Why two GOP holdouts flipped their votes on Johnson
Reps. Ralph Norman and Keith Self received phone calls from President-elect Donald Trump between their initial votes against Speaker Mike Johnson and their eventual flips to support him, according to two Republicans who were granted anonymity to speak candidly.
But most notably, the pair and other holdouts secured general commitments from Johnson and other Republicans about the GOP conference working more collaboratively, the two Republicans said.
“His one-on-one calls weren’t what got it done,” one of the Republicans said, referring to the Trump calls. A handful of Republicans repeated the same sentiment.
Self confirmed that he spoke to Trump multiple times, calling it "lively." But he added that they have the same agenda. He also said that he and Norman wanted transparency on the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans plan to use to pass ambitious legislation on the border, energy and taxes.
"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 said.
Norman said he changed his mind because "Mike gave us the assurance that he was going to fight for everything as it moves forward." He also confirmed he spoke with Trump, saying Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) connected them, and that the call went "very well."
"He just made a point about how Mike's the only one who can get elected, that he's likable — which I knew," Norman said. "We just impressed 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 that there was "no quid pro quo" with Johnson. The speaker told reporters earlier that he did not offer any changes to convince Norman and Self to switch their votes.