House rejects Trump-backed speaker in first ballot
\n WASHINGTON
\nThe new US Congress was thrown into chaos on its first day Friday as rebel right-wing Republicans defied incoming president Donald Trump to block Mike Johnson from returning as speaker of the House of Representatives.
\nThe Louisiana congressman \u2014 who was boosted by several messages of support from Trump \u2014 needed a simple majority to be elected as Washington\u2019s top legislator, who presides over House business and is second in line to the presidency.
\nBut divided Republicans failed to elect a speaker in the first round of voting \u2014 raising fears of a repeat of the chaos of the last two years of their House rule \u2014 after a nail-biting ballot that earned blanket coverage across US television networks.
\nThe vote marked another embarrassment for Trump, who was shown the limits of his sway over House Republicans for a second time after they rebuffed his demands for a suspension of the country\u2019s borrowing limit in December.
\nTrump\u2019s looming presidential inauguration raises the stakes of the speakership fight, since the House can do nothing until its leader is decided \u2014 including completing the certification of the 78-year-old Republican\u2019s victory, set for Monday.
\nThe contest now goes to a second round, but Johnson risks losing Trump\u2019s support if that battle drags out, which would likely prompt moderate Republicans to start casting around for other options.
\nJohnson needed 218 votes in the lower chamber, where the Republican majority narrowed to 219-215 as Trump was sent back to the White House in last year\u2019s historic presidential election.
\nTrump threw his full weight behind his man early Friday with a social media post wishing him \u201cGood luck\u201d and \u201cvery close to having 100% support.\u201d
\nJohnson sought to appease conservatives in the hours before the vote by pledging to \u201creduce the size and scope of the federal government, hold the bureaucracy accountable, and move the United States to a more sustainable fiscal trajectory.\u201d
\nBut the 52-year-old attorney fell short \u2014 having failed to bring party rebels, who include several high-profile Trump allies, into line.
\nJohnson\u2019s habit of crossing the aisle to cut deals with the Democrats angered conservatives in the 2023-25 session, while fiscal hawks lined up to attack him for what they saw as weakness on the deficit.
\nJohnson actually won the vote by 216 to Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries\u2019 215 \u2014 and there is very little doubt a Republican will ultimately claim the speaker\u2019s gavel \u2014 but he fell short of a majority after three of his members decided not to back him.
\nJohnson was a virtual unknown to the wider public before becoming speaker but came to Trump\u2019s attention when he spearheaded efforts in Congress to overturn the 2020 election.
\nFar from his party\u2019s first choice, the attorney and religious rights campaigner won the gavel in 2023 largely because he lacked the enemies on his own side that prompted the downfall of other Republicans.
\nHe already had one Republican \u201cno\u201d on the scoreboard going into Friday\u2019s vote, from Kentucky\u2019s Thomas Massie, while a handful of other conservative hard-liners had publicly declared themselves open to a change at the top.
\nJohnson \u201cwas only electable the first time because he hadn\u2019t held any type of leadership position, nor had he ever fought for anything, so no one disliked him and everyone was tired of voting,\u201d Massie posted on X.
\n\u201cHe won by being the least objectionable candidate, and he no longer possesses that title.\u201d
\nThe last time it took more than one round of voting to pick a speaker at the start of a new Congress was the very last time the body opened for a new session, in January 2023. Before that it last happened a century ago, in 1923.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
House rejects Trump-backed speaker in first ballot WASHINGTON The new US Congress was thrown into chaos on its first day Friday as rebel right-wing Republicans defied incoming president Donald Trump to block Mike Johnson from returning as speaker of the House of Representatives. The Louisiana congressman \u2014 who was boosted by several messages of support […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-453592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n