House Republicans have nominated Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to be the next Speaker of the House, their second speaker nominee of the day and their fourth – fifth if you count ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy – this month.
Johnson won a secret-ballot vote of the House Republican caucus by a margin of 128-29 over Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida); McCarthy, who was not actively running, got 43 write-in votes. Johnson will now have to do what his many predecessors could not, and unite a GOP conference that has so far thoroughly resisted all attempts at unity; the relative lack of committed Johnson opponents in an internal roll call vote may be cause for optimism.
New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) was a supporter of Johnson both in this morning’s vote, which Johnson lost to House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota), and in this evening’s vote. (Emmer’s withdrawal from the race just a few hours after winning the nomination cleared the way for Johnson to run again.)
“People are getting tired, but people have to keep moving forward,” Van Drew said earlier today, before the second vote took place. “I think Mike has the opportunity to do this.”
It’s not immediately clear how fellow New Jersey Republicans Chris Smith (R-Manchester) or Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) voted. But Kean did post a video to social media earlier today stressing his desire for the House to elect a speaker and reopen for business.
“I’ve made it clear that I want a speaker that will get Congress working again, as soon as possible – one that will help me deliver for New Jersey,” Kean said.
That’s similar to what Kean said last week, when he voted twice on the floor for House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to be speaker despite Jordan’s right-wing views. On the third ballot, however, Kean flipped against Jordan and voted for McCarthy instead, saying that “it has become evident that Chairman Jordan does not and will not have the votes to become Speaker.”