With President-elect Donald Trump backing him up, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) won a unanimous vote Wednesday to continue leading the House Republican Conference.
Some House Republicans were reportedly planning to challenge Johnson on Wednesday but backed off after Trump endorsed Johnson "100%" at a meeting on Capitol Hill.
The vote was delayed for over an hour as Johnson met with critics to "hash it out," Fox News reported.
Trump has backed Johnson in the past, and he re-iterated that support at a meeting with Hill Republicans on Wednesday, effectively quieting any rebellion before it starts.
Johnson's predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was thrown out last year by a group of conservative hardliners who said he reneged on commitments to shrink federal spending.
Similar threats have loomed over Johnson, who has worked with Democrats to fund the federal government and the war in Ukraine.
Johnson did not face a challenger on Wednesday, despite reports that members of the House Freedom Caucus were planning a protest. Prominent Republican critics of Johnson, including Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), have gone quiet.
With Johnson facing a full floor vote in January, some Republicans have expressed worry about a repeat of the McCarthy drama. It took McCarthy 15 rounds of voting to win the position as conservative holdouts withheld their support.
"What would worry me is if they're willing to take that battle to the floor again. That's where it doesn't serve any kind of positive purpose at that point," one lawmaker told Fox News Digital.
A full-scale mutiny against Johnson would risk opening up divisions in the party, even as Trump prepares to return to the White House with Republican majorities in the House and Senate for at least two years.
With Republicans poised to control the levers of power in Washington, the possibility of more infighting has led to some eyerolls.
"Frankly, I am tired of the instigators. I am tired of the conflict for the sake of conflict-type nonsense that happened last session," Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital.
Some have speculated that Trump's Cabinet nominees could also jeopardize the narrow House majority, with Trump tapping several loyal allies on the Hill for key positions.
Trump nominated Matt Gaetz - who led the dramatic effort to dump McCarthy - to be attorney general Wednesday, in a shock announcement.
