Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson narrowly won the House speakership on Friday, overcoming a far-right-led effort to challenge his leadership in the first round of voting.
Representatives Keith Self, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., initially threw their support behind another candidate. The preliminary count had three members of the GOP defecting, including Johnson critic Rep. Thomas Massie. This left Johnson shy of a necessary majority due to his party’s paper-thin advantage in the lower chamber.
But Self and Norman, both members of the far-right Freedom Caucus, flipped their votes before the first ballot concluded, delivering Johnson the 218 votes needed for the speakership. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries received 215 votes, essentially a headcount of Democrats in the chamber, while Massie held firm and backed Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer.
It is unclear whether Johnson struck a deal with Self and Norman, though their Freedom Caucus has requested a prominent position on the House Rules Committee for Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, in addition to commitments to slash government spending.
It’s not the first time that the fight over who should hold the gavel has revealed deep rifts in the Republican Party. The chaotic start to the 119th Congress resembled a contentious battle Republican leadership faced in the previous session, in which former Speaker Kevin McCarthy won the seat after a long fight that included 15 rounds of voting in the chamber. Johnson replaced McCarthy after he was ousted by representatives of the party’s right fringe.
The row highlights a crucial issue for the Republican delegation in this session: a hyper-slim majority. Johnson’s 219 members constitute the smallest majority in nearly 100 years. President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of two members to his Cabinet is expected to shrink the caucus even further.
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