U.S. GOP elects Johnson as next House speaker candidate

The U.S. House Republican Party has again chosen current House Speaker Mike Johnson as its candidate to lead the House in the 119th Congress, which begins its new session early next year.

U.S. media reported that House Republicans unanimously elected Johnson as their candidate for the next chairman at a general meeting of lawmakers on the 13th local time.

There were no contenders, and no one voiced opposition in the oral vote.

Earlier, President-elect Donald Trump attended the General Assembly and expressed his support for Johnson by saying, "I'm with him until the end."

Johnson will need the support of a majority of 218 people to become speaker of the 119th Congress in a vote in the plenary session of the House of Representatives scheduled for Jan. 3 next year.

Republicans retained their majority status by securing a majority in the election, but media have observed that hard-line Republican lawmakers are likely to vote against it to carry out their demands as before, hindering Johnson's election.

Lawmakers from the "Freedom Caucus," a hard-line group in the Republican Party, have criticized Mr. Johnson for cooperating in handling government budgets, including the Ukraine aid budget requested by the Biden administration.