| Mike Johnson clinched the internal GOP nod to serve as speaker again. But he's not in the clear yet — the true test is a formal vote on the House floor in January, where he'll have almost no room for error. House Republicans voted unanimously Wednesday to make Johnson their speaker nominee, according to three people in the room. The Louisiana Republican has been shoring up support for months, crisscrossing the country to campaign for his colleagues, and the party is expected to hold onto House control by a slim margin. Johnson was widely expected to clear the simple majority threshold required in the private conference meeting, despite conservative complaints about how he handled spending and other issues during his first year as speaker. It's a problem that will become more relevant for the floor vote on Jan. 3, when the 218-vote threshold means he likely can't afford to lose more than a handful of GOP members. Read the latest. | 
