Mike Johnson Elected As House Speaker
The House of Representatives has finally elected a speaker after more than two weeks — Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), the vice chairman of the House Republican conference.
Johnson won the speakership in the first House floor ballot on Wednesday — defeating the Democrats’ nominee, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) by a vote of 220-209.
The vote came after a weeks-long stalemate in the Republican conference that began with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) being removed from the speakership. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) was the Republicans’ first nominee — but he failed to garner enough support from his more conservative colleagues and ultimately dropped out.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was the second nominee — and despite having the support of the conservative voter base, Jordan was ultimately removed as the nominee after a secret vote and numerous attacks on his character from establishment Republicans.
The third nominee was House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), who ended up dropping out of the race after it was clear that he would not receive the support of his more conservative colleagues.
Ultimately, the only candidate who was able to garner enough support was Johnson, who received a glowing review from House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) during her speech nominating him on Wednesday.
“A man of deep faith, Mike epitomizes what it means to be a servant leader. A deeply respected constitutional lawyer, Mike has dedicated his life to preserving America’s great principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Stefanik said.
Johnson made several promises to his Republican colleagues in a letter prior to the vote — including proposing a stopgap bill through January 15 or April 15 to avoid a government shutdown in mid-November, which he said was designed “to ensure the Senate cannot jam the House with a Christmas omnibus.”
He also noted that he would create an “ambitious schedule” to pass individual spending bills — including energy and water appropriations bills later this week. The idea of individual spending bills was proposed by conservative lawmakers earlier this year — who refused to vote for McCarthy as speaker until he agreed to this demand. His failure to keep this promise was among the reasons that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) put forth the motion to remove McCarthy from the speakership.
In his letter, Johnson went on to advocate for quickly passing a resolution condemning Hamas for the terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7.
The new House Speaker also included a provision for August that would force Congress to keep working through a planned break if they don’t pass all of the individual spending bills.
“DO NOT break for district work period unless all 12 appropriations bills have passed the House,” the provision stated.
Conservatives celebrated Johnson’s victory on social media — including commentator Benny Johnson, who highlighted some of his positions and actions that conservative voters would appreciate.
In a post on X, the conservative commentator pointed out that the new House Speaker was “America First & MAGA,” as well as an ally of the House Freedom Caucus. He also explained that Johnson’s mentor was Jim Jordan, he had “served as legal defense” for former President Donald Trump during both of his impeachment trials,” and had objected to certifying the 2020 election citing fraud.
As many conservative voters are opposed to funding the Ukraine war, Johnson is likely to receive support because he had voted against all Ukraine spending except the initial bill and also has been given an “F” rating from the group “Republicans For Ukraine.”
“It’s time for We the People to take back OUR HOUSE!” the post concluded.
