All Democrats expected to participate in Speaker’s vote

All Democrats are expected to be in the Capitol on Friday for the vote to seat the next Speaker of the House, according to the Democratic whip’s office.

The full participation of Democrats is significant, given the razor-thin margins in the lower chamber and the threat from some conservative Republicans to oppose the bid by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), the current Speaker, to keep his gavel in the 119th Congress.

Already, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is vowing to vote for someone other than Johnson on the floor on Friday, which means one more GOP defection would deny Johnson the simple majority of voting members needed to secure the Speakership — if all Democrats are on the floor and voting for their Speaker preference: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

If even one Democrat is absent, Johnson can afford two GOP defections and still win the gavel. If three Democrats do not participate, he could afford three.

Those dynamics have made the question of Democratic attendance a topic of great interest in Washington — a question fueled by health problems facing a small handful of Democratic lawmakers. That list includes Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who has spent much of the past year undergoing treatment for lung cancer, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who recently had hip replacement surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Germany after suffering a fall in Luxembourg last month.

On Thursday morning, Pelosi posted a short message on the social platform X from an airplane, which she said is en route to Washington. And the office of Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the Democratic whip, said party leaders are expecting all members of the caucus to be on hand for Friday’s vote.

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