U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was re-elected to the chamber’s top job on Friday in a lengthy vote that highlighted continuing divisions among Donald Trump’s Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Johnson initially appeared to fall short of the majority needed to keep his job in the hour-long roll call vote, but two Republican opponents swung their votes to support him after more than half an hour of negotiations. He won re-election with 218 votes – the minimum number required.

Republicans control the House by a 219-215 majority.

The vote was an early test of the party’s ability to hold together as it pushes Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and border enforcement. It also tested Trump’s influence on Capitol Hill, where a handful of Republicans have already expressed willingness to oppose him.

House Republicans have been racked by internal divisions over the past two years. Johnson was appointed Speaker after the party ousted his predecessor Kevin McCarthy midway through his term.

Members of Congress huddled around the chamber for more than half an hour after voting ended, while Johnson and his lieutenants could be seen trying to persuade the holdouts.

A Reuters photographer captured a photo of Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, who voted for Johnson, talking on her iPhone with the name Susie Wiles — Trump’s incoming chief of staff — appearing on the screen.

The House went through 15 rounds of voting over four days in 2023 before McCarthy was elected speaker.

The moderate Louisiana representative, 52, was thrust into one of Washington’s most powerful jobs in October 2023 during a three-week tumult. , when Republicans forced McCarthy and struggled to agree on a successor. The conservative Christian advocate emerged as a consensus choice, but has since struggled to keep his party united.

He has sought to build a closer relationship with Trump, who endorsed him on Monday after weeks of uncertainty.

“Mike’s win today would be a big win for the Republican Party,” Trump posted online Friday. Trump returned to the White House on January 20 for Inauguration Day.

In a role that is second only to the presidency after the vice president, Johnson will have a big task ahead of him. In addition to pursuing Trump’s broad legislative agenda, Congress will need to address the nation’s debt ceiling later this year.

With the federal government already more than $36 trillion in debt, many congressional Republicans are expected to demand significant spending cuts.

Republicans on Friday also swore in Sen. John Thune as their new leader in their new 53-47 Senate majority, replacing longtime Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is stepping down from the leadership. but remain in office.

Johnson angered some conservatives by repeatedly turning to Democrats to provide votes for key legislation, such as bills to keep government agencies running. They also faced a last-minute challenge late last month when Trump asked House Republicans to scrap a government funding deal, demanding that he also raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

A revised version of the bill — which does not include Trump’s demand for a debt ceiling — passed the House just hours before the government shutdown, and won more support from Democrats than Republicans.

Congress is scheduled to convene on Monday to confirm Trump’s victory in the presidential election, a ceremony that will not be possible without the speaker.

Johnson has also looked to ease his path for the next two years, changing a rule agreed by McCarthy that allowed any member of the House to call for the speaker’s dismissal to be called a “motion to vacate.” Known as ” Johnson’s proposed rules would require nine members of the majority to agree before forcing the type of vote that led to McCarthy’s ouster.