What to know about race for speaker of the House
The House of Representatives will soon vote for a speaker of the House to lead the chamber for the next two years under the incoming Republican administration.
The previous race for the top House post was plagued by infighting among the GOP, who have been unable to easily find consensus on a speaker candidate in recent years. Former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted as speaker by his Republican colleagues in October 2023, and it took lawmakers several weeks to finally elect their next leader: Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.
Johnson is running to retain his position in the next Congress but has not yet received support from all of his Republican colleagues. The 2025 vote carries particularly intense pressure as the House must agree on and elect a speaker in order to certify President-elect Donald Trump's election victory just days later.
The House is scheduled to vote on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, at noon, as dictated by the Constitution.
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A speaker must be elected before the 119th Congress can be sworn in.
Republicans have the majority in the House for the 119th Congress, so they are in charge of choosing a speaker.
Current House Speaker Mike Johnson is running again as head of the chamber. At this point, no other candidates have thrown their hat into the ring, but in past years, alternatives have been floated during the day of the vote.
Republicans currently hold a slim, four-seat majority in the chamber with 219 seats compared to the Democrats' 215.
The GOP majority is to dwindle even further when two of Trump's Cabinet picks, Reps. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., assume their roles pending Senate confirmation, which is expected to take place several weeks after the speaker vote.
A candidate for speaker must receive an outright majority to win. Given the number of seats held by the GOP, a Republican candidate would need 218 votes if all 434 members vote.
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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., recently told reporters he won't vote for Johnson for speaker.
Another GOP member suggested that he has not yet committed to voting for Johnson: "Right now, I think that Mike has done an admirable job under tough conditions, but I’m going to keep my options open. I want to have a conversation with Mike," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria."
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., recently said Democrats won't bail out Johnson if he does not receive enough GOP votes.
Johnson introduced a government funding bill in early December, but the first proposal failed before it even reached the House floor after opposition from Republican lawmakers and outside Trump allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
A second government funding bill was brought to the House floor, but bipartisan lawmakers voted against the legislation. Johnson introduced a third package, but many of his GOP colleagues didn't support it. While 34 Republicans voted against Johnson's bill, it passed in the House with unanimous Democrat support.
With more than two dozen Republicans breaking with Johnson on the government funding fight, he could face potential pushback against his speaker re-election efforts. Anywhere from four to 10 Republicans could oppose Johnson in the speaker’s race, Fox News' Chad Pergram previously reported.
The vote for speaker will take place on Friday, just three days before Congress is scheduled to certify the results of the Electoral College for Trump.
The House cannot proceed with any official business, such as counting the presidential election votes for Trump, until a speaker is elected and the next Congress is sworn in. In January 2023, it took House Republicans four days and 15 ballots to elect a speaker.
Trump announced he would back Johnson for the position, a pivotal endorsement that could help determine the Louisiana Republican's chances come Friday's vote.
"The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.