After 21 days of deliberation and hours of closed-door meetings and elections, the House of Representatives has finally chosen Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) to be its next speaker.
On Wednesday afternoon, Johnson, who served as a deputy whip and sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, managed to unify Republicans by achieving 220 total votes to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ 209 and was subsequently sworn in.
In a statement released shortly after his election, Johnson recognized that “[i]t has been an arduous few weeks, … a reminder that the House is as complicated and diverse as the people we represent.” He noted that the House Republican Conference “is united” and promised to “advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden Administration, and support our allies abroad.” Under his leadership, the House “will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of it.”
Johnson’s election comes after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) led a small contingent of eight Republicans in a vote to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the position nearly three weeks ago. The ouster has been called “historic” since it’s the first time a speaker has been removed from the job. House Republicans nominated three candidates, including Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), before discarding them. Emmer’s nomination lasted just four hours on Tuesday before he announced that he would be stepping down due to being unable to secure enough votes from Republicans.
In less than 24 hours, Johnson was able to do what none of his colleagues could: He united what had been a divided Republican caucus. In a letter sent to colleagues over the weekend, Johnson reminded them that “It is our duty to chart a new path” and said that, until Saturday, he “had never contacted one person about this, and I have never before aspired to the office.” (READ MORE: Five Quick Things: It’s the End of the McCarthy Speakership, and I Feel Fine)
Despite holding the position for less than 24 hours, Johnson has already come under fire from his Democrat colleagues across the aisle. Jeffries, the Democrat minority leader, called him a “top election denier,” referencing Johnson’s vote on Jan. 6, 2020, to block the certification of the election.
The twice-impeached former president ordered House Republicans to stop Tom Emmer and elevate a top election denier.
Is anyone surprised that they complied?
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) October 25, 2023
The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), also took aim at Johnson, calling him a “MAGA acolyte” in a statement she released just after the vote.
“[Republicans] abandoned the American people for Mike Johnson’s extreme agenda to pass a national abortion ban, defund law enforcement, and slash Social Security and Medicare,” she said.
Johnson will certainly have a full agenda as he takes on his new position. He noted on the floor that the first bill the House will be voting on under his speakership will be a resolution supporting Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists.
“We’re going to show not only Israel, but the entire world, that the barbarism of Hamas … is wretched and wrong and we’re going to stand for the good in that conflict,” he said. “Let the enemies of freedom around the world hear us loud and clear — the people’s House is back in business.”
