Republican Mike Johnson could only lose two votes from his own party in his bid for speaker re-election, and he nearly did.

Republican Rep. Mike Johnson was elected House speaker as the 119th Congress will began Friday after flipping two GOP opponents. Follow here for the latest live news updates.

Under the new rules package, which cleared the lower chamber in a near-party-line vote, 215-209, a motion to vacate the chair will require a minimum of nine members of the speaker’s same party backing the effort in order to receive a vote.

The House passed its rules package for the 119th Congress on Friday, approving a change that makes it more difficult to oust the speaker and reserving that right for the majority party alone. The rules package,