Mike Johnson, Louisiana-born Republican Congressman, was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives after three weeks of uncertainty in US politics. Republicans engaged in a three-week standoff before the results were announced. The Republicans have a slim majority in the 435-member House, with 221 members compared to 212 for the Democrats,
The Republicans filed the first brief in a lawsuit aimed at overturning Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. That argument was swiftly rejected by the US Supreme Court, which was sharply criticized by legal experts of all domains.
The conservative Louisiana member prevailed victory with 220 votes in the lower chamber of Congress. The Republican Party’s right-wing faction, which is linked with President Trump, has emerged victorious from the fierce battle for the Speaker battle, while the moderate contenders were unable to garner support from conservative members on Capitol Hill.
Since Kevin McCarthy was removed from office on October 3, Mr. Johnson is the fourth Republican to be nominated for the role. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the previous contender, abruptly withdrew from the campaign on Tuesday after around four hours.
The New House Speaker, Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson, a 51-year-old lawyer by trade who has served four terms as a congressman from Louisiana’s Fourth Congressional District, is the 56th Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The 51-year-old Mr. Johnson, while addressing the House said that his wife was unable to book a flight to Washington in time for his Speaker inauguration due to last-minute negotiations. “She’s a little worn out, we all are,” he stated.
He listed the Middle East crisis, border security, and inflation as some of his top concerns as Speaker.
“The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now, and I will not let you down,” sais Mr. Johnson. “We know that there’s a lot going on in our country, domestically and abroad, and we are ready to get to work again to solve those problems.”
One of the rare areas of bipartisan agreement, Mr. Mike Johnson committed to back Israel with the first bill he introduced. “We intend to demonstrate to Israel and the global community that the savagery of Hamas, as depicted on our TV screens, is abhorrent and morally reprehensible,” he declared. We want the world’s allies to be aware that this assembly of legislators is returning to their duty posts. “Let the global adversaries of liberty clearly perceive that the people’s house has reopened for business,” declared Johnson.
Now that the House is “back in business,” Mike Johnson promised to establish a “aggressive” schedule.
His primary task is to prevent a government shutdown by passing the budget package and granting President Joe Biden’s request for USD 100 billion to finance the wars in Israel and Ukraine. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Johnson’s participation. Johnson announced that he would put out a short-term bill to keep the government funded until either January 15 or April 15.
Take on the New Speaker
The House now has until November 17 to reach a decision over the US government’s funding or risk a shutdown. After agreeing to a six-week extension of the budget deadline, Mr. McCarthy was forced to cope with the anger of irate hardliners within the Republican Party, who planned his removal.
After Mike Johnson’s election, a number of lawmakers identified the budget as the House’s top priority for the future. Regarding the matter, Republican Anthony D’Esposito said, “We need to not waste any time. What we’ve done the last few days is not work.”
Adam Schiff, a congressman from California, told reporters that he does not consider Mike Johnson to be among the Republicans who are more willing to collaborate on a range of problems, but rather “one of the very determined ideologues.”
According to a White House official, Biden met with Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in the Situation Room before heading to the briefing. The briefing was on the national security supplemental request to Congress led by White House Legislative Affairs Director Shuwanza Goff, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, and national security advisor Jake Sullivan.
US President Joe Biden in a statement said, “I have worked on those urgent issues, proposing a historic supplemental funding package that advances our bipartisan national security interests in Israel and Ukraine, secures our border, and invests in the American people, while House Republicans have been debating”
“In order to meet our national security requirements and prevent a shutdown in 22 days, we must act quickly. There should be a cooperative effort to identify common ground wherever possible,” he continued, not withstanding the fact that we have genuine disputes about significant subjects.
Mike Johnson’s debates
Mike Johnson’s adamantly conservative stance on a number of policy issues might be challenging to work across the table because of such as same-sex marriage and abortion rights, which he opposes.
Similar to numerous members of his party’s right flank, Mr. Johnson opposes additional US assistance to Ukraine.
Some Democrats are definitely alarmed by his opinions.
Representatives from the openly LGBT Congressional Equality Caucus called Mr. Johnson a someone who has “demonstrated career attacking LGBTQI+ people across the country.”
Wisconsin Democrat Mark Pocan stated in the statement that “his supporters have signaled they want these attacks against our community to continue” by electing him Speaker.
Mike Johnson played a pivotal role in the legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election results, and advised Mr. Trump to “keep fighting” and “exhaust every available legal remedy.”
The former lawyer and talk radio host has been a humble member of the House since 2016. Alongside, he chaired the Republican Study Committee, a role that is sometimes considered a springboard for leadership roles in the party.
When nominating Mr Johnson for the House, Elise Stefanik, the chair of the Republican conference, called him a “dedicated servant” and “titan” who has dedicated his life to “America’s great principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.
Contrary to that Democrat Pete Aguilar called him “the most important architect of electoral college objections” to the 2020 presidential vote and said he was chosen because he “can appease Donald Trump”.
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