Republican Mike Johnson is elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HOR), the position vacant for over three weeks when the GOP failed to find an alternate. He was elected by 220 to 209 votes, and he required 217. Johnson has held the seat and prepared to fulfill all the duties as the House went through a turbulent situation and failed to carry out the primary duties. Kevin McCarthy, the previous Speaker, was removed after a non-confidence move around three weeks ago, and he announced not to run again for the speaker-ship. The 220 to 209 votes elected Johnson, 51, a congressman, to a speaker’s chair on Wednesday.
Kevin McCarthy was ousted by a small group of hardliner Republicans accusing him of making an alleged hidden deal with Democrats to avoid the government shutdown. The majority of the Republicans opposed further funding for Ukraine, so they accused McCarthy of pledging the White House to make some ways for more aid for Kyiv. HOR saved the US government from a partial shutdown. After the former Speaker, Republicans rejected three possible alternatives and backed Johnson on Wednesday. Johnson is a Louisiana lawyer and supported by former US President Trump. He backed the conservative policies for years, like school prayer.
Donald Trump passed his remarks from the New York court admiring the selection of Mr. Johnson, saying he would be a fantastic Speaker. Donald Trump is the former President of the United States and is the Republican front-runner for the next election in 2024, and is now facing trial over a case alleging business fraud. Trump said he had not heard anything negative about Mike Johnson, and everyone likes him.
Johnson Vowed To Pursue The Pending Legislation
Johnson has less experience in speaker-ship and was first elected in 2016. As a conservative with less leadership experience, he is primarily recognized for leading an unsuccessful effort by 126 House Republicans to persuade the Supreme Court to invalidate the election results in states that Trump had lost in the 2020 presidential election. He was one of the struggles who tried to challenge the 2020 election results. Additionally, he is famous for being the applicant to the Supreme Court in overturning the election results but was rejected. He was questioned about that effort on his nomination on Tuesday, but he refused to answer.
After winning the speaker-ship, Johnson wrote a letter to his colleagues, vowing to advance all the pending spending legislation. He ensured the government would not shut down after the end of funds on November 17. The former Speaker avoided the government shutdown by providing funds to run the government operations smoothly. One more piece of legislation is also pending after President Biden requested the approval of funds for Israel, Ukraine, and Mexican border enforcement.
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Biden’s Request To Pass $106bn Is Also Under Concern
President Biden was on his visit to Israel, vowing to support it in the war against Hamas militants, and requested the House of Representatives to pass funds of 106 billion dollars. Many Republicans have openly opposed the funding for Ukraine, saying America has provided enormous funds since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. But the Biden administration played smart and combined the Ukrainian funds with Israel’s defense, Mexico border enforcement, and humanitarian supplies for Ukraine and Israel.
White House leaders often focus on fundraising and vote counts, but Johnson is interested in conservative social positions. He supported the legislation banning gender-related surgeries and hormone treatment for transgender teens. Johnson-supported legislation also involves the prohibition of mask mandates on Planes and strengthens the immigration and abortion restrictions.
Republicans hold the House with a narrow majority by a 221-212 margin and have little room for controversial votes. The division in the Republican Party has been evident since the last few weeks, as the previous three nominations were rejected due to a lack of enough votes for the speaker-ship. Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer, and Jim Jordan could not secure the required votes.
