Three weeks after McCarthy was removed from his position as Speaker of the House, Republicans elected Representative Mike Johnson(LA) as his replacement. However, many people have never heard of this new Speaker and are confused by how he gained power so fast. Let’s break down the timeline of events:
On October 3rd, 2023, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed from office just days after passing a last-minute continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown. This historic move shocked the nation and left House Republicans scrambling to find a replacement to appease moderates and conservatives before the continuing resolution expired on November 17th.
Next, Republicans held a secret ballot behind closed doors to select a candidate for Speaker, initially choosing Representative Steve Scalise(LA) over Representative Jim Jordan(OH). Democrats held a closed-door meeting as well, unanimously choosing Minority Party Leader Hakeem Jeffries(NY) as their candidate. However, Democrats were aware that Jeffries would not be elected Speaker because Republicans have a majority of the seats in the House, and therefore made the final decision.
So what happened to Scalise and Jordan? Scalise dropped out of the race just days after being chosen after it became apparent that he did not have the votes needed to win the election. Jim Jordan was dropped as the nominee after three failed votes the next week and a scandal involving threatening the families of congressmen who didn’t vote for him, leaving Republicans scrambling to find a replacement with the looming shutdown and the Israel-Palestine war hanging over their heads.
The third nominee was House Majority Whip Tom Emmer(MN), who dropped out just hours after being nominated because he did not have the votes to win.
Frustrated with the numerous failed votes and determined to elect a speaker, Republicans looked for a candidate that had little to no enemies in the party. They settled on Louisiana representative Mike Johnson, a relatively unknown congressman. The House held another vote Wednesday and successfully elected Johnson as Speaker of the House.
But who is Mike Johnson? Johnson is a new congressman, having only been elected in 2016 alongside former President Donald Trump. Republicans believe it is a good thing that he is relatively unknown, claiming that he can build up a strong reputation and is not too controversial. However, lawmakers have concerns that Johnson is inexperienced and doesn’t have the connections that McCarthy and Jordan had in DC. Other concerns have emerged regarding Johnson’s extremely conservative past statements about abortion laws, gay marriage laws, and election fraud in 2020.
Despite his lack of experience, it appears that Republicans have full faith in Johnson as a speaker and have no interest in another controversial and chaotic removal. Unfortunately for Johnson, he inherited the gavel at a very chaotic time and now has to deal with passing a budget, funding Ukraine and Israel, and deciding whether or not to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, all before what is sure to be a dramatic election year in 2024 where Republicans will have to hold onto their slim majority.
