Live updates: Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain House Speaker

Rachel Looker
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

Before Mike Johnson could retain his role as speaker, he had to convince three Republicans who had initially voted against him to change their minds.

Up on Capitol Hill, we’ve just heard from one of these dissenting voices, Representative Ralph Norman, who tells reporters that he now trusts Johnson in the leadership role.

Norman assures reporters that “no deals were cut” after he initially refused to back Donald Trump’s pick for speaker, but says he voted against Johnson at first to show his “frustration” at the last 15 months.

But, Norman describes how by speaking with Johnson after voting, the speaker candidate was able to assure him that he would focus on “more conservative measures”.

Norman says he even interrupted the incoming president during a game of golf for a call from the House floor, where Trump told him that his pick was the only one with the “likeability factor”.

And, with Johnson now re-elected, Norman says the disruption he and two other colleagues caused was “worth the hour it took”.

“I feel really good about where we are,” he stresses.