In some high-stakes political drama, the House of Representatives on Friday voted to reelect House Speaker Mike Johnson to lead the 119th Congress by a razor-thin margin. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who ascended to the leadership post in 2023 after the historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy,

Naturally, it wouldn’t be quite that easy—and the drama that briefly clouded the normally ceremonial vote to pick a speaker foreshadowed the continuing challenges ahead for a party with a thin House majority.