Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson narrowly won the House speakership on Friday, overcoming a far-right-led effort to challenge his leadership in the first round of voting.
Representatives Keith Self, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., initially threw their support behind another candidate. The preliminary count had three members of the GOP defecting, including Johnson critic Rep. Thomas Massie. This left Johnson shy of a necessary majority due to his party's paper-thin advantage in the lower chamber.
