The current holder of the gavel, Speaker Mike Johnson, looks to be in better shape than former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was at the start of the 118th Congress, when it took 15 rounds of voting before the Californian was able to get through.
As the Republicans and Democrats head back to the House Friday, the GOP’s majority is slim — 219 seats to the Democrats’ 215 — which gives Johnson less leverage.
Here’s how the election process works Johnson may still struggle to get the gavel back, as even Trump’s endorsement may not convince all Republicans to support him.
Instead, Johnson did what he and McCarthy mostly did during the 118th Congress, and turned to the Democrats for help in order to pass a temporary spending bill and avoid a government shutdown.
But one of Johnson’s top calling cards is that he has been endorsed by Trump, who has said he’d be willing to make calls for Johnson.
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