Johnson Wins on First Vote After Two Rebels Reverse Their Votes
Well, Donald Trump got his way, and Rep. Mike Johnson has managed to hold on to the gavel for another session of Congress.
This reportedly happened after Donald Trump called two of the three “no” votes and convinced them to switch their vote.
Massie is a Hard ‘No’
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was adamant that he would not be voting for Speaker Johnson to keep the gavel in the 119th Congress.
Massie called Johnson “ill-equipped” to lead the House, then added, “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.”
Massie was being called out by every pundit on social media, being threatened with a primary run, but he refused to give in and wanted to hold Johnson accountable for his failed promises during the 118th Congress.
A lot of people are spewing venom at Massie, but I will not be one of them. As I have stated many times, Massie’s loyalty is not to party or Trump, but to his constituents, and since he was very clear where he stood before the election, and he was re-elected to office, I have to assume that is what his constituents wanted him to do, so I have zero problems with his resistance to Johnson.
Trump Makes the Call
Aside from Massie, Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (F-FL) had voted against Johnson during the first round of voting, which would have blocked Johnson from winning.
Trump had to know that in terms of changing someone’s mind, Massie was hopeless, so Trump reportedly reached out to Normal and Self to try to convince them to support Johnson and change their votes.
Self-stated, “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.”
Johnson Wins
With the two votes changed to Johnson, the Speaker kept the gavel, and now Congress can get to business setting the new session’s rules as well as certifying the election on January 6.
After Johnson won the election, Trump posted, "It is all a great continuation of ‘Make America Great Again.’ Mike Johnson will do a fabulous job as speaker. House Republican membership was fantastic."
Everyone kept justifying Johnson by calling him a “good man” and a “good Christian,” but that literally has nothing to do with his ability to do this job. And to this point, Johnson has failed, but Trump backed him, and the caucus gave Trump what he wanted.
Trump has zero excuses now. He has the White House, the Senate, and his man is in place in the House. He made us all some very big promises, and I will be holding him accountable. Lower inflation, lower groceries, lower energy, less taxes, less government, lock down the border, and cut the national debt. That is what we were all promised, and that is what we better get.
