Mike Johnson failed in his campaign to remain speaker in the primary election, but his allies hope they can counter three more GOP votes against him in the next elections.
“I'm confident when you go to bed tonight, we'll know who the next speaker is, and I'm sure that speaker will be Mike Johnson,” said Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.).
“There is an active effort to end this today,” he added.
Reps. Ralph Norman (RS.C.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) voted for Johnson in a mail-in vote. Johnson can only have one Republican vote for someone else and still get the gavel, which means he needs to turn over at least two of those members in the next vote and he could lose some support. Massie has been adamant for weeks that he will not support the Louisiana Republican.
About a dozen other Republicans who were reluctant to participate in the vote chose to support Johnson. Six of them remained silent during the first call but later voted for Johnson: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Michael Cloud (Texas), Andy Harris (Md.), Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Chip Roy (Texas) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.).
Flood suggested that the nine Republicans who opposed or did not support Johnson initially were meant to send a “message” to Johnson. Under the new rules proposed in Congress, it will take nine members to force a vote to remove the speaker.
“I think it's interesting that nine members, in one way or another, raised objections today,” said Zamcolo.
Rep. Dusty Johnson (RS.D.) and other Johnson allies are trying to negotiate GOP participation. Another Republican lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential discussions, said the center is continuing talks about verbal commitments about spending cuts and other “procedural changes.”
Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) said members of the Freedom Caucus were raising “process concerns” stemming from last month's funding battle, but otherwise the caucus as a whole has not presented them with another “hard and fast” issue.
Johnson waged an aggressive pressure campaign to try to win the support of several conservatives who were reluctant to vote. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly endorsed Johnson, including most recently on Friday morning. He also expressed to the members that he will not be happy if the war of words delays his plan.
Voting will continue until a speaker is chosen, but the room is frozen until then. If members do not complete the vote on Monday, efforts to officially confirm Trump's presidential victory could be complicated.
Democrats rallied to deny Johnson a life sentence, all voting for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
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