House Republicans nominated Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) for Speaker Tuesday evening, making him the fourth GOP lawmaker to win the conference’s nod — and its second nominee within a day after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) dropped out of the running amid GOP opposition.
Johnson’s nomination capped off the end of a whirlwind day — but forecasted signs of even more twists and turn in the Speaker saga as more than three dozen House lawmakers signaled allegiance to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
The House GOP is becoming increasingly desperate in its quest to find a Republican who can win the Speaker’s gavel on the House floor, after passing the three-week mark since eight Republicans joined with Democrats to oust McCarthy.
Earlier in the day, Johnson came in second to Emmer in a nominating vote that spanned five ballots.
But hours later, Emmer dropped out as he faced opposition from more than two dozen House Republicans who asserted he was not conservative enough — and former President Trump, who dubbed Emmer a “Globalist RINO.”
Lawmakers then came back to start the process over, with Johnson beating out four other candidates for the job.
But his victory did not come without yet another wrinkle.
Throughout the three rounds of votes on Tuesday night, growing numbers of members voted for a candidate who was not on the ballot: McCarthy.
While Johnson won the nomination with 128 votes to 29 for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), 43 members voted for McCarthy, according to a source in the room.
Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.) told reporters ahead of the vote that he and an undisclosed number of GOP lawmakers planned to vote for McCarthy on the first nomination ballot because the California Republican is the conference’s “best shot.”
“I think all the candidates up there are qualified to be Speaker, I just don’t know that anyone can get closer than Kevin McCarthy can,” he told reporters.
Johnson, 51, has been the House GOP’s vice chairman, a junior leadership position, since 2021. He is also a former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House.
Other candidates in the mix were Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a House Freedom Caucus member who had also ran earlier in the day; Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and a Freedom Caucus member; Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), a House Appropriations Subcommittee chairman; and Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas).
When the candidate forum for the fourth Speaker round started on Tuesday evening, a sixth candidate who had filed and run earlier in the day withdrew his name and endorsed Johnson: Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), the current chairman of the Republican Study Committee.
“We got to get a Speaker. This has become more about individuals as opposed to our country and to our presence around the world. And Mike Johnson is a great individual, somebody who will be a great leader for our conference,” Hern said.
After the nomination vote, the House GOP conference moved to an internal roll call validation vote on Johnson’s speaker nomination — in which each member will say whether they can plan to vote for Johnson, or another candidate, on the House floor — to see if he can get the required number of 217 to win on the House floor.
House Republicans are set to hold an internal roll call validation vote on Johnson’s speaker nomination at 9 a.m. on Wednesday — in which each member will say whether they can plan to vote for Johnson, or another candidate, on the House floor — to see if he can get the required number of 217 to win on the House floor.
The same move earlier in the day had revealed more than two dozen Republican holdouts on Emmer.
Johnson can afford to lose just four GOP votes on the House floor, assuming all members are present and voting.
Some lawmakers are pessimistic that he will be able to muster the support needed to win on the House floor.
“I like Mike, I want to be clear, all the guys and gals running, awesome folks, that is a tough road ahead for anyone,” Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) said after Tuesday evening’s candidate forum.
He listed off McCarthy and the three previous GOP Speaker nominees, adding “how many guys in leadership do we have to kneecap?”
“We’re in bad shape,” he added.
Duarte said he made his intention to vote for McCarthy known to the conference on Tuesday.
“I said I'm gonna vote for the person who's gotten more votes than anyone has in this process since Kevin McCarthy was vacated,” Duarte said. “I'm gonna vote for Kevin McCarthy and I asked the candidates at the podium if they would do the same.”
Before joining Congress in 2017, Johnson was a member of the Louisiana State House and attorney who had stints as a talk show host and a college professor.
Updated at 10:22 p.m.
