Well, ladies and gentlemen, the drama is over. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), the latest candidate offered by the Republican caucus, was elected as the new Speaker of the House on Wednesday. After weeks of chaos, Republicans finally rallied behind their fourth speaker-designee on Wednesday afternoon. Johnson replaces former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was ousted earlier this month.
Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the interim speaker, declared Johnson the “duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives” after the vote. There were no defections from Republican lawmakers this time around, with Johnson getting 220 votes.
Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries was also there and got 209 votes from his unified party. Democrats had hoped that Republican infighting might open up an opportunity for GOP defectors to elect Jeffries as speaker, but their dreams were shattered.
The New York Times appeared to lament the results, not only noting that Johnson is “the most junior lawmaker in decades to become speaker” but also that he may be “the most conservative.”
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“An evangelical Christian, Mr. Johnson is the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee and sponsored legislation to effectively bar the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity at any institution serving children younger than 10 that receives federal funds,” wrote Catie Edmondson of the New York Times. “He served on former President Donald J. Trump’s impeachment defense team, played a leading role in recruiting House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results, and was an architect of Mr. Trump’s bid to object to certifying them in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.”
“We will restore trust in this body. We will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden administration, and support our allies abroad,” Speaker Johnson said in a statement moments ago.
Many challenges await the new speaker, including government funding running out on November 17. One key issue facing Johnson will be aid to Israel. The Biden administration has sought to link aid to Israel with more aid to Ukraine. Biden recently sent a $100 billion aid request to Ukraine and Israel, most of which was allowed for Ukraine and much of it not even to assist its war effort against Russia. While Johnson has supported aid to Ukraine in the past, he has opposed recent efforts to continue throwing even more aid there.
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