Mike Johnson is on the cusp of grabbing the speaker’s gavel on Wednesday afternoon.
The Louisiana Republican declared minutes before the House opened that he has the 217 votes needed to win on the floor. And he and his allies are openly optimistic about his chances, as Republicans throughout the conference threw their support behind him. The House will hold a quorum call at noon to get members to come to the floor, after which Republicans expect to move immediately to a vote on Johnson.
“I think we’re going to unify today,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “I’m excited about it.”
He has already flipped three Republicans who voted “present” behind closed doors on Tuesday night as he won the conference’s speakership nod: Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Mark Amodei (Nev.) and French Hill (Ark). Johnson’s victory late Tuesday capped a whirlwind 24 hours that saw the nomination and withdrawal of Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the third speaker pick since Kevin McCarthy was ousted earlier this month.
Massie said he spoke with Johnson on Wednesday morning and committed to vote for him: “He has my full support.”
Roughly 20 other Republicans missed Tuesday night’s vote that gauged whether or not members would back Johnson on the floor. If even four of those missing GOP lawmakers are opposed to the Louisianan, it would be enough to block him from getting the gavel. All Democrats are expected to vote for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on the floor.
By Wednesday morning, no Republicans had announced their opposition to Johnson publicly — after none did privately in the Tuesday night conference meeting.
Johnson spent Wednesday morning working to assuage concerns and lock down support.
Republicans feel confident that enough of their absent members are backing Johnson. Among those absent from the Tuesday night vote were Emmer and his deputy Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), but both of them are expected to back Johnson.
Even Republicans who seemed on the fence about their support pointed to fatigue as a reason to get on board with Johnson.
