Trump Flipped Support From 2 GOP Holdouts In Mike Johnson’s Favor, Securing Speaker Role
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump
walks toward the stage to speak at a rally at the Brick Breeden
Fieldhouse at Montana State University on August 9, 2024 in Bozeman,
Montana.
President-elect Donald Trump spoke with two of the GOP holdouts
preventing Speaker Mike Johnson from retaining his role as House
speaker, flipping the votes and resulting in Johnson retaining his
position.
Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Texas)
were the two
House members who initially voted against Johnson (R-La.), in favor of
other House Republicans, in a move which would have left Johnson without
enough votes to secure the speaker’s gavel.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) another Republican who denounced Johnson’s
leadership, declared that he was a “Hell no” on re-electing Johnson,
under any circumstances.
Former House Rep. Matt Gaetz also asked if a possible compromise
could flip Massie’s vote in favor of Johnson during an episode of “The
Matt Gaetz Show” on One America News prior to the vote.
Massie soon responded to Gaetz’s query, stating: “Oh no, you can pull
all my fingernails out. You can shove bamboo up in them. You can start
cutting off my fingers. I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow. And
you can take that to the bank.”
“President Trump’s agenda needs to become law. Speaker Johnson has
already demonstrated he is not the man who can get that done,” Massie
added in an X post.
I'm a "Hell No" on re-electing Mike Johnson to serve as Speaker of the House. I joined @FmrRepMattGaetz on @OANN to discuss my opposition.
President Trump's agenda needs to become law. Speaker Johnson has already demonstrated he is not the man who can get that done. pic.twitter.com/JfVoCSNqDy
Meanwhile, Norman and Self both confirmed that they spoke with Trump
on Friday, along with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who was lockstep with
Trump in attempting to persuade Norman and Self to fall in line.
“We have got to make sure this Congress is as strong as possible when
we go up against the Senate on the reconciliation package, because
there are debates on what the reconciliation package even looks like. So
that’s all I wanted to do today, is to make this Congress successful
for the Trump agenda,” Self stated.
The reconciliation package is a legislative tool utilized to
fast-track budget-related bills, allowing legislation to pass in the
Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than the usual 60
votes needed to bypass any potential filibusters.
Nearly an hour after the votes were cast, while the first ballot
remained open, both Norman and Self returned to the House chamber,
asking the clerk to reverse their votes to “Aye” for Johnson, securing
the current speaker’s victory. “Aye” is used to signify “yes” or
approval of the motion. “Nay” is used to signify “no” or disapproval.
Following the vote, Self revealed that he reversed his position in
favor of Johnson because “Mike gave us the assurance that he was going
to fight for everything as it moves forward.”
“We just impress on Mike the seriousness of what he’s about to do. Is
he gonna fight for financial stops? Is he gonna fight? And that was our
whole question. Trump was helpful, but I knew where Trump stood,” he
added.
“My sole focus was advancing the Trump agenda. To ensure this, I
expressed concerns to Speaker Johnson about fiscal responsibility and
holding the line on deficit spending—key priorities for my constituents.
After receiving firm assurances from the Speaker, that Republicans in
the House will have strong representation during the budget
reconciliation process—a cornerstone of President Trump’s agenda—I
changed my initial vote,” Self wrote in an X post. “I appreciate Speaker
Johnson addressing these critical issues. Let’s get to work.”
RE: Speaker’s Vote
My
sole focus was advancing the Trump agenda. To ensure this, I expressed
concerns to Speaker Johnson about fiscal responsibility and holding the
line on deficit spending—key priorities for my constituents.
After receiving firm assurances from the Speaker,…
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