Mr Johnson won re-election as Speaker of the US House of Representatives by 218 votes to 216 after convincing two of the three GOP members who had sided with the Democrats to block his bid.
This close election clearly reflects the internal conflicts within the Republican Party.
In the November 2024 US House elections, Republicans maintained a slim majority of 219 seats, while Democrats controlled 215 of the 435 seats. This created the most closely divided House in nearly 100 years. If Republicans lost just two members, they would lose their majority, complicating efforts to push through Mr. Trump’s legislative agenda.
Such a deeply divided House is unlikely to facilitate cross-party cooperation, which means Republicans may not have enough votes to deliver on Mr Trump’s campaign promises.
It will be difficult for House Republicans to achieve a majority, even on simple bills, said Christopher Galdieri, a professor at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. He said the far-right wing of the Republican Party does not prioritize legislation, forcing Johnson to either let them control the agenda or seek support from Democrats who have no intention of advancing Trump’s policies.
Noting that Mr Johnson's victory in the House of Commons election was a victory for Mr Trump because he had supported him, Professor Galdieri still warned that the Trump-Johnson relationship could "fracture" as the difficulty of passing any legislation becomes increasingly clear.
Johnson, 52, of Louisiana, was elected speaker of the House in October 2023 after Republican infighting led to the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. After three weeks without a leader, Johnson was elected speaker on October 25, 2023, in a fourth round of voting.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump's opponents are preparing for a major battle over the next four years, determined to block the policies he plans to implement after taking office.
Skye Perryman, head of the left-leaning legal group Democracy Forward, told CNN that Democrats will have a hard time blocking Trump's agenda, but she also stressed that "there are real opportunities because of the consensus of the American people on important issues and because of the current judicial landscape."
Mr Trump has laid out a broad agenda of bold policies he wants to implement. At the top of the list are plans to deport migrants who have flooded the southern border of the United States illegally over the past four years. Mr Trump has said he will start with those who have committed crimes. But deporting millions of people could be a major hurdle.
While re-election is a victory for Mr. Johnson and Mr. Trump, the current political landscape suggests that the Republican Party will likely face many challenges to maintain power and implement its ambitious agenda in the upcoming term.
