Johnson said he took "suggestions and requests from all members on process reforms" but "there were no deals cut" to secure the gavel. The House voted to to adopt new rules to govern the lower chamber for the next two years. House Republicans released their proposed rules package on Wednesday, which included a number of changes to the rules that governed the House during the last two years. In an attempt to avoid some of the chaos that plagued the Republican majority in the last Congress, Republicans raised the threshold to force a vote on ousting the House speaker to nine GOP members.
The previous threshold was one member. Leadership unveiled a new package Friday that added, "The Speaker may not entertain a motion that the House suspend the rules except on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. The procedure is often used to fast-track legislation that has bipartisan support since it requires two-thirds of the chamber to pass. The new rules would prohibit that from taking place on Thursdays and Fridays. The package also eliminates the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, restores "family-centric language" and authorizes subpoenas of Attorney General Merrick Garland and other Justice Department officials as part of Republicans' investigations into the Biden family.
Ralph Norman, the other GOP holdout, confirmed that he spoke with Trump before switching his vote, and received "assurances" that Johnson would "fight. We got in there β I never know how this stuff's going to come out. I didn't know how people were going to vote," he told CBS News. And so, I'm excited with the way it came out, and Mike is too.
Johnson spoke to a group of reporters at the Capitol and described his conversations with Self and Norman, the Republicans who switched their votes. And we must succeed, we have no margin for error. So, that's all it was. No promises," Johnson added. Johnson confirmed to CBS News that he spoke with Trump while the speakership vote was being held open. Trump's message, Johnson said, was: "Get united. Keith Self, one of the two initial Johnson holdouts, told reporters that he spoke to Trump "before and after" his vote.
He declined to discuss many specifics, but said, "We shored up the reconciliation team, because we know that this will be a heavy lift to get the Trump agenda across the line in the reconciliation package.
