Mike Johnson’s failed speakership bid shows how hard it may be for the narrow Republican majority to enact Trump’s conservative agenda.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) did not win reelection during the first round of voting on Friday, ushering in a state of uncertainty over what House GOP leadership will look like at the start of the 119 th Congress.

Republican Mike Johnson won reelection to the House speakership on a first ballot, pushing past GOP hard-right holdouts and buoyed with a nod of support from President-elect Donald Trump.

In the end, the threat of a far-right revolt turned out to be more real than expected, as Republican Mike Johnson initially came up short Friday on the first ballot of his bid to stay Speaker. Only after some backroom arm-twisting and plenty of public embarrassment did he prevail on a day that offered an early sign that Republicans will struggle to achieve a unified governing majority in the second Trump era.