Washington, DC [US], October 25 : Mike Johnson secured the Republican speaker nominee position on Tuesday through an internal vote by the GOP conference, capping a day filled with political drama, during which Tom Emmer briefly won the nomination but later dropped out, The Washington Post reported.
Johnson, 51, became the fourth Republican speaker nominee following the departure of Kevin McCarthy.
"The intention is to go to the House floor tomorrow and make this official," Johnson confirmed to reporters after the vote.
The full House is set to reconvene at noon on Wednesday. Johnson said, "We have some folks absent, and I'll be working with them tonight," regarding the need to secure 217 votes, according to The Washington Post.
Emmer withdrew from the race when it became evident that he could not garner a majority vote on the full House floor due to Republican resistance in the closely divided chamber.
Johnson also expressed his intentions to seek a House floor vote on the speakership, scheduled for noon Wednesday, adding, "The intention is to go to the House floor tomorrow and make this official."
When asked about absent Republican voters, Johnson acknowledged their absence and mentioned plans to work with them to secure their support.
Johnson, the GOP's newly designated speaker, addressed reporters after a lengthy day of voting, saying, "Democracy is messy sometimes, but it is our system. This conference that you see this House Republican majority is united." Republican lawmakers surrounding Johnson cheered in response.
The vote totals on the ballot that elected Mike Johnson as speaker designate are as follows: Johnson, 128; Donalds, 29; Others, 44 (43 of them for McCarthy); Present, 1.
According to Ralph Norman, the Republican conference conducted the vote to select a new speaker nominee at 8 pm local time.
When asked if they were "a hard no" for any of the candidates running for speaker on Tuesday night, none of the GOP lawmakers raised their hand, marking a significant departure from previous proceedings.
"I think we'll have [a nominee] tonight," Norman said.
Over the past few weeks, more than a dozen Republicans entered the competition to find a new House speaker. While the candidates had diverse political backgrounds, they all shared one characteristic: they were all men. No Republican woman entered the race for the position, The Washington Post reported.
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