Johnson was the GOP’s fourth speaker nominee in three weeks, but the only one able to achieve a majority of votes on the House floor to clinch the speakership — unlike Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) before him.
Johnson received 220 votes from all Republicans present Wednesday, the most any Republican candidate for speaker has received all year. All 209 Democrats present supported Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Republicans erupted in cheers as the vote tally was announced and gave Johnson a standing ovation as he was officially declared the duly elected speaker of the House.
“To my colleagues, I want to thank you all for the trust that you have instilled in me to lead us in this historic and unprecedented moment that we’re in. The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now — and I will not let you down,” Johnson said.
Johnson also vowed to work with Democrats despite seeing things “from very different points of view,” and not having any relationship with Jeffries.
“I know that in your heart you love and care about this country and you want to do what’s right, and so we’re going to find common ground there,” he said.
Johnson added: “We want our allies around the world to know that this body of lawmakers is reporting again to our duty stations. Let the enemies of freedom around the world hear us loud and clear: The people’s house is back in business.”
Johnson’s election ends, at least for now, an intense period of chaos and doubt within the GOP over who should wield the speaker’s gavel after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted from the position in a historic vote this month. But Johnson now faces the herculean task of uniting a deeply ideologically fractured conference that is tasked with averting a government shutdown in less than a month, sending supplemental aid to Israel and other foreign countries, and passing reauthorization bills before the end of the year.
In his first course of action as speaker, Johnson immediately reopened the floor to allow for passage of an overwhelmingly bipartisan resolution that expressed the House’s support of Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas. It was the first time the House was able to address the war since the terrorist group attacked Israel earlier this month, just days after McCarthy was ousted.
Johnson sent a letter to colleagues Monday outlining his priorities for the rest of the year, including an “ambitious schedule” for the House to pass the eight remaining appropriations bills along to the Senate before the Nov. 17 government funding deadline. Johnson teed up passage on Republicans’ fifth funding bill for Thursday.
Johnson also proposed passing a short-term funding bill that would extend either through Jan. 15 or April 15, depending what a majority of House Republicans would support. Members of the far-right flank are on board with a short-term extension — an about-face after eight Republicans ousted McCarthy in part for working with Democrats to temporarily fund the government after Republicans failed to pass individual appropriations bills.
Notably missing, however, is Johnson’s plan to address President Biden’s $106 billion in supplemental aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the U.S. border. A deep divide exists among House Republicans to send extra funding abroad, particularly to Ukraine and especially from the staunchly MAGA wing of the party that believes that money should be put toward domestic spending or slashed to reduce the deficit.
Johnson, a four-term congressman who served as the conference’s vice chair, became speaker less than 24 hours after he was nominated by the Republican conference, quickly gaining momentum despite — or perhaps because of — his lower profile. Republicans welcomed a candidate they considered noncontroversial after three weeks of infighting, and many privately telegraphed that Johnson would win the speaker’s gavel on the first ballot.
“It’s like, do I think you can keep the trains running on time? I may disagree with you on some stuff, but it doesn’t matter if we’re not in business,” said Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), capturing a sentiment echoed by many other Republicans who have been worn down by the drawn-out process.
For Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy — and who faced weeks of vitriol from their colleagues — Johnson’s election was a vindication. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and others in the group touted Johnson’s victory as the clearest sign to date of the rise of Trumpism in the halls of Congress.
“I promised the country that we would end up with a speaker who was more honest and more conservative, and we have,” said Gaetz, who triggered the vote to oust McCarthy.
McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday that he didn’t think the House Republicans could move on until Gaetz and the other seven Republicans who voted to eject him from the speakership faced “consequences” — but Gaetz said he wasn’t worried about facing punishment.
“Sounds like loser crybaby talk to me,” Gaetz said.
Democrats criticized Johnson’s background as extreme, pointing to his opposition to certifying Joe Biden’s electoral win, his vote against further Ukraine aid, his antiabortion and anti-LGBTQ+ stances.
Since his nomination by the GOP conference Tuesday evening, Johnson has routinely brushed off questions about his role as the legal architect of the effort to sign onto an amicus brief to overturn the 2020 election results. Asked Wednesday whether he believes the 2020 election was stolen, Johnson told The Washington Post, “We’re not talking about any issues today. My position is very well known.”
Republicans, including vulnerable incumbents representing swing districts, publicly dismissed concerns about his fervent conservatism. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who had expressed opposition to Jordan over his election denialism, said he was able to support Johnson because he wasn’t actively involved in encouraging protesters to march on the U.S. Capitol, as Jordan was, according to the House Jan. 6 report. But he added that he didn’t get around to pressing Johnson on the matter in a conference meeting, as he had with other candidates, because “it was a long day.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who voted against Jordan for speaker last week as well, said that while he disagrees with several of the new speaker’s past votes, “you’re not going to get perfection in this business.”
“He’s got a good heart,” Bacon said of Johnson. “He is a decent person. I think he’s a moral person.”
Despite the celebratory air after Johnson’s election, doubts lingered among Republicans about Johnson’s lack of experience. Republicans privately worry that Johnson will not be able to unite the conference or even staff his own speaker’s office fast enough to address the myriad issues the House must address before the end of the year. He also will have to negotiate with a president with whom he has no relationship and a Senate leadership who doesn’t know him.
“He is the leader the conference deserves,” said one Republican lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “His record is not stellar.”
Many Republicans also fear that Johnson won’t be able to keep and expand the party’s House majority because he lacks relationships with recruits and the many donors McCarthy cultivated so successfully. Several Republicans privately remarked how little Johnson had on hand for his own reelection efforts, worrying that he would not be able to help the most vulnerable incumbents financially.
There is no fundraising strategy yet, multiple Republican aides and party fundraisers say. They all hope that McCarthy remains involved, given his deep relationships with donors, but McCarthy hasn’t committed to that and several Republicans wouldn’t blame him for just focusing his efforts on ousting the eight Republicans who ousted him from the speakership. McCarthy’s unmatched ability to fundraise was key to helping swing-district Republicans compete against Democrats, whose campaign arm has been outraising Republicans for some time.
Still, some Republicans minimized Johnson’s lack of fundraising prowess.
“You got a new captain, he’s going to have to learn a little bit,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who called fundraising “real simple.”
“You don’t raise money unless you ask people, and the more people you ask the more money you raise,” he said.
Another unknown for moderates is what legislation Johnson would bring to the House floor. His extremely conservative point of view and tendency to align with the hard-right House Freedom Caucus could result in them taking tough votes that could cost them their elections. Issues that moderate Republicans are trying to avoid include abortion, re-litigating the 2020 election results and same-sex marriage, and expunging Trump’s impeachments.
Rep. Marcus J. Molinaro (R-N.Y.), a freshman who voted against Jordan once last Friday, rebuked efforts by Democrats to link Republicans like him who carried districts Biden won in 2020 to Johnson’s conservative views.
“The ads were already drafted no matter who stood up there,” he said. “But what America saw was a decent man, who with a hand stretched out, is interested in empowering the people sent here on behalf of the people we serve.”
Though Republicans are cautiously optimistic about Johnson as a speaker, their elation to have finally rallied around a nominee largely overshadowed their concerns as all lawmakers present voted for the Louisiana Republican.
Johnson launched a bid over the weekend and pledged, if elected, to restore trust in the institution, prioritize members’ concerns to decentralize leadership’s power, and expand the majority. He became the runner-up to Emmer early Tuesday afternoon, backed by many ideological and far-right members who had long admired Johnson for his deeply conservative credentials and tempered personality that could help unite the conference at a time when Republicans across the country were getting tired of personality politics and palace intrigue within leadership. Trump, who previously backed Jordan for speaker, on Tuesday urged Republicans not to support Emmer, which effectively derailed his candidacy. Emmer withdrew from the race only about four hours after his nomination.
Johnson declared his candidacy again ahead of a second candidate forum Tuesday. He secured the nomination hours later, to chants of “Mike! Mike! Mike!” from his colleagues. For the first time in three weeks, Republicans left the Capitol on Tuesday evening in elation over their speaker choice. That good feeling only continued ahead of Johnson’s election Wednesday afternoon, when all Republicans gave Johnson a standing ovation on the House floor, a marked contrast from previous rounds when several Republicans sat or only lightly clapped for Jordan.
Johnson also had the support of the former president, who told reporters Wednesday morning that Johnson was “doing very well” and he hadn’t heard “one negative comment about him.”
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), one of eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy three weeks ago, said the election of Johnson affirmed his vote to eject McCarthy because he “is the kind of person we wanted as a speaker.” Good, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, described Johnson as “very different from the previous speaker” and said he would fill the “vacuum of leadership” that existed during McCarthy’s speakership.
“There’s a new level of trust with Speaker Johnson that did not exist previously,” Good said. “That’s why we have a new speaker.”
correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected House speaker Tuesday. He was elected Wednesday. The article has been corrected.
Leigh Ann Caldwell, Azi Paybarah and Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.
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