October 24, 2023 - Rep. Mike Johnson selected as next speaker nominee

House speaker designee Mike Johnson survived a key roll-call vote Tuesday night to move him a step closer to clinching the gavel -- an abrupt shift after it had earlier appeared his bid was collapsing.

GOP members who had been opposed to Johnson's bid voted "present" and the Louisiana Republican prevailed. There were three present votes and 22 members not voting, or absent. 

Johnson said he would be speaking with those who voted present. "I'll be working with them tonight," he said.

House Republicans have selected Rep. Mike Johnson as their next speaker nominee.

Following Johnson's win on the secret ballot, Republicans are holding a roll-call vote behind closed doors to gauge whether he can secure the 217 votes needed to win the gavel.

Rep. Drew Ferguson requested by unanimous consent to reveal who the “other” votes were on the second of the House Republican conference's secret-ballots for speaker, according to sources in the room, and 33 out of 34 votes were for Kevin McCarthy, while one was for Jim Jordan. 

Ferguson’s request comes amid growing distrust within the GOP ranks over their colleagues’ motivations, and some lawmakers fear McCarthy allies are trying to orchestrate a comeback for the deposed speaker. 

Rep. Mark Green withdrew from the race after this happened and said that “games are being played here” and “we went from 2 'others' to 34 'others' in just a couple of hours,” according to a source familiar with the matter. And then Green endorsed Rep. Mike Johnson, who has been the top vote-getter on the past two ballots.

The House Republican conference's secret-ballot race for their next nominee for House speaker is now down to two candidates: Reps. Mike Johnson and Byron Donalds.

Reps. Mark Green and Roger Williams have dropped out.

In the first secret ballot of the night to nominate their new candidate for speaker, 30 House Republicans voted for a candidate who was not among the five who formally declared for the race, signally the eventual speaker nominee might face a sizable contingent of Republicans not willing to support them on the floor.  

Rep. Mike Johnson was the leading vote getter on the first ballot, but he failed to get a majority of the present conference needed to end the voting process. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann was forced to drop out of the race because he got the fewest votes.

Now the conference is on to the second ballot with the four remaining candidates: Reps. Mark Green, Roger Williams, Byron Donalds and Mike Johnson. 

Here is the vote total from the first round, according to Rep. Dan Meuser, who showed CNN his notes from the secret ballot election:

• 85 for Rep. Mike Johnson
• 32 for Rep. Byron Donalds
• 23 for Rep. Mark Green 
• 21 for Rep. Roger Williams
• 10 for Rep. Chuck Fleischmann

Another 30 votes were cast for people other than the declared candidates.

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee was eliminated in the first round of speaker votes, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik announced.

House Republicans are moving to second ballot with the following GOP representatives:

• Byron Donalds of Florida, a second-term member of the far-right Freedom Caucus
• Mark Green of Tennessee, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee
• Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the vice chair for the House Republican Conference
• Roger Williams of Texas, chair of the House Small Business Committee

House GOP members have begun voting on who will be their fourth nominee for speaker in just three weeks — and their second in one day, according to House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik.

The candidates, according Stefanik, include GOP Reps:

• Byron Donalds of Florida, a second-term member of the far-right Freedom Caucus.
• Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, a member of the House Appropriations Committee
• Mark Green of Tennessee, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee
• Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the vice chair for the House Republican Conference
• Roger Williams of Texas, chair of the House Small Business Committee

Rep. Rick Allen said that he told now-former House Speaker designee Tom Emmer that he opposed the Minnesota Republican's bid for the gavel because of Emmer voted to codify same-sex marriage.

“[Emmer] asked us to come down and ask to speak to why we could not support him” in his quest for the gavel, Allen said. 

“And here’s what I said: I said ‘Jesus spelled out exactly what marriage looks like,'" the Georgia Republican said.

“I basically shared with him my thoughts on many votes he’s taken. And you know, I don’t criticize anybody for votes they take, but as far as for me voting for the leader of our conference, that’s a different matter,” Allen said. “I told him it wasn’t between he and I. It was between he and the teachings of Jesus Christ.” 

Allen didn’t say that a candidate had to vote for the same religious principles that he does, but “if I vote for them, then that means I approve.”