House Republicans to meet with Trump and Elon Musk, and elect its leadership team
House Republicans are slated to elect a leadership team, including re-nominating Mike Johnson for speaker, and meet with President-elect Donnld Trump.
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are scheduled to elect a leadership team Wednesday that is expected to be little changed from their current one — thanks to the Trump-powered GOP sweep that appears likely to keep them in charge of the House for another two years.
Republicans are expected to nominate Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, to continue in the top job in the 119th Congress. Johnson and his fellow Republicans have declared victory in last week's House elections, though several competitive races remain outstanding and NBC News has yet not projected which party will control the chamber.
Johnson will need to win over just half of his conference Wednesday, an easy hurdle after Republicans performed well in the elections. But he could face a symbolic challenge in the closed-door election. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the new chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said it is unclear whether the group will nominate someone to run against Johnson, adding that "having two people in a race is kind of the norm" in America.
To secure his first full term in the job, Johnson will still need to win 218 votes — a simple majority of the 435 total House seats — in a public floor vote in January. Because of the GOP's tight margins, a handful of rank-and-file Republicans could team with Democrats to block Johnson, but it would be highly unusual after the party's election performance.
Trump plans to meet with House Republicans before their leadership elections Wednesday morning, several lawmakers said. An adviser to Trump said that Elon Musk would join the president-elect for the meeting. Musk has spent the last week in Palm Beach with Trump.
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