Trump's Republicans reelect Mike Johnson US House Speaker despite dissent | ABS-CBN News

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson was reelected to the chamber's top job on Friday (January 3) by a razor-thin margin that highlighted potential fissures among President-elect Donald Trump's Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Johnson appeared to initially fall short of the majority he needed to retain his job in a roll-call vote that lasted nearly two hours, but two Republican opponents switched their votes to support him after lengthy negotiations, with at least one reporting receiving a call from Trump himself.

Johnson won reelection with 218 votes - the minimum number needed. Republicans control the chamber by a razor-thin 219-215 majority.

Following the vote, Johnson vowed to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts, which are due to expire this year and roll back regulations.

"We're going to drastically cut back the size and scope of government," he said.

Other big challenges will loom, including addressing the nation's more than $36 trillion in debt, which Congress will need to act on later this year.
Friday's vote was an early test of Republicans' ability to hang together as they advances Trump's agenda of tax cuts and border enforcement. It also tested Trump's clout on Capitol Hill, where a handful of Republicans have shown a willingness to defy him.

Trump congratulated Johnson following the vote. "Mike will be a Great Speaker, and our Country will be the beneficiary," he wrote on social media.

The mild-mannered Louisiana representative, 52, was vaulted from obscurity into one of Washington's most powerful jobs during three weeks of turmoil in October 2023, when Republicans forced out McCarthy and struggled to agree on a successor. The conservative Christian lawyer emerged as a consensus pick, but has since struggled to keep his party unified.

In a role that is second in line to the presidency after the vice president, Johnson will have a big job ahead. In addition to taking on Trump's sweeping legislative agenda, Congress will need to address the nation's debt ceiling later this year.

(Production: Eva Weininger)

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