Although she covered the device with her hand, a sharp photographer for Reuters news agency, Evelyn Hockstein, captured the name of the person on the other end of the conversation – incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

It was a tangible sign of the enormous interest President-elect Donald Trump was taking in this vote. Trump had enthusiastically endorsed Johnson to be speaker for the incoming session of Congress earlier this week, and defeat in the first round of balloting would have been an embarrassment.

Behind the scenes, however, wheels were furiously turning – setting up a chaotic interlude in the House after Johnson had initially appeared headed to at least a temporary defeat.

At one point, Johnson walked out of the chamber, followed by two of the men who had opposed him, Ralph Norman of North Carolina and Keith Self of Texas. Meanwhile, other members of the House and their families milled about and chatted, waiting to see what happened next.

When Johnson ultimately returned, he was all smiles.

Trump himself had made a direct appeal to Norman and Self to back Johnson via speakerphone conversation, Republican sources told news outlets including Politico.

Because the vote had not been officially declared to be closed, Norman and Self were able to switch their votes to the Louisianian, putting him at just the 218 mark necessary to retain the speaker’s gavel. Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie was the lone Republican holdout.

Both Norman and Self told reporters after the vote that they had spoken to Trump during the course of the day.Norman said he conversed with Trump twice on Friday. The first during a several-minute phone call when fellow Republican Nancy Mace handed him her phone and the president-elect was on the other line.

The second time was a longer, 15-minute call that included Norman, Johnson and Self, he said, without confirming the exact timing.

“Trump was exactly right when he told me Mike is the only one who has the likeability factor,” Norman said.

He went on to describe Trump as “enthusiastic” about the Republican trifecta in Washington – control of the House, Senate and presidency.

“I said, ‘Mr President I agree with you, I’m just hoping Mike has got the oomph to pull this off,'” Norman said.

Self also said he spoke with Trump several times on Friday.”We had a discussion about the entire process,” he said of his conversation with the president-elect.

Ultimately, embarrassment was avoided – even if Trump publicly appeared to be more focused on other things.

In the midst of the voting, as the names of House members were called in alphabetical order, the president-elect was complaining on social media about the possibility that US flags would be at half-staff during his 20 January inauguration – part of the traditional mourning process following the death of former president Jimmy Carter.

Friday afternoon’s proceedings underscored just how tenuous the Republican majority in the House of Representatives will be over the course of the coming months.

Besides the three initial Republican votes against Johnson, another five hard-line conservatives – who have objected to the compromises Johnson has made with Democrats in the past – delayed casting their ballots during the initial roll call. While they ultimately relented, it was a very obvious shot across the speaker’s bow.

After the final vote, the House Freedom Caucus – some of whom were among the temporary holdouts – released a statement explaining that they ultimately backed Johnson because of their support for Trump.

“We did this despite our sincere reservations regarding the speaker’s track record over the past 15 months,” they wrote.

For now, the party holds a 219 to 215 edge over Democrats – but that could shrink by two if Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York and Michael Waltz of Florida fill administration jobs Trump has offered them. It will be months until special elections determine their replacements.

That means Trump will have to hold his entire House Republican membership together if he wants to pass key pieces of his legislative agenda early in his presidency, including hardline immigration reforms, new tariffs, and tax and spending cuts.

As Friday demonstrated, this could be a tall task.

The budget deal was passed shortly after a midnight deadline passed.It does not include a demand from President-elect Donald Trump that lawmakers increase how much money the federal government can borrow, showing the limits of his ability to command lawmakers from his own party.

The bill now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. A statement from Biden’s spokeswoman released earlier on Friday night said that he approved of the deal.

Lawmakers earlier this week had successfully negotiated a deal to fund government agencies but it fell apart after Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk called on Republicans to reject it.

The bill approved by Congress is the third one lawmakers voted on this week, after members of Congress voted down two earlier drafts.

Congressman Steve Scalise, the Republican House Majority Leader, indicated on Wednesday night that the bill was dead after Trump denounced it.

The short-term funding bill will need to be passed by Congress by the end of week to prevent many federal government offices from shuttering beginning on Saturday.

The bill, known as a continuing resolution, is required because Congress never passed a budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which began on 1 October.

Unless Congress acts, government services ranging from the National Parks Service to Border Patrol will begin closing this weekend.

In posts on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump threatened to help unseat “any Republican that would be so stupid as to” vote in favour of the current version of the bill, which was unveiled on Tuesday by House and Senate leaders.

“If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF,” he said.

He also called, in a joint statement with incoming vice-president JD Vance, for Congress to raise the debt ceiling, which determines how much the government can borrow to pay its bills, and limit the bill to focusing just on temporary spending and disaster relief.

The 1,500-page bill included more than $110bn (£88bn) in emergency disaster relief and $30bn (£23bn) in aid to farmers. It also included the first pay raise for lawmakers since 2009, federal funds to rebuild a bridge that collapsed in Baltimore, healthcare reforms, and provisions aimed at preventing hotels and live event venues from deceptive advertising.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement after Trump came out against the bill, saying: “Republicans need to stop playing politics with this bipartisan agreement or they will hurt hardworking Americans and create instability across the country.”

“Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families,” President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman continued, adding: “A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word.”

When asked by CNN on Wednesday night whether the existed deal had officially been scrapped, Congressman Scalise said: “Yes”.

He added that “there is no new agreement right now” and that “there’s still a lot of negotiations and conversations going on”.

It is not clear how Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to proceed.

Mr Musk, who Trump has tasked with cutting government spending in his future administration, lobbied heavily against the existing deal.

On Wednesday night, Mr Musk posted on X: “Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed.”

There have been 21 US government shutdowns or partial shutdowns over the past five decades – the longest of which was during Trump’s first term when the government was shuttered for 35 days.