This time was supposed to be different. But while House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday avoided the dayslong ordeal that his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, endured to become speaker, his relatively swift victory was hardly a unifying moment. The tumult of the day laid bare that Johnson retains only tenuous support from hard-line conservatives who gave him their votes for now, but stand ready to dispatch him just as they did McCarthy if their demands aren’t met. “Is he going to fight?” said Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican who initially opposed Johnson but ultimate changed his vote. Republicans are relishing the moment as they take unified control of Washington and rally around President-elect Donald Trump. Yet the elements that made for a turbulent House the past two years remain stubbornly in place, except that the stakes are far higher now as Republicans try to deliver on Trump’s agenda. The scale of the conflict to come was apparent as Congress began its new session Friday. House Republicans took shots at each other on TV and argued on the House floor, the freshly elected speaker looked worried, and even after Johnson’s victory, some GOP lawmakers openly discussed what might trigger his removal. For a time, it seemed things might get even worse. The House chamber seemed to snap back to a familiar scene from the speakership vote two years ago as archconservatives refused to back Johnson, gesticulating while they openly negotiated on the floor. But after an hour of uncertainty and tense negotiations — as well as Trump calling in from a golf course to make clear he supported Johnson — two of the three Republicans who at first denied Johnson the speakership changed their votes to give him the majority he needed. Norman said it was not so much Trump who changed his mind, but the fact that Johnson, as he huddled with the holdouts in the back of the House chamber, vowed that he would indeed “fight for everything going forward.” Easier said than done. Johnson has the difficult task of leading a Republican majority that will be even slimmer than it was in the last Congress — potentially down to a single vote, once a handful of members join Trump’s administration. Last year, the thin majority, as well as near-constant defiance from his right flank, forced Johnson to rely on Democratic support to pass practically any significant legislation. Johnson tried to turn the page in his first speech after winning the speaker’s gavel, arguing that Republicans are now empowered by a “groundswell of Americans” who want an end to the status quo in Washington. “Speaker Johnson contends that in a environment where we have the White House and the Republican Senate, that he’s going to be able to go get the job done,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who has been outspoken in his criticism of Johnson. “So we’ll give him a chance to see. But we need to deliver. There’s no room for any excuses now.” Making matters more difficult, even if Johnson manages to unite his conference in the House, most legislation will still need at least some Democratic support in the Senate, where the chamber’s filibuster rules prevent most bills from advancing unless they have support from at least 60 senators. Republicans will have a […]