Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is anticipated to maintain his gavel within the subsequent Congress after receiving glowing critiques from President-elect Trump.
But when there’s any sort of revolt from Johnson’s conservative detractors throughout the Jan. 3 Speaker vote, no Democrats will step in to save lots of him, Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) warned on Wednesday.
“I can say with a relatively high degree of confidence that no Democratic votes will be forthcoming for any Republican Speaker candidate on Jan. 3,” Jeffries instructed reporters within the Capitol.
Johnson has constructed a monitor file as one of the crucial conservative lawmakers within the decrease chamber over his eight years on Capitol Hill. However a variety of conservative hard-liners have bashed the Speaker after he minimize offers with Democrats on laws to fund the federal government and supply army assist to Ukraine.
In Might, Johnson survived an effort by members of his far-right flank besides him from energy, however given the skinny margins within the Home, the vote required Democrats to cross the aisle to rescue him. They did so in overwhelming numbers: The tally was 359 to 43, with solely 10 Republicans and 33 Democrats voting to oust him.
That technique marked a shift from the Democratic ways throughout the hard-liners’ profitable effort to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October final 12 months. In that vote, no Democrats crossed the aisle to rescue McCarthy, permitting a gaggle of simply eight Republicans to push him out.
Johnson will want 218 votes to maintain his gavel for the following two years within the upcoming Speaker election. He could have little room for defections, given the even thinner margins he’d preside over subsequent 12 months, when Republicans will management 220 seats to the Democrats’ 215.
The Republican benefit might be even smaller throughout the first months of 2025, since former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigned from Congress this month in a failed bid to develop into Trump’s lawyer basic. Which means Johnson can afford just one GOP defection to maintain his seat of energy.
“In terms of my own nomination,” Jeffries quipped Wednesday, “I’m just trying hard to get to 215.”
