House Democrats trying to force the House to allow non-voting members from the various U.S. territories to cast ballots on the election of the House Speaker, became unruly on Friday, interrupting the proceedings by standing and yelling, when they were told no by the acting House clerk.
If they had been allowed to vote, against the rules of the body, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries would have been elected House Speaker. The yelling went on for a half-minute and the clerk of the House banged his gavel to attempt to restore order.
After they finally settled down, the voting continued, with Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana, not getting the votes needed on the first round to remain as the Speaker of the House. Johnson was able to get the required 218 votes on the second round of voting, however.
Congressman Nick Begich III voted for Johnson for speaker, and Johnson has the support of President Donald Trump. It is likely that if Rep. Mary Peltola had been elected to represent Alaska, the vote for Johnson would have fallen one vote short, at 217; Peltola had voted 18 times in 2022 for Rep. Jeffries to be speaker. She would have voted for Jeffries again this time, at a time when Republicans have a very narrow majority.
