Johnson survives House speaker’s vote. Now comes the hard part.

Mike Johnson managed to squeak through in his reelection to speaker of the House Friday – but the drama and delay around the vote are an ominous sign for the Republicans’ ability to use their newly won unified control of Washington to pass significant legislation.

Three hard-line conservative House Republicans initially voted for other candidates Friday afternoon, denying Mr. Johnson the absolute House majority he needed to return to the speakership on the first round of voting. But House Republicans held the vote open for roughly an hour until Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas came to the speaker’s well, changed their votes to support Mr. Johnson, and shook his hand.

The drama underscores questions about how easy it will be for incoming President Donald Trump and his congressional allies to tackle their top legislative issues, including border security and taxes – issues Speaker Johnson promised to act on in his victory speech Friday afternoon.

House Republicans begin the new Congress with the slimmest majority in nearly a century: just a 219-215 margin, which is set to shrink by two more seats when Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Waltz leave to join the Trump administration.

Mike Johnson managed to squeak through in his reelection to speaker of the House on Friday – but the drama and delay around the vote are an ominous sign for the Republicans’ ability to use their newly won unified control of Washington to pass significant legislation.

Three hard-line conservative House Republicans initially voted for other candidates on Friday afternoon, denying Mr. Johnson the absolute House majority he needed to return to the speakership on the first round of voting. But House Republicans held the vote open for roughly an hour until Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas came to the speaker’s well, changed their votes to support Mr. Johnson, and shook his hand.

The final result ends a bit of drama to kick off the new Congress. Speaker votes were once a pro forma exercise. House Republicans’ struggle to achieve even this basic act raises questions about how easy it will be for incoming President Donald Trump and his congressional allies to tackle their top legislative issues including border security, a crackdown on illegal immigration, and extensions of personal tax cuts that are set to expire – all issues Speaker Johnson promised to act on in his victory speech Friday afternoon.

House Republicans begin the new Congress with the slimmest majority in nearly a century: just a 219-215 margin. That’s already temporarily one seat fewer than on Election Day because of former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s resignation from Congress – and will shrink by two more seats when Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Waltz leave Congress to join the Trump administration.

During this vote, Messrs. Norman and Self initially joined iconoclastic libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky to oppose Mr. Johnson’s reelection. Led by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, five other hard-line conservatives, who had refused to say publicly whether they’d back Mr. Johnson before the vote, declined to vote when their names were initially called. They grudgingly cast their support to Mr. Johnson when asked later in the vote after their symbolic protest.

Mr. Johnson had kept his conference mostly happy – until a few weeks ago, when he agreed to a bipartisan deal to avoid a government shutdown that infuriated House Republicans from across the ideological spectrum. The deal drew harsh criticism from Mr. Trump. But the president-elect vocally supported Mr. Johnson in this race. That likely got him across the finish line.

Mr. Roy, Mr. Norman, and nine other Republican members put out a joint statement after the vote saying that they’d backed Mr. Johnson “despite our sincere reservations” about his track record “because of our steadfast support of President Trump.”