Shortly after Mike Johnson came within two votes shy of retaining the House Speakership on Friday, Marjorie Taylor Greene — a staunch Trump ally and controversial Republican congresswoman from Georgia — stood in the middle of the House chamber, talking intently into her cellphone.
Although she covered the device with her hand, Reuters' clever photographer, Evelyn Hockstein, captured the name of the person on the other end of the conversation – incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
It was a tangible sign of the tremendous interest President-elect Donald Trump has shown in this vote. Trump had enthusiastically endorsed Johnson to be speaker of the next session of Congress earlier this week, and defeat in the first round of voting would have been an embarrassment.
Behind the scenes, however, the wheels were turning hard – leading to a chaotic period in the House after Johnson initially appeared headed for at least a temporary defeat.
At some point, Johnson walked out of the room, followed by two of the men who opposed him, Ralph Norman of North Carolina and Keith Self of Texas. Meanwhile, other House members and their families were walking around and talking, waiting to see what would happen next.
When Johnson eventually returned, he was smiling.
Republican sources told outlets including Politico that Trump himself made a direct appeal to Norman and Self to support Johnson via a phone conversation.
Since voting had not been officially declared closed, Norman and Self were able to switch their votes to Louisian, putting it at just the 218 mark needed to retain the speaker's gavel. Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie was the lone Republican holdout.
Both Norman and Self told reporters after the vote that they spoke to Trump during the day.
Norman said he spoke with Trump twice on Friday. The first was during a phone call that lasted several minutes, when his colleague, Republican Nancy Mace, handed him her phone and the president-elect was on the other line.
The second time was a longer, 15-minute call involving Norman, Johnson and Self, he said, without confirming the exact timing.
“Trump was absolutely right when he told me that Mike was the only guy with the likability factor,” Norman said.
He went on to describe Trump as “enthusiastic” about the Republican triumvirate in Washington, which is control of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the presidency.
“I said, 'Mr. President, I agree with you, and I just hope Mike has the ability to get this done,'” Norman said.
Self also said he spoke with Trump several times on Friday.
“We had a discussion about the whole process,” he said of his conversation with the president-elect.
Ultimately, embarrassment was avoided – even if Trump publicly seemed more focused on other things.
In the midst of the vote, as House members' names were being called in alphabetical order, the president-elect was complaining on social media about the possibility of American flags being flown at half-staff during his Jan. 20 inauguration — part of the traditional celebration. Mourning process after the death of former President Jimmy Carter.
The actions that took place on Friday afternoon highlighted the weakness of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives over the coming months.
Besides the three Republican primary votes against Johnson, five other hardline conservatives — who have objected to compromises Johnson has made with Democrats in the past — delayed casting ballots during the initial roll call. While they were eventually satisfied, it was a very clear shot across the speaker's bow.
After the final vote, the House Freedom Caucus — some of whom were among the temporary holdouts — issued a statement explaining that they ultimately backed Johnson because of their support for Trump.
“We did so despite our sincere reservations about the speaker’s record over the past 15 months,” they wrote.
Currently, the party has a 219-215 lead over Democrats — but that could shrink by two if Congresswomen Elise Stefanik of New York and Michael Waltz of Florida take the administration jobs Trump has offered them. Months will pass until special elections determine who will replace them.
That means Trump will have to bring his entire House Republicans together if he wants to pass key parts of his legislative agenda early in his presidency, including tough immigration reforms, new tariffs, and tax and spending cuts.
As Friday demonstrated, this can be a daunting task.
Additional reporting by Rachel Luker
