Trump-backed Republican Johnson elected speaker of US House
WASHINGTON—Republican Mike Johnson was returned as speaker of the US House of Representatives on Friday with the crucial backing of incoming president Donald Trump, ending a bitter standoff that threatened to see the 2025 session opening in chaos.
Johnson had angered backbenchers by working with Democrats to pass legislation, and his victory was secured only after tense backroom negotiations that saw more than a dozen rank-and-file Republicans voice doubts over his leadership.
A chaotic 2023-25 session was marked by conservative anger in particular over the Louisiana lawmaker’s handling of spending negotiations, as fiscal hawks lined up to accuse him of being soft on the deficit.
In the end there were only three Republican holdouts as voting began.
Johnson was reportedly able to keep his speakership ambitions alive after Trump intervened personally to speak to two of the rebels by phone.
