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Johnson Is Re-Elected Speaker By the Skin of His Teeth
Trump’s power may be waning
Yesterday, I made myself a big bowl of popcorn and settled in to watch the Speaker election in the House. I was expecting it would take a few votes before Mike Johnson was re-elected. There was even an outside chance that someone else could be elected.
In the end, it only took one prolonged vote and a phone call from Trump to get it done. Basically, a total waste of popcorn.
Oh, there were a few tense moments like when three, count them three, Republicans voted for a candidate other than Johnson. And when six other Republicans stayed silent when their names were called. They were in the chamber, just refusing to participate in the vote.
Johnson scurried around, nervously trying to drum up votes because at that point, if the voting were declared over, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, had enough votes to become Speaker. We can’t have that.
The House clerk kept the vote open, and having made their point, that they could make or break Johnson, the six silent Republicans found their voices and voted for Johnson when their names were called a second time.
Johnson still didn’t have a majority at that point, so the Wicked Witch of the South, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, called…
