Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected as the new Republican House Speaker, ending weeks of uncertainty as the GOP conference remained paralyzed following Kevin McCarthy's ousting.
Johnson secured the position many others have already tried to win by achieving support from 220 colleagues in the lower chamber of Congress. The GOP lawmaker is already the fourth Republican nominated for the position after McCarthy was forcefully removed on Oct. 3.
New Republican House Speaker
The previous nominee was Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, who suddenly dropped out of the race on Tuesday, a few hours after winning the nomination. Johnson's success in getting the speaker's gavel represents a victory for the ideologically right-wing, Trump-aligned faction of the Republican Party and a loss for its moderates.
The latter's candidates struggled to gain traction among conservative representatives on Capitol Hill in the last few weeks. The 51-year-old House speaker-elect addressed the House after the vote. He said the last-minute negotiations meant that his wife could not get a flight to Washington in time for his installation as speaker, as per BBC.
Johnson also spoke about border security, inflation, and the conflict in the Middle East as some of his primary objectives as House speaker. He added that the current challenge is great but argued that it was already the time for action.
The newly elected House speaker promised that the first bill he would introduce would support Israel against the Hamas militant group. This is one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement within the United States government.
Johnson spoke on the Capitol steps after being sworn in as House speaker, where he vowed to set an "aggressive" schedule now that the House is "back in business." However, there are still other political hurdles in both the closely divided House and in the Republican party that could slow down lawmakers' pace.
Rep. Mike Johnson
Some of the issues that the new House speaker will face include the government funding issue, which is set to expire on Nov. 17. Republicans are forced to work with the Democratic-led Senate in an attempt to avert a shutdown. This sets up an early test for Johnson's speakership as lawmakers will also have to decide whether or not to send additional aid to Ukraine, according to CNN.
The House also passed a resolution in support of Israel against Hamas only a few hours after the speaker election. The measure passed with overwhelming bipartisan support with a vote of 412 to 10.
Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma explained Johnson's survival in the speaker race by saying that politics is like the fight business. He noted that the longer an individual is in it, the more they get beat up.
Most senators have had little or no personal contact with the newly elected House speaker other than his conservative reputation and leading role in challenging the 2020 election. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also said that he had never met with the Louisianan Republican and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer does know him at all, according to Politico.
