take place.”

GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson denied on Friday that Republicans who initially resisted backing Mike Johnson for speaker received any specific commitments from him.

“There wasn’t any particular deal or commitment. Nobody got anything other than Mike Johnson, who was willing to look people in the eye and tell them that we will have a more inclusive, collaborative and conservative agenda over the course of the next two years,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju.

The South Dakota Republican said he didn’t want to talk about “specific asks or parts of the negotiation,” between the holdouts and leadership.

“When you get the right people in the room and they want to get to yes, you absolutely can get to yes,” he said.

He wouldn’t talk about “specific actions” by President-elect Donald Trump, whom CNN has reported called some last-minute holdouts before they ultimately backed the speaker.

“Nobody’s got the kind of capital that President Trump does. He is clearly the captain of the football team,” he said.

Rep. Keith Self, who initially cast his ballot for Florida Rep. Byron Donalds before changing his vote to House Speaker Mike Johnson, told CNN that he and Donald Trump spoke multiple times today and that they had a “lively discussion” about advancing the president-elect’s agenda.

Self, who declined to provide details about the talks with Trump, said he decided to vote for Johnson because he got a commitment that GOP hardliners would be part of a major bill that Republicans want to advance using the budget process to enact aspects of the Trump agenda.

“We shored up the reconciliation team because we know that this will be a heavy lift to get the Trump agenda across the line in the reconciliation package … That’s all we did,” Self said, later promising a “big, beautiful reconciliation package.”

Self said the team working on the bill would include members beyond the leadership, including some members of the House Freedom Caucus, but said, “I won’t get ahead of the speaker,” when asked specifically who.

Later, asked what swayed his vote, Self said he and Trump have the “same emphasis” on implementing the president-elect’s agenda.

“We have got to make sure this Congress is as strong as possible when we go up against the Senate on reconciliation package, because there’s their debates on what the reconciliation package even looks like. So that’s all I wanted to do today, is to make this Congress successful for the Trump agenda,” Self said.

Self said Trump did not warn him about facing a potential primary challenge over holding up Johnson’s speakership.

This post has been updated with additional comments from Self.

CNN’s Lauren Fox and Aileen Graef contributed reporting to this post.

House Speaker Mike Johnson took his oath of office following a dramatic vote Thursday that narrowly secured him the speakership once again.

Following his swearing-in, Johnson received a standing ovation from the majority of the chamber.

He then administered the oath of office for all members of the House, swearing in the 119th Congress.

A group of House Republicans who had been skeptical of House Speaker Mike Johnson — but ultimately came around, delivering a dramatic win on the first ballot Friday — released a letter outlining a list of demands they want Johnson to take up now that he has the speaker’s gavel.

The 11 House Republicans, including Rep. Ralph Norman who was a holdout until the last minute, called on Johnson to add session days to the House calendar, ensure that any reconciliation package includes significant spending cuts, and stop putting bills on the floor that rely heavily on Democratic support, or that come ahead of the 72 hours members are allotted to review legislation.

“Today we voted for Mike Johnson for Speaker of the House because of our steadfast support of President Trump and to ensure the timely certification of his electors,” the lawmakers wrote. “We did this despite our sincere reservations regarding the Speaker’s track record over the last 15 months.”

Listing out their legislative priorities, the lawmakers said Johnson has “zero room for error.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in his first remarks following his reelection to the speakership that the new Congress will “listen to the voices of the people.”

“In recent months, we’ve witnessed something happening — something that’s really remarkable, a political moment in our modern history: A groundswell Americans from every state, race and religion who now demand that we put the interest of Americans first again,” Johnson said. “And we will.”

Johnson also stressed that “the number one priority” under his leadership will be “defending our nation’s borders.”

“In coordination with President Trump, this Congress will give our border and immigration enforcement agents the resources that they need to do their job,” Johnson outlined. “We will secure the border. We will deport dangerous, criminal, illegal aliens and finally finish building the border wall.”

Johnson later in his remarks read a prayer entitled “Thomas Jefferson’s Prayer for the Nation.”

“We will not fail. We cannot fail. We are all in this together. Our nation is counting on us to band together and solve these problems and get this done,” Johnson said after reading the prayer. “I’ve said before that I believe God has elevated each one of you, that is my belief, to your positions of leadership and it’s an act of providence that you’ve all been placed in your specific roles in this specific moment at this historic time.”

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson said it is “the great honor of his life” to serve the House and noted that it is “a momentous time” in the nation’s history.

In his first remarks after being elected speaker on Friday, he noted that the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding will occur during the 119th Congress.

“And in these two and a half centuries, we’ve been reminded repeatedly that freedom is never free. We have stood tall as the greatest nation on the face of the earth,” Johnson said, adding the United States was the freest and most benevolent nation that has ever been.“It’s not by happenstance. We are the ones who settled the West. We are the ones who ended slavery, who laid the transcontinental railroad, who gave women the right to vote, who won two world wars, who landed on the moon and who won the Cold War. Throughout our history, we have done what no one thought was possible. And still at 250 years old, our nation is actually a young nation.”

In his first remarks after being reelected as House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana called for a moment of silence to mark the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans.

“Of course, these are difficult days in our home state of Louisiana, where I come from,” Johnson said in the House. “We all know about the terrorist attack in New Orleans and it’s really shaken our state. People are reeling from that attack.”

The attacker rammed a pickup truck into a crowd, which killed 14 people and injuring dozens more.

President-elect Donald Trump congratulated Rep. Mike Johnson after the Republican from Louisiana was elected speaker on Friday.

“Congratulations to Speaker Mike Johnson for receiving an unprecedented Vote of Confidence in Congress. Mike will be a Great Speaker, and our Country will be the beneficiary. The People of America have waited four years for Common Sense, Strength, and Leadership. They’ll get it now, and America will be greater than ever before!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

The president-elect threw his support behind Johnson earlier this week. He spoke to Reps. Ralph Norman and Keith Self as Republicans worked to convince them to vote for Johnson and give him the victory on the first ballot, multiple sources told CNN.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged lawmakers to “put down partisan swords and pick up bipartisan plowshares” as he introduced House Speaker Mike Johnson, who won a dramatic vote to keep the gavel.

“It’s time for us to come together, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to get things done for the people,” Jeffries said.

He vowed that House Democrats would work to find common ground with Republicans “on any issue, whenever and wherever possible.”

Jeffries laid out an agenda of top issues for his party, including enacting policies that benefit the middle class, lowering housing costs and securing the country’s borders.

Still, with Republicans taking control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency, Jeffries warned that Democrats will “push back against far right extremism whenever necessary” and protect programs like Social Security and Medicare.

“Our position is that it is not acceptable to cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut Medicaid, cut veterans benefits, or cut nutritional assistance from children and families in order to pay for massive tax breaks for billionaires and wealthy corporations,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries also acknowledged Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who was back in the chamber after breaking her hip.

This post has been updated with more remarks from Jeffries.

After being elected speaker of the House on the first ballot, Mike Johnson is set to face a big challenge in Congress, with the most narrow House majority in nearly 100 years.

CNN Washington Bureau Chief and Political Director David Chalian says Johnson knows this.

“He understands the problematic path he has ahead to get Trump’s legislative agenda through in a clean way in this first year of full Republican control in Washington,” Chalian said of Johnson after his dramatic victory Friday.

Chalian said he doesn’t think voters “put too much stock in all of this.” Instead, he argued, voters “will focus a lot more on what this new unified Republican control of Washington attempts to deliver for the American people.”

President-elect Donald Trump spoke to Reps. Ralph Norman and Keith Self as Republicans worked to convince them to vote for House Speaker Mike Johnson and give Johnson the victory on the first ballot, multiple sources told CNN.

GOP Rep. Nancy Mace called Trump, one of the sources told CNN, who then spoke directly to the holdouts.

The president-elect threw his support behind Johnson earlier this week. Trump told reporters Tuesday night that he would make calls on Johnson’s behalf to fellow Republicans, if necessary.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not make any promises to GOP Reps. Keith Self and Ralph Norman, who flipped their votes and allowed Johnson to clinch speakership in the first round of voting.

Johnson, who could only lose one vote with the slim GOP majority, needed the support of Self and Norman as Republican Rep. Thomas Massie maintained his opposition.

Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, also said that no deals were made to get Johnson’s detractors on board, adding that instead, it “was just a matter of getting it done” and a result of “persistence.”

The reelected speaker told CNN that he is “ready to get to work.”

In a dramatic turn of events, lawmakers have elected Mike Johnson as House speaker on the first ballot.

Key GOP detractors flipped their votes to back Johnson at the last minute, after the Louisiana Republican was initially on track to lose. He ultimately won with 218 votes.

While Johnson will keep the gavel, he’ll face a big challenge in Congress with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years.

How it unfolded: After the initial roll call vote, Johnson had come up short, with three GOP defections — more than he could afford to lose. Rep. Thomas Massie had voted for Rep. Tom Emmer; Rep. Ralph Norman had voted for Rep. Jim Jordan; and Rep. Keith Self had voted for Rep. Byron Donalds.

With all members voting, Johnson could only afford a single GOP defection.

But after everyone had voted, the vote was held open for an extended period of time — meaning that it was not gaveled to an official close — and Johnson worked to lock down the votes. Then, Self and Norman flipped their votes in support of Johnson.

This post has been updated with additional details on how the vote unfolded.

The White House declined to weigh in on the unfolding fight for the House speaker’s gavel on Capitol Hill. Instead, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during Friday’s press briefing it was focused on the president’s domestic agenda for the remainder of his term in office.

“Look, we’ve always been very clear from here, from this administration, that we do not inject ourselves into any leadership election that is happening in Congress,” she said, adding that it “doesn’t matter if it’s a Democrat or Republican, we stay out of it.”

“The president is going to continue to focus on the job that he has ahead, 17 days of a jam-packed schedule, focusing on the American people. We’re going to let Congress do their business,” Jean-Pierre said.

But in 2023, as the House GOP slugged it out over who would serve as speaker, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates lambasted Republicans for “falling over one another to find out who can be the most erratic and out of step with the priorities of working families.” In a statement to reporters at the time, he urged lawmakers “to get their act together and join this president at the adults table.”

While Mike Johnson is on track to lose, the first round of voting in the speaker’s election has not yet been gaveled to an official close.

As a result, members continue to mill around on the floor talking and having side conversations.

This is one way for House GOP leadership to buy more time to try to talk to holdouts and win them over since they can’t initiate a brief recess like they would typically be able to.

That’s because the new House has not yet adopted formal rules to govern itself. The only option to take a formal break would be to have the entire chamber vote to adjourn, a more complicated option than just holding this vote open longer.

Rep. Stephanie Bice, an ally of Johnson, said that Reps. Ralph Norman and Keith Self are meeting with Johnson now. They both voted for another lawmaker besides Johnson during the vote.

She also said that they are holding the vote open in hopes that they can change Norman and Self’s votes, and still technically have Johnson elected “on the first ballot.”

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi slowly walked onto the floor of the US Capitol on Friday, weeks after undergoing surgery for a broken hip, as dozens of lawmakers cheered and offered her a standing ovation.

Democrats cheered for her again when she stood up to cast a vote for Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the House’s tight-margin speaker’s race. Wearing a pair of flats instead of heels, she was seen holding herself up on a table to stand and speak with members before the first vote began.

Pelosi, 84, underwent a “successful” hip replacement surgery after being admitted to a hospital in Luxembourg following a fall on the stairs, CNN previously reported. The US military medevacked the former House speaker from Luxembourg to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, according to a defense official.

With House members instructed to return immediately for a second speaker vote, two of Speaker Mike Johnson’s key allies, Rep. Dusty Johnson and Bryan Steil, have been having an animated conversation with some of the Freedom Caucus members who have sought concessions from Johnson.

Rep. Andy Harris, the group’s leader, spoke with Dusty Johnson for several minutes as the others looked on, with Harris repeatedly shaking his head.

Meanwhile, several Republicans, including Reps. Steve Womack, Greg Murphy, Brian Fitzpatrick and Robert Aderholt ,approached Johnson on the floor after the first vote appeared to fail to offer handshakes and pats on the back.

They appeared to be offering him words of encouragement, while some seemed frustrated, shaking their head at the result.

While the first House speaker vote has not yet been called, Speaker Mike Johnson is on track to lose with the current breakdown, and the House is poised to go immediately into a second vote without a break.

The House Democratic whip has sent a notice to members to return to the floor immediately to be ready for a second roll call vote.

Multiple holdouts ultimately voted for House Speaker Mike Johnson in dramatic fashion, after initially skipping their turn in what appeared to be a short-lived protest of the speaker.

Seven Republicans did not vote during the initial roll call: Reps. Andy Biggs, Andrew Clyde, Michael Cloud, Paul Gosar, Andy Harris and Chip Roy. Rep. Michael Waltz appeared to accidentally miss his turn.

At the end of the roll call, all seven were given a final chance to vote and all seven voted for Johnson.

One of the holdouts, Clyde, walked down the aisle to speak his vote directly to the clerk, carrying what appeared to be a Bible. One of Johnson’s whips in his speaker race, Rep. Dusty Johnson, was seen in an animated back-and-forth conversation with Roy in the back of the chamber. Rep. Dusty Johnson was also talking to Rep. Keith Self — who opposed Johnson on the floor — and Clyde.

Johnson left the House chamber as it appeared likely he did not secure enough votes to keep his gavel on the first ballot.

In the back of the chamber, many of the defectors continued to stand together quietly.

The state of play: At this point, Johnson needs to flip Reps. Thomas Massie, Ralph Norman or Self — all who did not vote for Johnson. Further complicating matters, Norman and Self had not previously communicated their positions to the speaker, according to multiple GOP sources.

Speaker Mike Johnson appears to be on track to lose the first round of voting for House speaker after losing support from at least three GOP members.

Rep. Keith Self — also standing in the center of the aisle — voted for fellow Freedom Caucus member Byron Donalds. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Ralph Norman of North Carolina also did not back Johnson, voting for Reps. Tom Emmer and Jim Jordan, respectively.

Beyond the three GOP votes for other candidates, multiple Republicans initially abstained. Self has been standing near the other defections, though he has mostly been quiet and kept to himself.

Another prior holdout, Rep. Victoria Spartz, voted for Johnson.

Donalds told CNN ahead of the vote that lawmakers had approached him about whether he would be interested in running for speaker, but said he wasn’t entertaining the idea.

Remember: Johnson could only afford a single GOP defection if every lawmaker shows up and votes.

This post has been updated with additional details on the state of the vote.

Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina voted for Rep. Jim Jordan in the race for speaker of the House — making two GOP members who have voted against Mike Johnson.

Rep. Thomas Massie also voted for someone else, throwing his support behind Rep. Tom Emmer.

At least six Republican members so far have skipped their turn to vote, putting the chamber into suspense about whether Mike Johnson can secure the votes for speaker on the first ballot.

Those members — GOP Reps. Andy Biggs, Andrew Clyde, Michael Cloud, Paul Gosar, Andy Harris and Chip Roy — all were silent when their names were called, though they will have another chance to vote at the end of the roll call.

Keep in mind: As the vote was set to begin, GOP Rep. Tim Burchett vaguely predicted on X that the speaker contest would “go multiple rounds” but did not say how he planned to vote. Burchett had declined to tell reporters his position ahead of the vote, saying he was truly undecided and would “pray” on the decision.

Scenes from the chamber: Biggs was standing next to Clyde and Harris — two other Freedom Caucus members who have not publicly committed to Johnson — as the clerk read his name. Biggs continued to stand, not moving or speaking, as his name was called.

The next GOP member to be called, Rep. Sheri Biggs of South Carolina, voted for Johnson, who she declared to be “Trump’s endorsed candidate” — as other members in the chamber applauded.

It is not clear if Gosar intentionally skipped his turn. He had been standing in the back of the chamber near fellow Freedom Caucus members Biggs and Harris.

Harris intentionally chose not to vote. Two feet away from where Biggs and Burchett chatting, Harris stood silent in his spot at the back of the chamber as the clerk read his name several times.

Burchett — who helped oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy — stood in the aisle, speaking to his close friend GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, as the roll call began. He then voted for Johnson.

GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert also voted for Mike Johnson: “Don’t let us down Mr. Speaker,” she said as she cast her vote.

Another previously undecided member, GOP Rep. Eric Burlison, also voted for Johnson on first ballot.

CNN’s Manu Raju said “this is very much a strategic decision not to vote” from the members.

“They are there and decided not to vote. So the question is, Dana, they’ll have a chance to vote at the end of this process. Will they vote yes or will they continue to hold out?” Raju told CNN’s Dana Bash.

Track the House speaker vote here.

This post has been updated with additional GOP members who skipped their turn.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky did not vote for Mike Johnson for the House speakership, upholding his vow not to back Johnson.

Johnson faces tough vote math with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years, leaving little room for error.

Massie instead voted for GOP Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip who expressed confidence earlier Friday that Johnson will hold on to the gavel.

As majority whip, Emmer has experience with keeping the GOP’s narrow majority in line. In January 2023, Emmer helped hammer out the negotiations between the 20 hardliners and the speaker’s office that eventually won former Speaker Kevin McCarthy the gavel after 15 ballots, according to former Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry.

Following McCarthy’s historic ouster, Emmer sought the speakership himself, eventually withdrawing his bid, which paved the way for Johnson to clinch the post.

The House is voting now to elect its speaker, as Rep. Mike Johnson is vying to retain the gavel.

He faces tough vote math with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years, leaving little room for error.

Johnson, who was backed by President-elect Donald Trump, can only afford a single GOP defection if every lawmaker shows up and votes, and one House Republican — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — has already said he won’t vote for him.

How many votes are needed for Johnson to win: To be elected speaker, a candidate must win a majority of votes out of all votes cast. If all 435 members of the House vote, then a majority is 218 votes.

There is expected to be one vacancy when the House convenes for the vote. Former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has said he won’t take the seat he was elected to in the new Congress.

That leaves 434 members with 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. If all 434 vote, it takes 218 to win.

Track the House speaker vote here.

As GOP Rep. Lisa McClain formally nominated Speaker Mike Johnson, most of the Republican conference gave him a standing ovation.

But several House Republicans — Reps. Tim Burchett, Andy Biggs and Eli Crane — remained seated through the speech and the standing ovation, though they were still seen clapping, at times, for Johnson from their seats.

Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, who is the Democratic caucus chair, is delivering a nominating speech for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

The nomination comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson faces a critical vote soon in his attempts to retain the speakership.

“There is only one leader who understands the needs of the working people and has lived the American dream himself, and is committed to ensuring its promise for future generations,” Aguilar said. “There is only one leader who knows how to negotiate a bipartisan deal and then stick to that deal. House Democrats are united behind the most powerful legislative leader in this chamber, Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn.”

Aguilar vowed to work with the upcoming administration, while highlighting the importance of House Democrats in passing legislation.

“We will work with the incoming administration to make life better, safer and more affordable for working families,” Aguilar said.

GOP Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan nominated Rep. Mike Johnson for House speaker.

Johnson, the current speaker, is looking to keep the gavel. Johnson was endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump, but he could be presented with a challenge given the narrow House GOP majority.

Republicans are set to take over control of the House and the Senate. McClain, who is the party’s conference chair, said this — with Johnson as speaker — gives lawmakers the opportunity to “put America first again.”

McClain defended Johnson, saying, “None of us will get exactly what we want.”

“Over 14 months ago, Mike Johnson took on a daunting task. No speaker is perfect and no one will ever be. However, achieving perfection requires incremental gains and hard decisions along the way,” she said, calling on Republicans to rally around Johnson.

McClain also defended Johnson’s principles and values, saying he “knows our brightest days are still ahead of us” and expressed confidence that Johnson will “lead us through another successful Republican majority.”

This post has been updated with additional remarks.

Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia was not present during the quorum call, but has arrived, according to a Democratic source.

He will be able to vote for House speaker.

Why this is key: This means that the expected majority threshold will be 218 and Johnson will only be able to lose one GOP vote against him if all other lawmakers vote.

Senators were sworn in alphabetically, in groups, by Vice President Kamala Harris, and then signed the oath book.

Some were escorted by former senators from their state, or by the outgoing senator who they were replacing. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio was escorted by Vice President-elect JD Vance.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was not sworn in to the Senate today. He announced on December 26 that he will remain the governor of his state until next week, when Governor-elect Patrick Morrisey is sworn in.

In an apparent bid to win over detractors ahead of the speaker vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson posted to X that he will set up a working group for spending and government reform, among other commitments.

This appears to be in response to demands from GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz and other GOP holdouts. Johnson’s vow does not include any specific commitments on legislation on the floor or committee rosters. He has repeatedly said he would not make private deals to win votes.

Johnson’s public commitment comes as several undecided GOP members have been getting into line behind the speaker in the minutes before the vote.

And Spartz posted to X in response to Johnson’s post saying, “I appreciate @SpeakerJohnson’s public commitment to the American people to deliver on President Trump’s agenda and drain the swamp.”

Vice President Kamala Harris has called for the Senate to come to order, as the 119th Congress opens on Friday.

Former senators, current senators and soon-to-be senators flooded the chamber on Friday, including former Majority Leader Trent Lott, and former Sens. Rob Portman, Dean Heller, and Bob Corker.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer shook hands with incoming Senate Republican Leader John Thune just before Chaplain Barry Black led the Senate in prayer. Black is returning to the Senate for the first time since he suffered a brain bleed last month.

Ahead of the Senate being called to order, senators milled about and caught up with current and former colleagues. When now former-Sen. Tom Carper introduced Sen. Mitch McConnell to Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, McConnell shook her hand warmly and told her, “I hope you learn to love the Senate.”

Thune also huddled with McConnell on the floor for a few minutes before the proceedings.

GOP Rep. Tim Burchett said he thinks voting for speaker of the House will go into multiple rounds.

“I think it doesn’t really matter what I, what I’m going to do. I think you’ll see members pass, and then we’ll go into another round,” he said.

Burchett would not disclose which members have told him how they are voting or how he would vote but did say some are still going vote no.

As lawmakers enter the chamber ahead of the speaker’s vote, at least two House Republicans who had raised concerns about Mike Johnson now tell CNN they will support him.

GOP Rep. Eli Crane told CNN he will be supporting Johnson because President-elect Donald Trump backs him, indicating that Trump’s endorsement has a lot of weight.

“I’m going to support the president,” Crane told CNN, confirming that meant he would support Johnson.

GOP Rep. Greg Steube also told CNN he will support Johnson as he walked onto the floor.

There are still a number of holdouts who have not said publicly how they will vote, but Crane and Steube are an early indication that Republicans could fall in line and keep Johnson as their speaker.

Remember: To be elected speaker, a candidate must win a majority of votes out of all votes cast.

There is one vacancy expected when the House convenes — with former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz saying he won’t take the seat he was elected to in the new Congress — leaving 434 members, with 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. If all 434 vote, it takes 218 to win.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has already said he won’t vote for Johnson, appearing to leave no further room for error.

A packed House chamber was buzzing in anticipation Friday as new and returning members greeted each other ahead of the speaker’s vote. Many brought their families, with at least two dozen babies and kids, some clutching teddy bears, seen in the chamber.

Speaker Mike Johnson personally waved hello to a group of young children in the well of the chamber shortly after he entered.

Several of Johnson’s holdouts huddled near the back of the chamber. This includes Rep. Chip Roy, Andy Ogles, Eli Crane, Andrew Clyde and Scott Perry. Many of them are seated together.

As expected, Democrats have full attendance, according to a leadership source. As former Speaker Nancy Pelosi slowly walked onto the floor weeks after her hip surgery, dozens of Democrats cheered and offered her a standing ovation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters ahead of the speaker’s vote that he believes he has the votes to hold onto his job and said he plans to stick it out even if it takes multiple rounds.

“I think we are there. We’ll find out very soon” Johnson said when asked about the whip count.

Johnson brushed off the idea that he couldn’t clinch the votes on the first round, telling reporters, “It says nothing it’s part of the process but I expect we’ll will get it done.”

Johnson said President-elect Donald Trump has been helpful as he has tried to win over House Republicans.

“Well you’ve seen his public statements, I think privately he’s talked with members,” Johnson said.

Vowing to stick it out, regardless of how many rounds of voting it takes, Johnson said, “We have to get this job done and unify the Congress. And I’m here for the long haul.”

Johnson reiterated that he hasn’t made any side deals with lawmakers to secure their votes: “I have made no deals with anyone. And I’m very proud to say that.”

GOP Rep. Steve Womack warned on Friday morning of the stakes if the House GOP conference fails to quickly elect Mike Johnson to be speaker.

“There will be many an opportunity over the course of the next several months as we prosecute an agenda to stumble, shoot ourselves in the foot. We can’t rely on help from the left so we’ve got to carry this on our own,” he told CNN.

He said Republicans have a chance to project unity today by electing Johnson in one round of votes.

“Put it in the bank and move on to our legislative agenda,” he said.

Pressed by Raju on what message it would send if it takes more than one round of votes to select a speaker, Womack answered “that we’re not ready to govern. That the people of America have given us this opportunity and that we’re not prepared for it.”

CNN has reported Johnson’s team has been growing increasingly optimistic that he’ll ultimately get the necessary votes and believe conversations with holdouts are headed in the right direction.

Central to their argument is the need to be able to quickly certify the election and execute on Trump’s agenda, especially with a narrow margin.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who is currently the sole public “no” vote against House Speaker Mike Johnson, said if one other member votes against him, it will “embolden half a dozen more” in a second vote.

“I’d say there’s a 70% chance Mike Johnson is going to be speaker, that everybody but me will eventually vote for him, even though they know he’s the wrong guy, because that’s just the way the swamp works,” Massie told host Steve Deace on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“If one more person joins me, I think that will embolden half a dozen more. And I think the second round he loses more votes. The third round he loses more votes. President Trump calls him up, says Mike, I thought you were the guy, turns out you’re not the guy, step out of the way,” he said.

“I think Mike will keep trying until Trump tells him to give up,” he added.

Trump has publicly endorsed Johnson, and allies have indicated he won’t have patience for a dragged out process.

Massie said that if Johnson fails to keep the gavel, Republicans could elect a new speaker tonight or over the weekend, saying “there are at least three qualified candidates.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I have plans to stay here this weekend. We’re going to be right back here on Monday,” the Kentucky lawmaker said.

Massie declined to name the alternative candidates he would support, but rejected the notion that Johnson is the only one who can earn support of 218 members.

“Given that I’m a lightning rod, I don’t want to transfer that lightning to a candidate, and then they’ll be ‘persona non grata’ and be disqualified by virtue of me calling their name right here on your radio show,” Massie said. “It’s ridiculous to say that Mike Johnson, out of 219 Republicans is the only one who can be elected to speaker and that’s why we should elect him.”

The new Congress will start at noon ET on January 3, and the first major item of business in the House is to elect a speaker. This happens before members are even sworn in.

Before voting can start, candidates must be nominated. GOP Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan is expected to give a nominating speech for Johnson, and Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar of California is expected to give a nominating speech for House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. But any member can nominate anyone, so additional candidates could be nominated.

During the vote, a clerk will call on members by name in alphabetical order and each will have the chance to say which candidate they support. This is also when members could opt to say “present” instead of voting for a candidate.

At the end, any members who did not vote will be given the opportunity to do so, and if any member wants to change their vote, they can.

How many votes Johnson needs to win: Mike Johnson is vying to retain the gavel and has President-elect Donald Trump’s endorsement, but he faces tough vote math with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years, leaving little room for error.

Johnson can only afford a single GOP defection if every lawmaker shows up and votes, and one House Republican.

To be elected speaker, a candidate must win a majority of votes out of all votes cast. If all 435 members of the House vote, then a majority is 218 votes.

There is expected to be one vacancy when the House convenes for the vote. Former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has said he won’t take the seat he was elected to in the new Congress.

That leaves 434 members with 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. If all 434 vote, it takes 218 to win.

Johnson’s allies are projecting confidence he’ll be able to secure the speakership, but even they are bracing for the possibility that it could go into multiple rounds of voting, leading to a drawn-out floor fight.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and his allies have been increasingly optimistic throughout the morning on Friday, as no other GOP lawmakers, besides Rep. Thomas Massie, have communicated to the speaker’s office they will definitively oppose him on the floor, according to multiple GOP sources.

While Republican leadership is not ruling out potential drama given the historically narrow margins for securing the speakership, there is rising confidence Johnson will secure the gavel by the end of day Friday.

Even one of Johnson’s holdouts — GOP Rep. Andy Ogles — predicted that Johnson would keep his gavel on Friday, and the only question was how many ballots it would take. The upbeat tone is notable from Ogles, who said he will not publicly reveal whether he plans to support Johnson on the floor.

“I think Mike’s gonna be fine,” the Tennessee lawmaker said. “It just depends if it’s gonna be one or three” ballots.

Ogles, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, is among a group of members pushing for commitments from Johnson in the 119th Congress. Asked about his personal priorities, Ogles said he wants Congress to pay for any emergency spending, such as natural disaster relief or international aid.

“I’d say one of the biggest things is any supplemental, there needs to be a pay-for,” Ogles said.

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan exuded optimism about the vote, saying he thought it would take one ballot.

“I think so, I think probably Thomas is, as far as I know, Thomas is the only ‘no’ vote,” he said, referring to Massie.

Remember: To be elected speaker, a candidate must win a majority of votes out of all votes cast. There is one vacancy expected when the House convenes — with former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz saying he won’t take the seat he was elected to in the new Congress — leaving 434 members, with 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. If all 434 vote, it takes 218 to win.

This post has been updated with additional details.

New Senate Majority Leader John Thune will stress his commitment to preserving the 60 votes threshold to overcome a filibuster on legislation, according to excerpts provided by his office from his maiden speech expected to be delivered on the floor at about 1 p.m. ET.

“And one of my priorities as leader will be to ensure that the Senate stays the Senate,” the Republican from South Dakota will say. “That means preserving the legislative filibuster – the Senate rule that today has perhaps the greatest impact in preserving the Founders’ vision of the Senate.”

Remember: President-elect Donald Trump and Senate Democrats have pushed to weaken the filibuster for bills as has already happened for nominations and Thune could face pressure from Trump to ditch it if Democrats are able to block bills on the floor.

“It also means restoring the Senate as a place of discussion and deliberation,” Thune will say.

Below are additional excerpts from his speech highlighting his priorities in the new Congress:

“That includes empowering committees, restoring regular order, and engaging in extended debate on the Senate floor, where all members should have a chance to make their voices – and the voices of their constituents – heard.”

Walking into House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office moments ago, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer was confident Johnson has the votes to keep the gavel.

“Yep, oh yeah,” the Minnesota Republican said, when asked by CNN.

To be elected speaker, Johnson must win a majority of votes out of all votes cast.

There is expected to be one vacancy when the House convenes for the vote. Former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has said he won’t take the seat he was elected to in the new Congress.

That leaves 434 members with 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. If all 434 vote, it takes 218 to win.

Johnson can only afford a single GOP defection if every lawmaker shows up and votes, and one House Republican — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — has already said he won’t vote for him, while roughly a dozen more have not committed to supporting him.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice will not be sworn in to the US Senate today.

According to an announcement released over the holidays, he has decided to delay his swearing in until after Governor-elect Patrick Morrissey is sworn in, in order to preserve the “continuity of government.” Morrisey will be sworn in on January 13.

GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito praised Justice’s decision, saying in a statement: “I very much respect Governor Justice’s decision to honor his commitment to complete his term as Governor of the State of West Virginia.”

“I am looking forward to serving with Senator Justice as there is much to do to advance President Trump’s agenda on behalf of all West Virginians,” she added.

Given that decision, 99 senators will be sworn in this week, not 100.

Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican from Nevada who backs House Speaker Mike Johnson, tells CNN he predicts a few rounds of voting in the speaker’s race today but ultimately believes Johnson will prevail — if for no other reason than Republicans know what a drawn-out contest can cost the party.

“Just the nature of this. So that’s fine. It will take two or three,” he said of his prediction for how many rounds it takes for Johnson to win.

Amodei warns that President-elect Donald Trump won’t be patient with members who want to drag this out. He believes Trump’s influence could go a long way to shoring up support for Johnson.

“Nobody comes to mind,” he said, when asked if there was someone better for the job.

“I think his demeanor is something that is an absolute benefit,” he said, adding “there is no heir apparent.”

“Finding an heir apparent would be phenomenally time-consuming — we know from experience — so therefore, at the end of the day, I think he’s your guy.”

He also warned against making GOP Rep. Chip Roy — a holdout who has publicly criticized Johnson — the Rules Committee chairman, an idea that has been floated by some members of the conference, arguing he hasn’t proven to be a cooperative member on the committee so far, as he often votes against rules.

Ahead of today’s House speaker vote, President-elect Donald Trump praised Mike Johnson to CNN and indicated that he is confident that Johnson will be successful.

“I think the speaker will do very well. He’s a fine man. He’s a very fine individual, he’s religious, he’s smart, he’s strong. Everybody likes him. Everybody respects him,” Trump said in a brief phone interview.

The president-elect confirmed CNN’s reporting that he had been in touch with Republican holdouts, including GOP Rep. Chip Roy. When asked what he was telling these Republicans, Trump said he wasn’t “telling them anything.”

“I’m just saying, Look, we had the greatest presidential election. We won the popular vote by millions of votes. We had a great, we had a great election, and it would be nice to cement the election with an election here. I mean, that would just be a big, beautiful exclamation point,” he said.

When asked specifically about his conversations with Roy, Trump noted that he thought “Chip Roy will do what’s right for the country” and said he would be watching the vote today.

In an indication that he is all in for Johnson, Trump said there was no one else he was eyeing for speaker at this time should it not work out, reiterating that he thinks Johnson will be successful.

The 119th Congress begins today, ushering in a new era of Republican control in Washington that will start with a high-stakes leadership fight to pick the next House speaker.

Mike Johnson is vying to retain the gavel and has President-elect Donald Trump’s endorsement, but he faces tough vote math with the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years, leaving little room for error.

Johnson can only afford a single GOP defection if every lawmaker shows up and votes, and one House Republican — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — has already said he won’t vote for him, while roughly a dozen more have not committed to supporting him.

Looming over the race is the question of what happens if the House has not yet elected a speaker by Monday, January 6, the day lawmakers are supposed to count electoral votes and finalize the results of the presidential election — a scenario that would put Congress into unprecedented territory.

How many votes to win? To be elected speaker, a candidate must win a majority of votes out of all votes cast. If all 435 members of the House vote, then a majority is 218 votes.

There is expected to be one vacancy when the House convenes for the vote. Former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has said he won’t take the seat he was elected to in the new Congress.

That leaves 434 members with 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. If all 434 vote, it takes 218 to win.

But if any members do not vote or vote “present” — which is not really a vote at all — the number needed to win can go down. That’s because absences and “present” votes do not count toward the overall total used to calculate the majority threshold.

A defiant Speaker Mike Johnson said he is unwilling to “make deals” with fellow Republicans to secure votes, taking a dramatically different strategy than his predecessor Kevin McCarthy just hours before the vote to secure the gavel.

“My simple message to my colleagues is, make suggestions about process improvements, we’re open to that at all times. But I don’t make deals with anyone. There’s no quid for pro here. I don’t do anything in exchange for a vote,” Johnson said to reporters outside his office.

The Louisiana Republican is making clear that he will not engage in side deals – such as the suggestion from some conservatives that one holdout, GOP Rep. Chip Roy, should take over the powerful House Rules Committee.

In recent days, the speaker has been having conversations with the roughly half dozen GOP holdouts about process deforms – such as voting on single-issue spending bills or reforming the suspension calendar. The Freedom Caucus, in particular, has a list of demands related to cutting spending and chamber processes.

But Johnson insists he will not be making specific commitments, marking a wholly different approach than McCarthy.

If he succeeds, it would leave Johnson without the tradeoffs that McCarthy made to secure his gavel two years ago – which ultimately weakened him enough to coat McCarthy his gavel.

Instead, Johnson is making the argument that backing him for speaker will mean supporting President-elect Donald Trump.

“I’m talking with all members and telling them we need to unify so we can move the Trump agenda,” Johnson told reporters.

Speaker Mike Johnson will face a major challenge in the new Congress – the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years. That is, if he can keep the gavel.

Republicans will soon control the House, Senate and White House. But thin margins could imperil President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. And Johnson has little room for error when the House votes on Friday to elect a speaker for the new Congress.

Republicans won 220 House seats in the November elections, while Democrats won 215, the most narrowly divided House majority since the outset of the Great Depression, almost a century ago.

And the margin is set to quickly shrink even further.

When the House convenes, the partisan breakdown is expected to be 219 to 215 since former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has said he’s not returning to Congress. From there, the majority is on track to drop to 217 to 215 with two GOP lawmakers expected to join the Trump administration.

At that point, House Republicans would not be able to afford a single defection to pass legislation along party lines until the vacancies are filled.

Read the full story here.

A new batch of lawmakers will be sworn in today and many of them are making history.

Both parties are set to welcome a diverse group of newly elected lawmakers in Congress.

Arizona: Democrat Ruben Gallego will be the first Latino senator from Arizona. Yassamin Ansari will be the first Iranian American Democrat elected to Congress, succeeding Gallego in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District.

California: Democrat Derek Tran will be the first Vietnamese American elected to Congress from California.

Delaware: Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester will be the first Black and first female senator from Delaware. Democrat Sarah McBride will be the first transgender member of Congress. McBride will also be the first out LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Delaware.

Maryland: Democrat Angela Alsobrooks will be the first Black senator from Maryland, succeeding retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. Alsobrooks and Delaware’s Rochester being elected to the Senate will mark the first time that two Black women have served simultaneously in the chamber.

New Jersey: Democrat Andy Kim will be the first Korean American elected to the US Senate. Democrat Nellie Pou will be the first Latina elected to Congress from New Jersey.

North Dakota: Republican Julie Fedorchak will be the first woman elected to the US House from North Dakota.

Ohio: Republican Bernie Moreno will be the first Latino senator from Ohio.

Oregon: Democrat Janelle Bynum will be the first Black person elected to Congress from Oregon. She flipped the state’s 5th Congressional District.

Texas: Democrat Julie Johnson will be the first out LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Texas.

Virginia: Democrat Suhas Subramanyam will be the first Indian American elected to Congress from Virginia.

Washington State: Democratic state Sen. Emily Randall will be the first out LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Washington state. Randall, who is Chicana, will also be the first out LGBTQ Latina elected to Congress.

Read about more history-makers joining Congress here.

Republican lawmakers are weighing in ahead of the vote for speaker of the House, as Mike Johnson fights to hold on to his job.

Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan told Fox News “I think so,” when asked if he thinks Johnson will have the votes to remain speaker in today’s vote.

Jordan said House Republicans need to get past the speaker vote to “do what we told the American people we were going to do.”

Meanwhile, Louisiana GOP Rep. Mark Green predicted on Friday on “CBS Mornings” that the speaker vote today “will come down to a razor wire finish.”

“People are out there negotiating,” Green said. “When we have a super thin majority, it’s really tough to get a speaker elected, as we saw last Congress.”

When asked if he thought any of his other colleagues besides Johnson would want the job, Green responded “most of the folks I talk to that are super confident would not want the job, especially with this majority,” adding “this is the toughest job in America, I am convinced of that.”

Tennessee GOP Rep. Tim Burchett told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” he’s still undecided on whether he’ll vote for Johnson as speaker, stating “I’ll be praying about it and I’ll make my decision according to that.”

“Mike’s in a really tough position. Anybody in that position outside of being a single mom I can’t think of any job tougher in this country than being speaker of the House,” Burchett said, acknowledging Johnson’s balancing act between conservative members and members from swing districts.

House speaker elections on Friday are less about Mike Johnson and more about Donald Trump.

Johnson’s frantic fight to hold onto his job was still a cliffhanger heading into a fateful day for Republicans.

But the president-elect has even more on the line – nothing less than his push for a fast start to his second presidency and promise to deliver massive change. If Trump fails to lift Johnson over the line, he will sow new doubts about his capacity to effectively lead the GOP trifecta of power in the House, Senate and White House.

The convening of the 119th Congress, therefore, represents the first day of Washington’s new Trump era with Republicans aiming to produce tangible results as soon as he steps back into the Oval Office on January 20.

The nation’s new leaders plan sweeping overhauls of immigration policy and big tax cuts using complex maneuvers required to overcome Democratic filibusters in the Senate. Such moves will demand unity and political dexterity for which the House GOP is hardly renowned.

But before they can do anything, House Republicans must elect a speaker, an often routine task that is deeply perilous for Johnson because of the tiny majority that means he can lose only one vote in his fractious party if every lawmaker turns up.

If Republicans can’t select a speaker by Monday, they won’t even be able to initiate the congressional process to certify Trump’s election victory — a spectacle that would be sure to infuriate and embarrass the president-elect.

Read the full analysis.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan told CNN that he believes GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky could be the only person willing to vote against House Speaker Mike Johnson on the floor on Friday.

“The only ‘no’ right now is Thomas and I think it may stay that way,” Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, told CNN.

Asked about his message to the holdouts, Jordan stressed that GOP unity in the speaker’s race would allow the party to enact President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.

“The best way for us to accomplish what the people elected us to do is to get after it right away. The best way to get that done is to make sure Mike’s speaker and get moving,” Jordan said.

Jordan didn’t rule out supporting process reforms that some of the holdouts are seeking from Johnson.

“I’ve got to see all the details on that,” Jordan said when asked about reforms such as changes to the suspension calendar. “That’s largely between the speaker and the members. It’s all about getting the votes and getting down to work.”

With the start of the 119th Congress on Friday, GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina will become the longest-serving Black senator in the United States. Scott will also serve as the first Black chairman of a Senate standing committee, leading the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, where he previously served as Ranking Member.

“As we begin the 119th Congress, Senate Republicans have high enthusiasm and are focused on delivering for the American people! This Congress, I am thrilled to serve as the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee,” Scott said in a statement to CNN.

He continued, “My goal is simple: make America work for Americans. As we get to work cleaning up the mess from the previous administration, I look forward to working with President Trump on his priorities, including paving a path for all Americans to have the necessary tools and resources to achieve their version of the American Dream. We will unlock opportunity, strengthen our nation, and make America the shining city on the Hill again.”

Scott is one of only 12 Black senators to serve in the United States Senate. Currently, Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate, while there are two Black Democratic senators: Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Two Black Democratic Senators, Sens.-elect Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester, will also be sworn in Friday.

President-elect Donald Trump took to social media to post in support of Speaker Mike Johnson ahead of today’s critical speakership vote.

“Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support. A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party, and yet another acknowledgment of our 129 year most consequential Presidential Election!! – A BIG AFFIRMATION, INDEED. MAGA!” Trump posted.

Remember: Trump endorsed Johnson earlier this week, though the Republican from Louisiana faces a tough fight to retain the gavel, highlighting a test of the president-elect’s influence over his party amid the limits of an extraordinarily narrow majority.

Trump’s endorsement could help Johnson shore up support, especially after the speaker navigated a chaotic government funding fight earlier this month that drew the ire of his right flank. But with a historically small majority in the new Congress, Johnson can afford only a single Republican defection when the House picks a new speaker if every member votes.

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he hopes to win on one ballot today, even as multiple GOP lawmakers remain uncommitted.

“I think so,” Johnson said, when asked by reporters if he expected to win on the first ballot.

When pressed on if he’d be willing to make Republican Rep. Chip Roy the rules committee chairman, something members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus have been pushing, Johnson was definitive saying he is “not making side deals with anybody.”

House lawmakers will vote today on whether to re-elect Johnson as their majority leader. Johnson’s allies are projecting confidence he’ll be able to secure the speakership, but even they are bracing for the possibility that it could go into multiple rounds of voting, leading to a drawn-out floor fight.

Johnson can only afford a single GOP defection if every lawmaker shows up and votes, and one House Republican – Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky – has already said he won’t vote for him, while roughly a dozen more have not committed to supporting him.

This post has been updated with additional details.

Mike Johnson has been engaged in a flurry of talks with GOP hardliners who have made a series of demands as they hold out their support ahead of Friday’s critical vote to elect the next speaker.

But unlike Kevin McCarthy, who won the gavel in 2023 after a 15-ballot marathon following a furious round of horse-trading, Johnson is resisting cutting side-deals to secure the speakership, according to his allies.

The speaker is “not inclined to negotiate or make backroom-side deals,” a leadership source told CNN.

Whether that posture changes remains to be seen since Johnson’s allies are uncertain whether he can win the speakership on the first ballot on Friday. Many of the decisions on what — if any — deals need to be cut will be made once vote-counting begins and the speaker and his team get a clear sense of which Republicans are withholding their support.

So far, Rep. Thomas Massie is the lone Republican to announce his opposition to Johnson, who can’t afford to lose any more Republicans assuming all House members in attendance back a specific candidate. But others are expressing serious reservations, such as Reps. Chip Roy and Victoria Spartz, while a handful of other members remain non-committal.

If Johnson fails to win on the first vote, the House could proceed to a second vote immediately after. If Johnson fails again on a second ballot, it’s uncertain if they’d try to recess the chamber to hold private meetings over how to proceed since the House cannot legislate until a speaker is selected. They could also decide to continue to vote on the floor.

Among the demands hardliners are making including commitments on how government funding bills will be handled, assurances that new spending will be offset with cuts, further changes to a new House rules package, and the ability to have more sway in the legislative process.

Beginning at 12 p.m. ET on January 3, the new Congress begins with a series of formalities in the House of Representatives. Below are key highlights of what to expect:

Initial order of events in the House:

How the speaker election works:

If Johnson is elected on the first ballot

If Johnson is not elected on the first ballot

President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that Speaker Mike Johnson has his “complete” and “total” endorsement, a major boost for the top House Republican ahead of the critical vote Friday.

Trump’s endorsement comes as some House conservatives have warned they are not committed to backing Johnson in the speaker’s race. The President-elect’s endorsement could help Johnson lock down the votes he will need, especially after he navigated a chaotic government funding fight earlier this month that drew the ire of some members of his right flank.

But Johnson faces an extraordinary narrow margin and can only lose a single Republican vote to still win the gavel, leaving little room for error.

Trump praised Johnson on Monday, saying he is “hard working” and “will do the right thing.”

“The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

More context: After Johnson cut a deal with Democrats over spending in mid-December, Trump injected a last-minute demand to raise the debt ceiling that left Johnson grasping for a plan B. A revised GOP plan ultimately failed to get enough Republican votes to pass and caused grumbling among Johnson’s right flank that the speaker wasn’t up to the job. It also caused some to wonder if Trump would stick with Johnson ahead of the speaker fight.

Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota will be the next leader of his party in the chamber and the key ally of Mitch McConnell will be tasked with shepherding the agenda of President-elect Donald Trump through Congress.

In choosing Thune — who has served as minority whip, the No. 2 role in GOP Senate leadership — Republicans elevated a leader associated with the establishment wing of the party over Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who was championed by several prominent Trump allies, including Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tucker Carlson.

The election was conducted by secret ballot, which might have allowed Republicans wary of offending Trump’s most ardent supporters some political protection. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, another McConnell ally, also vied for the leadership post.

Thune, won the vote — which was conducted in November — 29-24 in the second round of voting against Cornyn and he will be sworn in on January 3. McConnell, who has led Senate Republicans since 2007, announced in February that he would step down as GOP leader this year.

Immediately, Thune will be swept into a controversy brewing over Trump’s demand that the upper chamber use recess appointments to install his nominees, bypassing the formal advice and consent confirmation process, which historically has allowed the minority party to block a president’s picks. The three Republican senators who vied for majority leader all publicly supported Trump’s demand following his election victory.

Thune, 63, has had a complicated relationship with the president-elect. He called for Trump to drop out of the 2016 race in the wake of the infamous “Access Hollywood” scandal — though Thune later said he still planned to vote for Trump. And he condemned Trump’s actions surrounding the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot as indefensible. Still, when Trump faced a vote in the Senate following his impeachment over the incident, Thune sided with McConnell and most of the Republican caucus in voting “not guilty.”

Read more about Thune.
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Source: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/house-speaker-vote-congress-01-03-25/index.html