President-elect Donald Trump worked in the background to stop the House GOP insurrection against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman reported on Friday.
Johnson, who is facing one of the narrowest House majorities in modern history and significant doubt from observers about his future, was saved in a surprise move as two House Republicans who had rejected him on the first vote abruptly switched to backing him, giving him just enough votes to be confirmed for the next Congress.
Those two Republicans, Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Keith Self (R-TX), appear to have been lobbied directly by Trump to change their votes, Sherman reported.
"DONALD TRUMP weighed in with Reps. RALPH NORMAN and KEITH SELF after they voted against MIKE JOHNSON'S bid for speaker. Self and Norman voted for Johnson after that," reported Sherman.
Trump, facing the potential to have his own election certification delayed if the House was paralyzed for weeks without a speaker, endorsed Johnson's re-appointment in recent days, working as hard as he could to get pro-Trump lawmakers frustrated with Johnson's previous reliance on Democrats for key votes to fall in line and back him.
This effort, however, had been complicated by tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump whose recent meddling briefly blew up a bipartisan deal to keep the government open. He had been sending mixed signals on support for Johnson.