The 119th Congress convened Friday. The first order of business in the House was to elect a speaker.

House Republicans avoided the spectacle of two years ago, when the process required a historic 15 rounds of voting before they elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California. This time around, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who replaced McCarthy after he was ousted in October 2023, won reelection in a single round of voting, although it required convincing two GOP lawmakers to change their initial votes.