House speaker Mike Johnson faces crucial vote on Friday as support in doubt
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The embattled Republican can only afford to lose one vote as GOP prepares to elect its congressional leader. Mike Johnson’s grip on the House speakership faces a crucial test on Friday, as mounting opposition from within his own Republican party threatens to derail his re-election bid, despite receiving an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.
With Republicans holding a razor-thin 219-215 majority in the House, Johnson can only afford to lose one vote – a threshold already reached after the Kentucky representative Thomas Massie publicly declared his intention to vote against the incumbent speaker.
The 52-year-old Johnson, who ascended to the speakership weeks after the historic ousting of the California Republican Kevin McCarthy last year, finds himself caught between appeasing hardline conservatives and maintaining functional governance. His decisions to work with Democrats across the aisle for billions in Ukraine aid in the spring and on recent short-term government funding in December have simultaneously bothered both the party’s libertarian and right flank.
“I don’t know how to say this without cussing,” Massie told reporters when asked about supporting Johnson. “If they thought I had no Fs to give before, I definitely have no Fs to give now.”. Johnson had been able to secure and hold on to his position because Democrats backed him following McCarthy’s ouster. But should Johnson fail to secure a majority on the first ballot this time around, the House would again be thrown into a state of paralysis until a speaker is elected, as no other business can proceed without one.
