WASHINGTON >> Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana won election Wednesday to become the 56th speaker of the House of Representatives, as Republicans worn down by three weeks of infighting and dysfunction turned to a little-known conservative hard-liner beloved by the far right to end their paralysis.
The elevation of Johnson, 51, an architect of the effort to overturn the 2020 election and a religious conservative opposed to abortion rights, homosexuality and same-sex marriage, further cemented the Republican Party’s lurch to the right. It came after a historic fight that began when the hard right ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3, and raged on as the divided House GOP nominated and then quickly discarded three other candidates to succeed him.Exhausted from the feuding, which unleashed a barrage of recriminations and violent threats against lawmakers, both the right wing and mainstream Republicans finally united to elect Johnson in a 220-209 vote.
The vote put him second in line to the presidency, capping an extraordinary period of twists and turns on Capitol Hill. It marked a victory for the far right that has become a dominant force in the Republican Party, which rose up this month to effectively dictate the removal of an establishment speaker and the installation of an arch-conservative replacement.
Republicans cheer
Republicans jumped to their feet and applauded Wednesday after Rep. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, the interim speaker, declared that Johnson was the “duly elected speaker of the House of Representatives.”
In a speech that traced his ascent up the political ladder in Louisiana to Congress, Johnson pledged to try to “restore the people’s faith in this House.” He cited sending aid to Israel, fixing a “broken” southern border and reining in federal spending as his top legislative priorities.
“The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now,” Johnson said shortly after he was elected. “And I will not let you down.”
Evoking his evangelical Christian faith, Johnson repeatedly referred to Scripture in his speech from the House floor.
“The Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority,” he said. “He raised up each of you, all of us. And I believe that God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment.”
In a nod to the simmering frustrations among the hard-right flank of the party that ultimately deposed McCarthy, R-Calif., Johnson pledged that his office “is going to be known for decentralizing power.”
Elected to Congress in 2016, Johnson is the most junior lawmaker in decades to become speaker.
He may also be the most conservative. Johnson, a lawyer, is the former chair of the Republican Study Committee and sponsored legislation that would effectively bar the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity at any institution serving children younger than 10 that receives federal funds. He supports a national abortion ban and has co-sponsored a 20-week abortion ban.
Johnson served on former President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team, playing a leading role in recruiting House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. He was also an architect of Trump’s bid to object to certifying them in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump praised him Wednesday after his election, calling the Louisiana Republican “a fantastic gentleman.”
“He’s going to do a great job,” Trump said.
Democrats respond
Democrats were scathing in their assessment of Johnson’s ascent to the speakership. Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the Democratic conference chair, said that the speaker fight had devolved into a contest over “who can appease Donald Trump.” At that line, a handful of hard-right Republicans stood and applauded.
Johnson immediately faces a host of challenges that dogged his predecessor, McCarthy. He is confronting a mid-November deadline to pass a measure to fund the government to avert a shutdown. And he will need to lead a conference deeply divided over foreign policy as Congress considers the Biden administration’s $105 billion funding request for Israel, Ukraine and the southern border.
Johnson has opposed continued funding for the war in Ukraine, which has emerged as a bitter fault line in the GOP and in the spending battles that he will have to navigate in the coming days.
After President Joe Biden was told during a White House news conference that a new speaker had been elected, Biden said: “I hope that’s true. Because we have to get moving.”
Asked whether he was concerned, given the Republican speaker’s history, that he would try again to overturn the election in 2024, Biden answered flatly: “No. Just like I was not worried the last campaign would overturn the election.”
In a statement later Wednesday, Biden said: “We need to move swiftly to address our national security needs and to avoid a shutdown in 22 days. Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can.”
‘Get back to governing’
“From an outside point of view, these last few weeks probably look like total chaos, confusion, no end in sight,” said Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 Republican who within hours of being nominated for speaker Tuesday was dumped by his party’s hard-right flank. “But from my perspective, this is one of the greatest experiences in the recent history of our republic.”
Mainstream conservatives who backed Johnson said they hoped to quickly move to pull the House out of its funk. Almost immediately after Johnson was elected, lawmakers began debating a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel and condemning Hamas, which passed overwhelmingly.
“While there are issues where we differ, we must get back to governing for the good of the country,” Lawler wrote on social media, posting a photo of himself and Johnson shaking hands.
A bloc of Republicans had objected to the speaker bid of Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the hard-right co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, because of his role in helping lead Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. But some said they did not have the same concerns about Johnson.
Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado said that Johnson was not involved in postelection efforts to invalidate the results, even though Johnson was a critical player in those activities. “People can make mistakes and still be really good speakers,” Buck said.
And the hard-right Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, setting into motion the three-week stretch of chaos that left the House without a leader, said Johnson’s ascension to the top job made their decision to depose him worth it.
“This affirms the path that we took,” Rep. Bob Good of Virginia said.