Speaker Mike Johnson wins GOP nomination to stay in office, faces a full House vote in the new year

WASHINGTON – House Speaker Mike Johnson won the Republican nomination for the House of Representatives on Wednesday to remain in office, on track to retain the gavel after a morning endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump ahead of a vote in the full House in the new year.

Although Johnson has no serious challenger, he faces dissent within his ranks, especially from far-right conservatives and the Freedom Caucus who are withholding their votes as leverage to extract future promises.

Trump, during the president-elect’s first trip to Washington since the party won the 2024 election, said he is with the speaker the entire time, according to a person familiar with the comments but not authorized to discuss the private meeting near the Capitol. .

Johnson praised Trump and called him the “comeback king.”

It’s been a remarkable political journey for Johnson, the accidental speaker who stood last, the top choice to replace ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy more than a year ago and quickly chart a course by running in this year’s election alongside Trump and leading Republicans.

Johnson said Trump tipped him early Wednesday that he would tap another House Republican for his administration — Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, as attorney general — which would reduce Johnson’s small numbers in the new year. Gaetz submitted his resignation from Congress, effective immediately, launching an eight-week clock to fill his seat, Johnson said, possibly in time for the start of the new Congress on Jan. 3, 2025.

Gaetz is the third Republican House lawmaker to be asked to join the Trump administration, and Johnson said Gaetz wanted to help avoid the tight numbers. The quick departure also ends a long-running House ethics investigation into the Florida congressman.

As Johnson tells it, Trump is the “coach” and the “quarterback” as they prepare for a unified Republican government in the new year.