Mike Johnson elected House speaker with unanimous GOP support, ending weeks of chaos

Table Of Content

• Ashlyn Harris and Sophia Bush make red carpet debut at White House Correspondents’ Dinner
• Denouncing Hamas, and approving aid for Israel and Ukraine
• Republicans who opposed Jordan for speaker are now rallying behind Johnson
• Evolution of the White House
• Swing-district Republican attacks Democrats who heckled him over his support for Johnson
• Bipartisan lawmakers "interacted more this week than we have in the last four years," GOP congressman says
• The 2024 White House Correspondents’ Dinner: Scarlett Johansson, Colin Jost, Keri Russell, Chris Pine plus more

Several Republicans in both chambers joined Democrats in securing earmarks in the roughly $1.7 trillion government funding package that became law last month, with more than 7,200 projects in the bill. But after flipping their votes to Mr. McCarthy on Friday, some of the former holdouts said they had been assured by an emerging framework, which is expected to cap the size of government funding bills, call for spending cuts and allow for amendments on the House floor. They had demanded the ability to hold a vote on the House floor for each individual earmark.

Ashlyn Harris and Sophia Bush make red carpet debut at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

The speaker in the United States, by tradition, is the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, outranking the majority leader. However, despite having the right to vote, the speaker usually does not participate in debate and only votes on the most significant bills. The roles of the parties reversed in 1994 when, after spending forty years in the minority, the Republicans regained control of the House with the "Contract with America", an idea spearheaded by Minority Whip Newt Gingrich. Speaker Gingrich would regularly clash with Democratic President Bill Clinton, leading to the United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996, in which Clinton was largely seen to have prevailed. Gingrich's hold on the leadership was weakened significantly by that and several other controversies, and he faced a caucus revolt in 1997. After the Republicans lost House seats in 1998 (although retaining a majority) he did not stand for a third term as speaker.

Denouncing Hamas, and approving aid for Israel and Ukraine

The last government shutdown fight sent the House speaker packing. Will this week’s showdown be calmer? - PBS NewsHour

The last government shutdown fight sent the House speaker packing. Will this week’s showdown be calmer?.

Posted: Tue, 14 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

And the Senate, traditionally viewing itself as the more refined chamber, chose not to hang around for the slugfest in the House. Instead, senators organized without incident and expeditiously vacated the Capitol to let their counterparts across the Rotunda sully themselves alone. The Republican divisions obstructing Mr. McCarthy’s decade-long ambition of becoming speaker of the House have been playing out on both the national stage in Washington and a far smaller though equally telling one in his hometown and home district.

Republicans who opposed Jordan for speaker are now rallying behind Johnson

The House is back to the floor for its 14th vote for speaker, and the one that Representative Kevin McCarthy is saying will finally clinch the deal for him. After Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who ending up holding the deciding vote, said “present,” most seated at the bar fell quiet. Even before the votes had been secured, many at the bar seemed convinced that electing a speaker was inevitable as the vote drew closer to a close.

Meanwhile, the power of committee chairmen was curtailed, further increasing the relative influence of the speaker. Speaking to the chamber after his election, Johnson said the U.S. must rein in government spending and address the growing national debt, which he called "the greatest threat to our national security." While Republicans are celebrating finally electing a speaker, across the Capitol, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, chimes in with a reminder of the impending mid-November government shutdown looming unless Congress can pass legislation to keep it funded. “I look forward to meeting with Speaker Johnson soon to discuss the path forward to avoid a government shutdown,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement. After days of difficult closed-door negotiations, leaders of the far-right House Freedom Caucus extracted a suite of concessions from McCarthy.

Mike Johnson has lost zero votes from members of his party so far, CNN political director notes

GOP Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma is considering a run for conference vice chair – the leadership role previously occupied by now-Speaker Mike Johnson, according to her spokesperson. The sources agreed that Dunn does not appear to harbor any ill will toward Jean-Pierre, with many suggesting that the encouragement that the press secretary shift to an outside role was meant to be a long-term boost to Jean-Pierre that plays more to her strengths. A number of Democrats both inside and close to the White House said they were unaware of Dunn’s plot to replace Jean-Pierre, or claimed to only know about it through the rumor mill, but several said that the accounts by The Post’s sources rang true. Dunn has supported Kirby’s ask, said the fourth source, but still Jean-Pierre has not relented, even after Kirby’s desire was publicly reported in January by Axios.

She won a special election in 2013 to succeed Democrat Ed Markey, following his election to the Senate, and has comfortably won reelection ever since. Before handing Johnson the gavel, as is customary, Jeffries, the Democratic leader, called the new speaker and father of four "a family man, a hard-working man, a Baptist man, a Southern man, a son of a firefighter's household." A Trump ally, Johnson was one of the leaders of the GOP effort to keep the former president in power after his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020. Johnson led the amicus brief, signed by 100 Republicans, backing a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states won by Biden.

A firm supporter of President Joe Biden’s agenda, Clark is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. She is an advocate of gun reform, Medicare for All and raising the federal minimum wage. In 2016, Clark joined then-Georgia Rep. John Lewis and others in staging a sit-in on the House floor to protest the lack of votes on gun control legislation. "Mike is a strong leader who has the full support of our entire conference, and has a proven track record as a conservative leader who will fight for the American people against President Biden's radical agenda that is crushing hard-working families," Scalise said in the statement. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, another Scalise supporter, told reporters after Johnson was elected speaker-designate that he believes Republicans are "back" and the conference's agenda "back on track."

What next after US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy removed? - Al Jazeera English

What next after US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy removed?.

Posted: Wed, 04 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

In his proposed schedule for the current Congress, Johnson said passing the final version of the NDAA would take place in December. In July, the House passed its version of the must-pass defense policy bill, which included a number of conservative policy priorities on abortion, health coverage for transgender service members, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The House and Senate Committees on Agriculture have been holding field hearings, and the Republican and Democratic leaders of those panels met with Mr. Biden in May to discuss the importance of passing the legislation this year. Congress passes a package of legislation that sets policy for agricultural and food programs, known as the farm bill, every five years.

“We are unified and so proud to have elected Mike Johnson as speaker of the People’s House,” Elise Stefanik says to kick off a news conference on the Capitol steps. “From an outside point of view these last few weeks probably look like total chaos, confusion, no end in sight," he said. "But from my perspective, this is one of the greatest experiences of the recent history of our republic." By Friday evening, the final holdouts — once dubbed the Never Kevins — conceded that McCarthy would be elected speaker. Because of the GOP’s razor-thin, four-seat majority, he needed every last vote to get him across the finish line. The fresh support still didn’t earn McCarthy the majority of all House members voting, which he needed to win the speaker’s gavel.

"We're going to dispense with all the usual ceremonies and celebrations that traditionally follow a new speakership because we have no time for either one," Johnson said after the vote. "The American people's business is too urgent in this moment. The hour is late. The crisis is great." The House has been in a state of uncertainty and chaos since Oct. 3, when rebels forced a vote to oust Mr. McCarthy as speaker. Eight Republicans backed that move along with Democrats, who remained united behind their own leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Republicans had cast aside two previous winners of their closed-door nominating process — Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio — before settling on Mr. Emmer.

Johnson said lawmakers "have a duty to the American people to explain this to them so they understand it well, and we are going to establish a bipartisan debt commission to begin working on this crisis immediately." The White House has requested an emergency aid package worth $106 billion, which would include $14 billion in aid to Israel. The administration also wants $61 billion to fund further aid to Ukraine and replenish U.S. stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.

Johnson has laid out a tentative legislative schedule to approve new spending and take up other pieces of legislation, but things could change quickly as he confronts the realities of governing, especially given the fractious nature of the Republican conference. "We're going to dispense with all the usual ceremonies and celebrations that traditionally follow a new speakership because we have no time for either one," Johnson said. Washington — Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, won election as the new speaker of the House on Wednesday, ending three weeks of chaos since Rep. Kevin McCarthy's historic ouster.