WASHINGTON – Republicans elected a new speaker of the House on Wednesday in Rep. Mike Johnson, ending 22 days of a gridlocked chamber after a group of rebels he took down Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
Johnson, R-La., was nominated Tuesday after three previous candidates dropped out. He unified the fractious conference, winning votes from right-wing detractors of McCarthy, R-Calif., as well as centrist Republicans opposed to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
The little-known congressman was first elected in 2016, representing a solidly Republican swath of north and west Louisiana. Since then, he has risen through the ranks, chairing the conservative Republican Study Committee and serving as vice chairman of the House Republican conference. He serves on the Judiciary Committee (and chairs a subcommittee on the Constitution), the Armed Services Committee, and the newly created Select Committee on “Arming the Federal Government.”
Here are five things to know about Johnson.
His role in promoting the denial of the 2020 election
Johnson is a constitutional lawyer who has used his talents to come up with some creative and controversial theories. The highlight is their role in the development of an argument aiming to keep Donald Trump in power even though he lost the 2020 election.
A New York Times article last year called Johnson “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” January 6, 2021. His argument to his colleagues was that certain states’ changes to their voting procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic they were unconstitutional, an argument that became more. palatable to lawmakers than fabricated claims of massive fraud. In all, 147 Republicans voted to block Joe Biden’s voter certification.
In mid-November 2020, Johnson gave a radio interview and was echoed a discredited conspiracy theory featuring Hugo Chávez and the Dominion voting systems.
“In every election in American history, there is a small element of fraudulent irregularity,” Johnson said. “But when you have it on a large scale, when you have a software system that’s used all over the country, it’s suspicious because it came from Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, when you have testimonies of people who like them, but in large numbers. , begs to be litigated and investigated.”
On Tuesday night, after being nominated, Johnson declined to answer a question about his role in the election objections.
In Trump’s presidency, Johnson argued that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to tear up a copy of his State of the Union address was a crime. “A lot of people have been talking about this for the last 48 hours, and I made a little legal note to point out to my colleagues that he actually committed a crime,” Johnson told Fox News at the time.
His vote balance is solidly conservative
Johnson’s voting record has earned him a lifetime rating of 92% from the American Conservative Union and 90% from Heritage Action.
During Biden’s first two years, Johnson voted against a slew of bipartisan bills, including establishing an independent commission on Jan. 6, the infrastructure bill, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act women, a modest new gun law and the CHIPS i Law of Science.
Earlier this year, he voted in favor of the debt ceiling bill negotiated by President Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden. But he voted against the stopgap bill to avoid an Oct. 1 government shutdown.
The Louisiana Republican also has a theory about how to deal with the Nov. 17 deadline to fund the government.
In a letter dated October 23 shared By Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., Johnson proposed another short-term funding bill until Jan. 15 or April 15, “based on what you can get consensus from in the Conference,” he wrote, “to ensure that the Senate cannot bog down the House with a Christmas omnibus.” He also proposed a timetable for tentative passage of conservative appropriations bills.
Last month, Johnson was one of 93 Republicans who voted in favor of an amendment by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, to cut US military assistance to Ukraine.
His opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights
Johnson has an unblemished record of voting against legal abortion, earning an “A+” rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Abortion rights advocates have pointed to his work since 2010 as senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, citing a letter in which he fought to shut down an abortion clinic in Baton Rouge.
He voted against bipartisan legislation to codify same-sex marriage, which Biden signed into law in 2022.
Johnson authorized legislation called the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022, which “prohibits the use of federal funds to develop, implement, facilitate, or finance any sexually oriented program, event, or literature for children under the age of 10,” his office said The critics have it called it’s a federal “don’t say gay” measure and argued that it aims to ban references to LGBTQ people.
In a statement promoting the bill, Johnson accused Democrats of waging “a misguided crusade to immerse young children in sexual imagery and radical gender ideology.”
A spokesman for the LGBTQ rights group Human Rights Campaign labeled Johnson “Jim Jordan in a jacket and a smile,” referring to the right-wing Ohioan who chairs the House Judiciary Committee.
Johnson has also co-sponsored legislation by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called the Protection of Children’s Innocence Act, which would make it a crime to provide gender-based care to people under the age of 18.
It has Trump’s stamp of approval, sort of
On Wednesday morning, hours before an expected vote, Donald Trump, the de facto leader of the Republican Party, said he was not technically endorsing Johnson but suggesting that the House elect him.
“I will not make any endorsements in this race, because I COULD NEVER GO AGAINST ANY OF THESE FINE AND VERY TALENTED MEN, all of whom have supported me, both in mind and spirit, since the beginning of our BIG Victory 2016. . In 2024, we will have an even bigger and more important WIN! My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, and DO IT FAST!” trump he wrote on your social media platform.
During the battle of the speakers, Trump has proven more adept at hurting candidates than helping them win: His first endorser, Jordan, shot to the floor. But Johnson’s ability to avoid Trump’s wrath removed a hurdle for him within the House GOP, which aligns with the wishes of the “MAGA” base.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., called him “MAGA Mike Johnson” during one appearance Wednesday on right-wing host Steve Bannon’s podcast.
After being elected to office, Trump published: “Congratulations to Rep. Mike Johnson. He will be a GREAT ‘SPEAKER’. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
A relatively inexperienced speaker
With less than seven years under his belt, Johnson has a shorter tenure in the House than any previous speaker in modern history. Kevin McCarthy was in the House for 16 years before being elected Speaker, Nancy Pelosi had 20 years of experience, Paul Ryan served for 16 years and John Boehner had 20 years before ascending to the top job.
Before Wednesday’s vote, numerous members of Congress said they knew little about Johnson, and some Republican senators said they had not even met him.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he knew “very little about him” but that “it will be interesting to see how the House works if they elect a speaker who has no experience in leadership or as a committee chairman. . . . . Inexperience seems to be a qualification.”
The vote makes Johnson the first ever elected speaker fourth vote of an election. When speaker elections have gone to multiple ballots, no speaker has ever been elected on ballots four through eight.
This is also the first time since before the Civil War that a party’s original speaker nominee withdrew after they had been voted on in the plenary. The last time it happened was during the 1859-1860 election when I was a freshman William Pennington he was elected on the 44th ballot, only after the leading Republican initial candidate John Sherman withdrew.
Johnson becomes Louisiana’s first speaker, and the top two House Republicans are now from the Bayou State: Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
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