US Congress thrown into chaos

House rejects Trump-backed speaker in first ballot

WASHINGTON:

The new US Congress was thrown into chaos on its first day Friday as rebel right-wing Republicans defied incoming president Donald Trump to block Mike Johnson from returning as speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Louisiana congressman -- who was boosted by several messages of support from Trump -- needed a simple majority to be elected as Washington's top legislator, who presides over House business and is second in line to the presidency.

But divided Republicans failed to elect a speaker in the first round of voting -- raising fears of a repeat of the chaos of the last two years of their House rule -- after a nail-biting ballot that earned blanket coverage across US television networks.

The vote marked another embarrassment for Trump, who was shown the limits of his sway over House Republicans for a second time after they rebuffed his demands for a suspension of the country's borrowing limit in December.

Trump's looming presidential inauguration raises the stakes of the speakership fight, since the House can do nothing until its leader is decided -- including completing the certification of the 78-year-old Republican's victory, set for Monday.

The contest now goes to a second round, but Johnson risks losing Trump's support if that battle drags out, which would likely prompt moderate Republicans to start casting around for other options.

Johnson needed 218 votes in the lower chamber, where the Republican majority narrowed to 219-215 as Trump was sent back to the White House in last year's historic presidential election.

Trump threw his full weight behind his man early Friday with a social media post wishing him "Good luck" and "very close to having 100% support."

Johnson sought to appease conservatives in the hours before the vote by pledging to "reduce the size and scope of the federal government, hold the bureaucracy accountable, and move the United States to a more sustainable fiscal trajectory."

But the 52-year-old attorney fell short -- having failed to bring party rebels, who include several high-profile Trump allies, into line.

Johnson's habit of crossing the aisle to cut deals with the Democrats angered conservatives in the 2023-25 session, while fiscal hawks lined up to attack him for what they saw as weakness on the deficit.

Johnson actually won the vote by 216 to Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries' 215 -- and there is very little doubt a Republican will ultimately claim the speaker's gavel -- but he fell short of a majority after three of his members decided not to back him.

Johnson was a virtual unknown to the wider public before becoming speaker but came to Trump's attention when he spearheaded efforts in Congress to overturn the 2020 election.

Far from his party's first choice, the attorney and religious rights campaigner won the gavel in 2023 largely because he lacked the enemies on his own side that prompted the downfall of other Republicans.

He already had one Republican "no" on the scoreboard going into Friday's vote, from Kentucky's Thomas Massie, while a handful of other conservative hard-liners had publicly declared themselves open to a change at the top.

Johnson "was only electable the first time because he hadn't held any type of leadership position, nor had he ever fought for anything, so no one disliked him and everyone was tired of voting," Massie posted on X.

"He won by being the least objectionable candidate, and he no longer possesses that title."

The last time it took more than one round of voting to pick a speaker at the start of a new Congress was the very last time the body opened for a new session, in January 2023. Before that it last happened a century ago, in 1923.