The US House of Representatives elected Republican Mike Johnson, a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader as the 56th speaker.
The 220 to 209 vote elevated third-term congressman Johnson, 51, to a speaker’s chair that has been vacant since Kevin McCarthy was ousted on Oct. 3 by a small group of hardline Republicans angry about a deal with Democrats that averted a partial government shutdown.
Republicans who narrowly controlled the House considered and rejected three possible replacements before settling on Johnson, a Louisiana lawyer backed by former President Donald Trump who spent years advancing conservative policies like school prayer.
First elected in 2016, Johnson will be the least experienced House speaker in decades. He is best known as the author of an unsuccessful appeal by 126 House Republicans after the 2020 presidential election to get the Supreme Court to overturn election results in states that Trump had lost.
Democrats again nominated their leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, criticizing Johnson as an architect of Trump’s legal effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Republicans narrowly control the House by a 221-212 margin, leaving them with little room for error on controversial votes. Their divisions were on display over the past few weeks, as they nominated three candidates for speaker – Steve Scalise (LA 1st Congressional district), Jim Jordan (OH 4th Congressional district) and Tom Emmer (MN 6th Congressional district) but were unable to provide the 217 votes needed to win the speaker’s gavel.
With Republicans controlling the House only 221-212 over Democrats, Johnson can afford just a few detractors to win the gavel.
Overnight the endorsements for Johnson started pouring in, including from failed speaker hopefuls — Rep. Jim Jordan, the hard-charging Judiciary Committee chairman, gave his support, as did Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the fellow Louisiana congressman, who stood behind Johnson after he won the nomination.
Republicans have been flailing all month, unable to conduct routine business as they fight amongst themselves with daunting challenges ahead.
The federal government risks a shutdown in a matter of weeks if Congress fails to pass funding legislation by a Nov. 17 deadline to keep services and offices running. More immediately, President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide $105 billion in aid — to help Israel and Ukraine amid their wars and to shore up the U.S. border with Mexico. Federal aviation and farming programs face expiration without action.
