President-elect Donald J. Trump has no election ahead of him, and he’ll crack heads if members of his party don’t get in line, especially on the silly stuff like the House speakership vote. Whether you like him or not, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was the logical choice regarding starting the new session with little to no drama. Trump endorsed his speakership.
Still, three holdouts almost caused another round of pandemonium before Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Keith Self (R-TX) switched their votes. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) remained the lone GOP dissenter. Fox News reported that these two congressmen switched their votes after meeting with Johnson(via Fox News):
Speaker-designate Mike Johnson, R-La., was re-elected to lead the House of Representatives on Friday despite losing one fellow Republican in the final vote tally.
Ultimately, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the only Republican to vote against Johnson, but it could have been worse for the House speaker. Reps. Keith Self, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., were initially voting against Johnson, but switched their votes to support him.
Norman told Fox News he changed his vote after he got some assurances from Johnson.
"I said, ‘Mike, are you going to give us specific examples of fighting for the things we mentioned? Will you give us your word?' He said, ‘Yes.’ So I said, 'OK, we'll take you at your word.' That's why I changed my vote," Norman explained Friday on "The Story."
Yeah, but Trump also made calls. For Norman, the president-elect reminded the South Carolina Republican that he voted for Nikki Haley, and the rest was history. Trump did this while playing golf on Friday:
Ralph Norman, who initially opposed Johnson, says Trump was in the middle of his golf game when he called him to press for his support and reminded Norman of his backing of Nikki Haley in the primary.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 3, 2025
Norman said to Trump: "We're with you now, we will be with Mike Johnson." pic.twitter.com/kjF2sSuHtE
I think the word of Mr. Trump held more sway than Mr. Johnson's, with all due respect.
When it looked like Johnson would fail on the first ballot, Nancy Mace called Trump and put him on speakerphone.
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 4, 2025
Just off the floor, Trump leaned into the holdouts, Reps. Norman and Self.
“I won all these swing states," he said, telling them "you two are screwing it all up."