Table Of Content
- Who is Mike Johnson?
- Mike Johnson is the new speaker of the House. Here's what happens next.
- Opinion: Don’t gut L.A.’s best shot at building affordable housing
- House voting now to pass resolution in support of Israel in war against Hamas
- Letters to the Editor: These ‘quiet NIMBY’ cities are fueling California’s housing shortage
- Mike Johnson becomes the next GOP speaker-designee

"The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now and I will not let you down," Johnson said. There’s a strong desire among Republicans to show a functioning House after being paralyzed for weeks following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. House Speaker Mike Johnson entered the speaker's office for the first time after being sworn in, with his new name plate hanging above the door. “I have never been comfortable with CRs (continuing resolutions), but it … is going to be difficult for Mike and anyone who steps into that job, but I think he is going to do a great job,” Rep. Eli Crane, a Republican, told CNN. President Joe Biden spoke with newly minted Speaker Mike Johnson to congratulate him on his win, the White House said.
Who is Mike Johnson?
By Tuesday evening, five more Republicans, none with a national profile, were vying for the nomination. Mr. Johnson won after multiple rounds of ballots, beating out Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, a member of the Freedom Caucus. Mr. Emmer’s demise was the latest evidence of the seemingly unending Republican dysfunction. He began the day with a scant victory, winning an internal party nominating contest by a vote of 117 to 97 over Mr. Johnson. Representative Mike Johnson, a little-known social conservative from Louisiana, emerged on Tuesday night as the latest contender for the post after Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid only hours after securing the nomination. Mr. Emmer’s downfall followed a swift backlash from the right, including former President Donald J. Trump, that left his candidacy in shambles and the G.O.P. as divided as ever.
Mike Johnson is the new speaker of the House. Here's what happens next.
But what you hear from conservatives – at least in the minutes before and after Johnson won the speaker’s election – is they are willing to give some room for Johnson to maneuver in his new role. The Louisiana Republican was first elected to the House in 2016 and serves as vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, as well as GOP deputy whip, an assistant leadership role. An attorney with a focus on constitutional law, Johnson joined a group of House Republicans in voting to sustain the objection to electoral votes on January 6, 2021.
Opinion: Don’t gut L.A.’s best shot at building affordable housing
The administration also wants $61 billion to fund further aid to Ukraine and replenish U.S. stockpiles of weapons and ammunition. That has already emerged as a sticking point with some Republicans who want to consider aid to Israel separately. The House moved quickly to take up the resolution, scheduling a vote on the measure for Wednesday afternoon.
Rebecca is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the House. Before the vote Wednesday, numerous members of Congress said they knew little about Johnson, with some Republican senators saying they had never even met him. Gaetz called him "MAGA Mike Johnson" in an appearance Wednesday on right-wing host Steve Bannon's podcast. A spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights group, labeled Johnson “Jim Jordan with a jacket and a smile,” referring to the right-wing firebrand from Ohio who chairs the House Judiciary Committee.
House Republicans explore options as Jim Jordan comes up short in 2nd speaker vote - PBS NewsHour
House Republicans explore options as Jim Jordan comes up short in 2nd speaker vote.
Posted: Wed, 18 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
House Republicans have begun voting on the first ballot for their speaker nominee after convening to elect a fourth candidate just hours after Emmer, who won the conference's nomination earlier Tuesday, withdrew his candidacy amid growing opposition. The new speaker played a pivotal role in congressional efforts to overturn the 2020 election and opposes abortion rights and gay marriage. A New York Times article last year called Johnson “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” on Jan. 6, 2021. His argument to colleagues was that certain states’ changes to their voting procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic were unconstitutional, an argument that became more palatable to lawmakers than the fabricated claims of mass fraud.

Republicans Nominate Louisiana’s Mike Johnson for House Speaker
Reps. Roger Williams of Texas and Mark Green of Tennessee are no longer in contention for the speaker nomination after the second round of votes by Republicans. Washington — Rep. Mike Johnson won the GOP nomination for House speaker Tuesday night, defeating Rep. Byron Donalds and becoming the fourth speaker designate selected by his party since Rep. Kevin McCarthy's historic removal as speaker — and the second in a single day. Johnson, 51, contested the results of the 2020 election — urging President Donald Trump to “stay strong and keep fighting” as he tried to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the presidential race. On October 25, 2023, Congressman Mike Johnson (LA-04) was elected as the Speaker of the House. As a Congressman, Speaker Johnson represents the northwest and western regions of Louisiana.
He has called charges against Trump — which include a federal case relating to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election — “bogus,” and has said the legal and political systems have treated Trump unfairly. Johnson, a constitutional lawyer who identifies as a Christian, opposes abortion and has celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that had established constitutional protections for abortions nationwide. After Johnson was nominated in a Republican closed-door vote Tuesday, he was flanked by his colleagues, projected confidence and was promising to restore voters’ trust in government and to govern effectively. Johnson has also co-sponsored legislation by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, which would make it a crime to provide gender-affirming care to people under 18 years of age. He voted against bipartisan legislation to codify same-sex marriage, which Biden signed into law last year. He unified the fractious Republican Conference, winning votes from right-wing detractors of McCarthy, R-Calif., as well as centrist Republicans who opposed Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
House Speaker Johnson calls Greene's move to oust him a 'distraction' for Republicans - ABC News
House Speaker Johnson calls Greene's move to oust him a 'distraction' for Republicans.
Posted: Mon, 01 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

During that time, he expressed some of his hard-line views in editorials in the local newspaper in his hometown of Shreveport, La. A bloc of Republicans had objected to the speaker bid of Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the hard-right co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, because of his role in helping lead Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. Mainstream conservatives who backed Mr. Johnson said they hoped to quickly move to pull the House out of its funk.
As House Republicans gathered earlier in the week to select their third nominee for speaker, Trump vowed to remain on the sidelines of the race. But hours after Emmer won the nod in a closed-door vote by the conference Tuesday morning, the former president lambasted the Minnesota Republican, writing on Truth Social that "voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake." Johnson was the party's fourth nominee for speaker in three weeks, having taken the place of Rep. Tom Emmer, whose candidacy lasted all of four hours on Tuesday. Two other previous candidates, Reps. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, withdrew their names from consideration earlier in the process after failing to unite the party's various factions. The Senate and the White House are still controlled by Democrats and any spending bill passed will need Democratic support to become law and avert a shutdown.
He accused GOP lawmakers of working to find a candidate for speaker who can pass their "extreme litmus test" opposing marriage equality, cutting Social Security and Medicare, and enacting nationwide restrictions on abortion. "Therefore, the Honorable Mike Johnson of the state of Louisiana, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected speaker of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress," McHenry, the interim speaker, announced after reading the final vote tally. “The door to the speaker’s office now is open to the members and to the constituents, not just the lobbyists,” Rep. Matt Rosendale told reporters. Asked if he would bring a vote to oust Johnson if he put forth a short-term spending bill at current spending levels, Rep. Matt Gaetz said he’s optimistic Johnson will be able to actually pass the individual spending bills.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that allows more than one unit to be built on lots zoned for only one. “It’s difficult if not impossible for young people to even think about buying a house. That means filling in vacant lots with housing, making more efficient use of residential land and building higher rather than sideways into far-off suburbia, where long commutes play havoc with family life and emit greenhouse gases that accelerate climate change.
"Congress and the American people needed a Republican Speaker three weeks ago," Palmer said in a statement Tuesday morning. Shortly after Emmer was elected as the GOP's nominee for speaker, several conservative lawmakers publicly announced plans to vote against him when the House convenes for a formal floor vote. He told reporters Johnson had 84 votes, and 31 votes were cast for other candidates. The House has now been without an elected speaker for three weeks, which means that it has not been able to consider or pass legislation to address a rising number of domestic and foreign crises, including providing aid for Israel or Ukraine. The House of Representatives has a new speaker after 22 days of leaderless, gridlocked chaos following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy.
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