Mike Johnson of Louisiana is elected Speaker. Let’s discuss what he represents and the political realities of what he faces.
New Speaker Mike Johnson Made His Name as Cultural ConservativeThe Wall Street Journal reports New Speaker Mike Johnson Made His Name as Cultural Conservative
After 22 days without a speaker, House Republicans came together to elect Johnson for the post Wednesday after three other better-known nominees failed to unite the fractured conference.
“Mike Johnson is a person who I think everybody respects, he’s a very principled human being,” said Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R., Fla.). Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R., Mo.) said Johnson “represents all of us, not just a particular group within the conference.”
In a letter to his colleagues, Johnson proposed advancing a temporary spending measure until either Jan. 15 or April 15—depending on what the conference would support, while working to advance the eight individual appropriations bills that haven’t yet cleared the House. Without a stopgap measure, the government is set to run out of money next month.
For next year, he proposed passing a fiscal 2025 budget resolution by April and keeping the House in session during August if the House hadn’t passed all of its fiscal 2025 appropriations bills by that time.
On paper, Johnson will mark a break from the prior House Republican leadership team. McCarthy, along with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R., Minn.) all voted for the stopgap measure that is keeping the government funded through Nov. 17. All three also voted for $40 billion in aid to Ukraine in 2022, and again this year for about $300 million toward the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Johnson voted against those measures.
Johnson has played a key role pushing Trump’s false claims of election fraud. In 2020, Johnson organized an amicus brief signed by 126 House Republicans supporting a lawsuit filed by Texas’ attorney general arguing that Texas could challenge the election results in four swing states won by President Biden. The conservative Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit.
Johnson also joined with 146 other Republicans in voting against certification of the 2020 election results.
The push to overturn Biden’s victory has led to legal peril for the former president. Johnson’s selection as the party nominee took place the same day that one of Trump’s lawyers, Jenna Ellis, became the third legal adviser to plead guilty in the Georgia racketeering case involving Trump’s 2020 efforts.
Johnson will have a long way to go on the fundraising front to match McCarthy, who by the time he was ousted had already pulled in tens of millions of dollars for the 2024 election on behalf of House Republicans, including for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Newly-Elected House Speaker Mike Johnson Addresses LawmakersVideo Length: 00:25:35Losing Issues
Stop the Steal and an abortion ban are both very losing issues for Republicans.Democrats love the idea of running against that trifecta. The winning issues for Republicans are inflation, education, and sexual identity.Independents and suburban women, not the core, will again decide the election.Republicans lost the Senate due to abortion and stop the steal silliness. They nearly lost the House on the same issues.Instead of looking forward, Republicans look back. And it will not change anything.Nor will Johnson get his agenda through Congress. All Republicans can do pass is choose between a government shutdown and continuing resolutions until the cows come home.For now, Johnson appears to be marching down the continuing resolution path. But the moment Johnson veers towards more money for military spending without offering anything in return, the path derails.But here we are.More By This Author:New Home Sales Jump 12.3 Percent Smash ExpectationsHealth Care Costs Are Soaring, So Why Does The CPI Show Falling?GM Scraps EV Target, Ford Scales Back Electric Trucks, Musk Warns Of Challenges
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