Struggling Mike Johnson Barely Unites His Own Party in Speaker Vote

House Speaker Mike Johnson nearly lost the first floor vote Friday to retain the gavel.

When the vote was unofficially called, a handful of aimless Republican votes for other candidates (who weren’t running for the House’s most prized position) appeared to make it mathematically impossible for Johnson to win.

Johnson had faced near-impossible margins from the jump: With a full House floor and a unified Democratic caucus, the speaker could only afford to lose one Republican on his path to 218 votes. Johnson ended the round just shy of the goal, with 216 votes in the pocket.

But three votes against his bid by Representatives Thomas Massie, Ralph Norman, and Keith Self threw that into shambles. Massie voted for Representative Tom Emmer, Norman voted for Representative Jim Jordan (who quietly weighed running last week before dropping the bid), and Self voted for Representative Byron Donalds. Norman and Self ultimately changed their vote to Johnson, clinching the necessary 218.

Representative Chip Roy—a speculated holdout—also changed his vote at the last minute in favor of Johnson.

This story has been updated.