Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday won re-election to the top post in the House, salvaging his job in a dramatic last-minute turnabout by putting down a revolt from conservatives who initially voted to block his ascent.
Johnson barely mustered the majority he needed to win reelection on the first ballot, with help from President-elect Donald Trump, who interrupted a golf game to lobby holdouts by phone. That allowed the speaker to avoid the humiliation of a multiday slog of failed votes like the one his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, suffered through before ultraconservatives relented and elected him two years ago.
Johnson won with just enough votes to clinch the gavel, 218-215.
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