Johnson Named Speaker of the House

Louisiana Republican won enough votes weeks after McCarthy ousted

(Image c/o Ting Shen / Bloomberg / Getty)

By Drew Paxman
Editorial Designer

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Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana was sworn in as the 56th Speaker of the House on October 25 after weeks of political infighting within the Republican Party.

“We will do our duty here, we will serve you well,” Johnson said in his first speech before being sworn in. “We will govern well, and we’ll make you proud of this institution again.”

The vote came three weeks after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted by a caucus within the Republican Party. The removal of McCarthy led to weeks of deliberation within the GOP, who nominated representatives Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, and Tom Emmer. Scalise and Emmer withdrew their nominations; Jordan withstood three Speaker votes before being ousted in a secret ballot.

Republicans and Democrats do not see eye-to-eye on the election of Johnson to the speakership.
“The question here is ‘Is Mike Johnson the right guy at the right time?’” described Republican representative Chip Roy of Texas. “And I think he is…he’s got his pulse on where the American people are.”

“I do have concerns about him,” Democratic representative Judy Chu of California countered. “He is a MAGA extremist that was one of the leaders to overturn the presidential election on January 6. That goes against everything that our country stands for.”

Johnson made his first objective as Speaker very clear: to forward a bill to support Israel on the House floor.“We stand at a very dangerous time…the world is in turmoil,” Johnson said. “But a strong America is good for the entire world.”

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