Congress
Initial Norman holdout speaker vote leads to GOP ire
Before the Freedom Caucus member switched his vote, conservatives lined up to criticize Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) after he originally opposed Speaker Mike Johnson on the first ballot for speaker.
“I have a team of 90 political operatives i’m ready to put to work to take out Ralph Norman and I know every inch of the district like the back of my hand. He doesn’t support MAGA and he’s an embarrassment to South Carolina,” wrote Wesley Donehue, a veteran South Carolina GOP strategist, in an X post.
That prompted Mick Mulvaney, a former chief of staff to President Donald Trump who represented the district before Norman, to reply: “I might know a little about SC5. How can I help?”
Norman, along with GOP Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Keith Self (Texas), initially banded together to seemingly deny Johnson the speakership on the first ballot. But after a long break, Norman and Keith Self flipped their votes to back Johnson, handing him the speaker’s gavel.
Norman has held office since succeeding Mulvaney in 2017. His office was not immediately available for comment on the threat.