Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will take the gavel Friday afternoon after fellow Republicans voted to re-elect him as speaker of the House.
Johnson has been publicly endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump and was able to secure the minimum 218 votes needed to win in the first round, but he had to persuade two Republican members of Congress, Ralph Norman, to (R-South Carolina) and Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) – who had initially voted for other candidates, changed their votes to him.
Because the Republicans had only a narrow margin of control of the House, Mr. Johnson could only lose one vote to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), but he actually lost it. Executed. Massey's “no” vote was not surprising. He previously told former Congressman Matt Gaetz that he would endure literal torture before voting for Mr Johnson. Instead, Massey voted for Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the majority leader and a longtime supporter of the cryptocurrency industry. Emmer voted for Johnson.
The voting process on Friday, the first business of the opening of the 119th Congress, took just two and a half hours in total and was much quicker and more streamlined than the previous election in October 2023, when Mr Johnson was first elected. It became a process.
Although Johnson has not been very outspoken on crypto issues, he is widely considered to be a friend of the industry. He previously voted in favor of the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act (commonly known as FIT21) and anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) legislation.
Mr Johnson’s re-election, and Mr Emmer’s continued position as majority whip, means crypto-friendly MPs are likely to be in a good position to push through a crypto bill in 2025. do.
