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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Evening Open Thread: Speaker Johnson, for the Moment

Friday Evening Open Thread: Speaker Johnson, for the Moment

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Per the Bulwark‘s Joe ‘Life As Viewed Through A Bile Duct’ Perticone,“Mike Johnson Beat the Odds in a Losing Game”:

Mike Johnson initially appeared to have failed in the first round of voting to become speaker of the House Friday afternoon—a scene that brought back the infighting, humiliation, and weakness that plagued his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. But shortly after the vote concluded (but notably remained unofficial), he managed to hold on by converting two of his detractors.

In the end, that was enough. The House elected Johnson speaker by a vote of 218-215-1. It wasn’t without a great deal of difficulty, though. Johnson had held the vote open for a while—a procedural move to avoid the ignominy and time suck of a second ballot or adjournment—in order to convert two of the three holdouts. The holdout who didn’t budge was Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who made clear in advance of today’s events that he was never going to back Johnson.

In an apparent troll move, Massie cast his vote for Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the number three Republican leader who Trump deliberately prevented from taking the job after McCarthy was ousted. The outcome of that drama, memorably, was conservatives rallying around Johnson as a compromise candidate.

In addition to Massie, Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Tex.) delivered no votes for Johnson by backing Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) respectively. In addition, several other Republicans held off on voting till the very end, adding a bit of drama to the proceedings before ultimately casting their ballots for Johnson. All told, exactly nine Republicans decided to toy with Johnson during the first ballot. That’s the new magic number to trigger a motion to vacate and try to boot Johnson in this just-launched Congress, for what it’s worth…

Johnson attempted to talk to both Norman and Self on the floor, but suddenly they all sped out of the chamber and into a private room. As they moved through the aisle, Johnson, who rarely displays much emotion, looked livid.

Behind closed doors, Johnson convinced Norman and Self to change their votes, which they did shortly thereafter. It secured Johnson another go at the speakership.

We’re likely to learn the details of Johnson’s concessions—if he made any—in the coming days. He said afterwards that he made none. Either way, he accomplished something important: He organized his slim majority and avoided the embarrassment of a failed speaker ballot, perhaps lifting the McCarthy Curse.

What Johnson failed at was the ability to navigate this crisis without help from President-elect Donald Trump…

To the casual viewer of politics, it appeared that Trump wasn’t putting in the work to get Johnson over the finish line. While he posted on Truth Social this morning that he wished Johnson “good luck,” that didn’t exactly carry the same urgency as his threats right before Christmas, when he warned Republicans who didn’t vote for his approved continuing resolution/debt ceiling extension that they would face primary challengers in 2026. In fact, he reportedly declined to issue primary threats at all.

But make no mistake, key Trump-world figures were lurking around the speaker drama. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley watched from the visitors balcony while Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) fielded phone calls from Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff. Hogan Gidley, the former Trump administration official and campaign aide who’s been seen with many of the high-profile cabinet nominees, worked the floor the entire afternoon—including during the episode in which Norman and Johnson were summoned to the principal’s office. Beyond that, Trump also reportedly weighed in to pressure the non-Massie holdouts in that meeting…

Sad trombone coda:

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    33Comments

    1. 1.

      Scout211

      President-elect Donald Trump will face no legal penaltiesfor his conviction in the hush money case, a New York judge ruled Friday.

      Judge Juan Merchan, however, upheld Trump’s conviction in the case, rejecting the president-elect’s effort to throw out the jury’s verdict because of his reelection in November. This ensures that Trump will be the first convicted felon to become president.

      Merchan set sentencing for January 10, but indicated the case is essentially over. The court hearing will be held 10 days before Trump is inaugurated for a second term – a reminder of the prominence that his legal issues have played in his return to power in Washington.

      Merchan in his ruling referenced Trump’s plans to appeal and said that imposing no penalty would bring “finality” to the case while allowing Trump to continue pursuing an appeal of the conviction. Such an appeal will lack urgency since Trump will face no punishment that risks interfering with his duties as president.

      “A sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow Defendant to pursue his appellate options,” Merchan wrote.

      The judge also said that he would allow Trump to appear to the sentencing virtually, to assuage the president elect’s concerns about the “mental and physical demands during this transition period.”

      Reply
    3. 3.

      Wag

      An interesting article from the Colorado Sun (a relatively new paper founded in Colorado by journalists who left the big local papers (Denver Post) after the Post  was taken over by the right wing) about the Tesla bomber in LV 

      Colorado Springs Green Beret intended Las Vegas explosion as “wake-up call” for country, police say | The Colorado Sun
      https://coloradosun.com/2025/01/03/colorado-springs-soldier-cybertruck-explosion-wake-up-call/?utm_source=Colorado+Sun+App&utm_medium=App+Share+Button

      In one letter, read by Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan police, Livelsberger wrote: “Fellow service members, veterans and all Americans, time to wake up, we are being led by weak and feckless leadership who only serve to enrich themselves.”

      Interesting times.

      Reply
    5. 5.

      Enhanced Voting Techniques

      Bella of the Ranch talking about how Johnson got the votes by promising the hold outs their own private Dodge commission in parallel too Musk’s commission.

      https://youtu.be/JdUe3nXcRNI?si=WvcF1c8VZ2sJxmW

      And it was nine hold outs, which is the number needed to trigger a call for a motion to vacate on the speaker under the new rules.

      Reply
    6. 6.

      dc

      @Wag: From the article, quoting the dead man:

      “We are the United States of America, the best country people to ever exist.

      I really despise this all too common belief, it leads nowhere good.

      Reply
    7. 7.

      Scout211

      Today, Friday January 3, the  Democratic Women’s Caucuscelebrated its largest membership ever, 96 Democratic women strong, following the swearing in of the 119th Congress. In December, DWC members elected Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03) to serve as  DWC Chair and Rep. Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Rep. Hillary Scholten (MI-03) to serve as DWC Vice Chairs for the 119th Congress.

      Spearheaded by new leadership and strengthened by new members, DWC is ready to fight harder than ever for women and families and against Trump and Republicans’ support for billionaires and extremism.

      Nice.

      Reply
    8. 8.

      RevRick

      I was today year’s old when I learned the difference between happiness and joy. Joy is not happiness on steroids. As Cole Arthur Riley explains, happiness has to do with the sympathetic nervous system, is excitable, and makes your heart beat faster. Joy has to do with the parasympathetic nervous system, the part that has to do with calmness and repose, and makes your heart beat slower. Happiness orients to the world. Joy orients to the self.

      Reply
    10. 10.

      Wag

      @dc:

      The complete quote, especially in light of the previous quote in my comment subtly shifts his narrative

      “We are the United States of America, the best country people to ever exist. But right now we are terminally ill and headed toward collapse.”

      where is the collapse coming from?  Given his description of politicians enriching themselves, his choice of the Trump Hotel, as well as his use/destruction of a Cybertruck, I suspect he’s pissed at Trump and the GOP, not the Dems.  

      Reply
    13. 13.

      satby

      @Scout211: Both emptywheel and Muellershewrote point out that Judge Mershan was making the best of a shit situation. His proposed sentence of a conviction with a discharge lets Trump keep appealing to overturn the jury conviction, at which so far he’s been unsuccessful AND it preserves the conviction itself, which eats at Trump’s ego. Probably the best we’ll see with the corrupt SCOTUS ready to undo anything else.

      Reply
    14. 14.

      randy khan

      @satby:

      My choice would have been a short jail term, suspended until Trump no longer is President.  Although I have seen a suggestion that Trump should have been required to do 8 hours of community service before his inauguration, which is kind of amusing.

      Reply
    16. 16.

      randy khan

      Johnson clearly thought that Trump had gotten the Freedom Caucus gang in line for him, but they are willful children, so he was wrong.

      As an aside, I don’t think Johnson actually had the power to hold the vote open, since he wasn’t in charge during the vote – the person in change is the Clerk of the House.  But since the current clerk was appointed by johnson, I assume that anything Johnson suggested was likely to happen.

      Reply
    17. 17.

      Another Scott

      @randy khan:

      Fritschner:

      Aaron Fritschner
      @Fritschner
      1h

      In plain language, the tellers are Republicans appointed by the acting Clerk (who by precedent appoints members of both parties for this purpose) to count votes. Those Republicans hid from the Clerk to prevent the vote from being closed while Johnson was losing. Easy to grasp

      Jan 4, 2025 · 2:42 AM UTC

      IOW, they prevented the vote from ending until they got the result they needed.

      (But it was clear (to me) that he was eventually going to be re-elected – the Democratic numbers were too close for the monsters to do too much public damage, and there’s nobody else that could work. And the monsters apparently still have control of the Rules Committee, so they have power to bend Johnson to their will whenever they want. They made Johnson sweat, and maybe got some more concessions for the 2 votes he needed.)

      Best wishes,
      Scott.

      Reply
    21. 21.

      hitchhiker

      I find that I’m unable to look at images of the Capitol or really any of the familiar DC icons without having a wave of sadness wash through me.

      I’m glad I visited that place as often as I did, when it still seemed to stand for things I valued.

      And this isn’t doom and gloom, it’s just me reporting a fact. I’ll get my shit together at some point, and be on offense against these cruddy excuses for Americans. Probably in the spring.

      Reply
    24. 24.

      Mai Naem mobile ¹

      @Another Scott: i can’t remember the piece of legislation but didn’t John Boehner have the voting got  piece of really important legislation  open for a really long time to get the votes. I’ve forgotten the details but I believe one of Boehners underlings was on the floor handing out cash convincing people to vote for it.  Obviously the money was illegal but I believe keeping the vote open for that long was against the rules.

      Reply
    27. 27.

      Jay

      Decades ago, my budget fix for cheap lino was the “granite spray”, scuff sand the lino, mask, spray, then over coat with epoxy. Base coat, flood coat.

      According to the 4th owners, the en suite vanity I did 30 years ago, is still holding up well.

      In the kitchen, I used a heat gun, pulled up the old countertop lino and laid new lino.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      MagdaInBlack

      @Jay: Why do I think this is a response to Betty’s countertop debacle? And how did you manage to post it here?

      Good morning =-)

      Reply
    32. 32.

      Another Scott

      @Mai Naem mobile ¹: Sounds like the Medicare Part D vote.  Hastert was Speaker then.

      Wikipedia:

      The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives early on June 25, 2003, as H.R. 1, sponsored by Speaker Dennis Hastert. All that day and the next the bill was debated, and it was apparent that the bill would be very divisive. In the early morning of June 27, a floor vote was taken. After the initial electronic vote, the count stood at 214 yeas, 218 nays.

      Three Republican representatives then changed their votes. One opponent of the bill, Ernest J. Istook Jr. (R-OK-5), changed his vote to “present” upon being told that C.W. Bill Young (R-FL-10), who was absent due to a death in the family, would have voted “aye” if he had been present. Next, Republicans Butch Otter (ID-1) and Jo Ann Emerson (MO-8) switched their vote to “aye” under pressure from the party leadership. The bill passed by one vote, 216–215.

      On June 26, the Senate passed its version of the bill, 76–21. The bills were unified in conference, and on November 21, the bill came back to the House for approval.

      The bill came to a vote at 3 a.m. on November 22. After 45 minutes, the bill was losing, 219–215, with David Wu (D-OR-1) not voting. Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay sought to convince some of dissenting Republicans to switch their votes, as they had in June. Istook, who had always been a wavering vote, consented quickly, producing a 218-216 tally. In a highly unusual move, the House leadership held the vote open for hours as they sought two more votes. Then-Representative Nick Smith (R-MI) claimed he was offered campaign funds for his son, who was running to replace him, in return for a change in his vote from “nay” to “yea.” After controversy ensued, Smith clarified no explicit offer of campaign funds was made, but that he was offered “substantial and aggressive campaign support” which he had assumed included financial support.[13]

      At about 5:50 a.m., Otter and Trent Franks (AZ-2) were convinced to switch their votes. With passage assured, Wu voted yea as well, and Democrats Calvin M. Dooley (CA-20), Jim Marshall (GA-3) and David Scott (GA-13) changed their votes to the affirmative. But Brad Miller (D-NC-13), and then, Republican John Culberson (TX-7), reversed their votes from “yea” to “nay”. The bill passed 220–215.[14]

      The Democrats cried foul, and Bill Thomas, the Republican chairman of the Ways and Means committee, challenged the result in a gesture to satisfy the concerns of the minority. He subsequently voted to table his own challenge; the tally to table was 210 ayes, 193 noes.[15]

      Best wishes,
      Scott.

      Reply
    33. 33.

      Another Scott

      @satby: Thanks for the pointer.

      Judge Merchan has seemed to be extremely careful throughout this process.  I trust that he picked the best of all available options in every step of the way.

      Best wishes,
      Scott.

      Reply

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