The policy was left out of last week’s proposed package but Rep. Johnson quietly included the ban in the final rules.

WASHINGTON – House Republicans gave Mike Johnson the speaker's gavel on Friday – along with a warning. Nine GOP lawmakers at first either abstained from voting for Johnson or voted for a different person for speaker.

Mike Johnson is fighting for his political life, again. The Louisiana Republican’s hold on the House speaker's gavel and his position as second in line to the presidency will be tested Friday when a new Congress convenes.

Johnson, of Louisiana, has been working diligently to prevent defeat, spending New Year’s Day at Mar-a-Lago as he positions himself alongside Trump. The speaker often portrays himself as the “quarterback” who will be executing the political plays called by the “coach,” the president-elect.

After South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace made a spectacle of transgender people’s access to bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol at the end of the 118th Congress last year, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has quietly announced a rule restricting bathroom usage in the 119th Congress.

The House voted Friday to reelect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., after multiple Republicans initially did not cast a vote for him in what became a tight contest spurred by pushback from a small, but influential group of Republicans against the speaker, leading to President-elect Donald Trump getting involved in discussions.

Speaker Mike Johnson maintained a policy that will bar transgender people from using single-sex facilities that align with their gender identities in the House.