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President-elect Trump appears to have helped Speaker Mike Johnson avoid a messy, drawn-out race for the House leadership.
Trump spoke by phone with both Reps. Ralph Norman, R-Tex., and Keith Self, R-Texas, after they initially voted for people other than Johnson to be speaker, two sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
Self and Norman disappeared into a side room with Johnson and others after the roll call was completed, but before the vote was officially closed.
They appeared minutes later and announced that they would both be voting for Johnson, sealing the victory for the Louisiana Republican.
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Speaker Mike Johnson won re-election as House Speaker with the support of President-elect Donald Trump. (AP/Getty)
Self then confirmed to reporters that he had spoken with Trump several times on the phone on Friday.
“I talked to him a few times today,” Self said. “We had a lively discussion.”
Self did not elaborate on the content of the discussion.
But two people who spoke to Fox News Digital said Rep. Nancy Mays, RS.C., put Trump in touch with Self and Norman by phone after they voted against Johnson.
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Representative Nancy Mays linked the deductions to Trump, two people said. (Getty Images)
Mays did not comment, but Fox News Digital saw her and Johnson hugging on the House floor after they and others were in a side room with defense attorneys.
Earlier, she was also seen in intense negotiations with Norman from the House of Representatives.
Norman also later confirmed to reporters that he had spoken with Trump on Friday.
Johnson won the speakership of the House of Representatives in the first round of voting, after initially looking like he was set to lose.
The spokesman, Keith Self, confirmed that he had spoken with Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Self, Norman and Rep. Thomas Massey, R-Ky., voted for people other than Johnson and appeared to have put the speaker’s gavel out of reach.
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But House leaders didn’t officially wrap up the vote until they figured out a way forward. Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers were told to immediately address the House to prepare for a second vote.
However, there was no second vote and Johnson was sworn in as speaker on Friday afternoon.
