Opinion: Who is House Speaker Mike Johnson? Matt Gaetz's victory lap says it all Los Angeles Times

Table Of Content

• Republicans begin vote for fourth speaker nominee
• Williams, Green out of speaker race after second ballot as Republicans move to third round of voting
• Palmer drops out of race for speaker; field down to seven candidates
• Trump’s lawyers seek to discredit testimony of prosecution’s lead witness in hush money trial
• “Get off our campus!” one student yelled. “Go back to Louisiana, Mike!” someone shouted.
• Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for speaker after spurning Emmer.
• Centrist Dems Might Save Johnson From Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate

Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise on each of the three ballots during House voting last week, said he plans to back Johnson when the lower chamber convenes to elect a new speaker. "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," the president said. "This is a time for all of us to act responsibly, and to put the good of the American people and the everyday priorities of American families above any partisanship." Johnson, a little-known lawmaker who is now second in line for the presidency, attracted the support of all 220 Republican members in attendance, surpassing the 215-vote total that was required to win. Still, Jeffries said that a majority of Democrats would vote Saturday for the packages of aid for Ukraine, Israel and allies in Asia.

Johnson calls on Columbia University president to resign during tense news conference - CNN

Johnson calls on Columbia University president to resign during tense news conference.

Posted: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 01:29:00 GMT [source]

Republicans begin vote for fourth speaker nominee

The majority whip and representative of Minnesota's 6th District, a close ally of McCarthy, had declined to run to replace the ousted speaker earlier this month. He announced his candidacy on Saturday after Jordan's withdrawal and was the winner of the first election held Tuesday. There were four ballots on the House floor and four Republican nominees successively selected by the GOP conference over a three-week period. Here's more on the new speaker and the full list of Republicans who sought the speakership over the last three weeks. House Republicans finally elected a House speaker — GOP Rep. Mike Johnson won the gavel Wednesday after the Republican conference ran through a long list of candidates — and several nominees — over the three-week period after Rep. Kevin McCarthy's ouster from the speakership.

Williams, Green out of speaker race after second ballot as Republicans move to third round of voting

In contrast to House Democrats, who are embracing socialism, and pushing radical, far-left policies, we’re fighting to keep America safe, prosperous and free. That’s why it’s more important than ever to stand up for our values, and we appreciate your support. Most of them served in that long stretch when their party held the majority for four decades. The most recent Democrat, however, is Nancy Pelosi, still a House member and the House speaker emerita.

Palmer drops out of race for speaker; field down to seven candidates

During the speaker battle, Trump proved more adept at hurting candidates than helping them win — his early endorsee, Jordan, flamed out on the floor. But Johnson's ability to avoid Trump's ire cleared a hurdle for him within the House GOP, which is attuned to the wishes of the "MAGA" base. "I made my decision based on my relationship with the conference," Emmer told reporters when asked whether Trump helped doom his candidacy. Emmer voted to certify the 2020 election results after Jan. 6, 2021, but signed onto an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn the presidential election results. Trump seemed to acknowledge his role in killing Emmer's quest for the gavel, as he shared on his social media platform an article from Politico about how the former president "torpedoed" the bid.

Trump’s lawyers seek to discredit testimony of prosecution’s lead witness in hush money trial

He is a close ally of former President Donald Trump and opposed the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 victory over Trump. Johnson's name was the first on an amicus brief signed by over 100 House Republicans in support of a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to overturn the election results in four swing states won by President Biden. Senate Republicans are expected to hold their internal leadership elections Wednesday, though some Republicans have said it should be postponed until after the Dec. 6 runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and former football star Herschel Walker, a Republican. That race, however, will only determine whether Democrats have a 50-seat majority or a 51-seat majority. Among other things, it wants committee members to directly elect their chairs and a requirement that a majority of House Republicans support any bill before it can be brought to the floor for a vote.

“Get off our campus!” one student yelled. “Go back to Louisiana, Mike!” someone shouted.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks with reporters as he leaves a House Republican Caucus meeting on Capitol Hill on Monday. At times over the last 22 days, as Republicans proved too riven to pick a new leader, Gaetz and his far-right cohorts had reason to worry that their coup would result in little change at best, and, at worst, that it might backfire. Come 2024, remember the names and misplaced loyalties of those California lawmakers who voted to install an insurrection-backing, integrity-lacking Trump toady as head of the body that calls itself the People’s House. The House of Representatives declined again on Wednesday to elect the hard-line Ohio Republican to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker. Jordan lost the first round of voting on Tuesday and fell well short again Wednesday, thus sparing the nation, in this time of war abroad and strife at home, the calamity that could ensue if the gavel falls into his weaselly grasp.

Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for speaker after spurning Emmer.

Johnson said after the vote that while it wasn’t “perfect legislation,” it was the “best possible product” Republicans can get given their thin majority in one chamber of Congress. House Republicans have been pummeling the heads of elite university institutions for months, using them as a punching bag to make a broader point about how out-of-touch elite institutions are with normal Americans. Johnson has previously invited Jewish students to meet with him in the Capitol, and he has often allowed them to tell their stories of being under attack at school during news conferences. Also looming over a Republican-controlled House is the influence of former President Donald Trump, who is expected to launch his third White House bid on Tuesday night.

Centrist Dems Might Save Johnson From Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said the meetings had been marked by “emotional” objections to voting for Scalise. The House is entering its second week without a speaker and is essentially unable to function during a time of turmoil in the U.S. and wars overseas, and the political pressure increasingly is on Republicans to reverse course, reassert majority control and govern in Congress. House Judiciary Chairman and far-right conservative Jim Jordan faced a last-minute protest candidate, Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, in the second speaker nomination contest held by the GOP conference. Nolan D. McCaskill is a former staff writer who covered Congress for the Los Angeles Times.

On Oct. 12, a day after he won the nomination, Scalise withdrew from the race before facing a vote on the House floor, after he was unable to secure the support of enough Republicans to deliver the speakership. And given what is expected to be a narrow House majority, he will need nearly every single GOP vote to secure the 218 votes needed to become speaker, and later, to pass legislation. In a secret ballot Tuesday afternoon, a majority of the participating current House members and those just elected supported McCarthy. But while the GOP is on the verge of securing a narrow House majority, its surprisingly poor performance in last week’s midterm election forced McCarthy to scramble much harder than anticipated to keep his caucus united and behind him.

Johnson is the sixth Republican elevated to the speakership since 1994, the year the party won its first House majority and elected a speaker of its own for the first time in 40 years. The hard truth is that the five who preceded Johnson (McCarthy, Paul Ryan, John Boehner, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich) all saw their time in the office end in relative degrees of defeat or frustration. And to find a Republican speaker who left voluntarily in a moment of victory, moving on to another office, you have to go back to the mid-1920s. Johnson has gained stature and won bipartisan praise for letting the whole House vote on the aid package.

One was Joseph Martin of Massachusetts, who led the party in the House during two brief interludes of majority status after World War II. Both lasted only the minimum two years, the first ending with Democratic Harry S. Truman's surprise White House win in 1948. Martin was back four years later when Eisenhower was first elected president in 1952, but that tour at the top was cut short by his party's sharp losses two years later. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is poised to take the gavel as speaker in January when the new Congress is sworn in and the full chamber votes on the top position, which is second in line to the presidency, after the vice president. McCarthy is a longtime ally of Trump and will manage a GOP conference with many members largely loyal to Trump.

"We need a different type of leader who has a proven track record of success, which is why I'm running for Speaker of the House," Hern said in a statement. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., began making calls to run for speaker after Jordan's exit from the race, according to a source familiar. The House is expected to vote on a resolution in support of Israel on Wednesday afternoon, according to a notice from the House Democratic whip. “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.

Mark Z. Barabak is a political columnist for the Los Angeles Times, focusing on California and the West. He has covered campaigns and elections in 49 of the 50 states, including a dozen presidential contests and scores of mayoral, legislative, gubernatorial and congressional races. He also reported from the White House and Capitol Hill during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations. Scalise had been laboring to peel off more than 100 votes, mostly from those who backed Jordan. But many hard-liners taking their cues from Trump have dug in for a prolonged fight to replace McCarthy after his historic ouster from the job.

Asked by CBS News if the goal is to hold a floor vote Tuesday afternoon or evening on a House speaker, McHenry held up his hands in a shrug-like gesture. Rep. Austin Scott has been eliminated from the speaker's race in the third round of voting, according to a tally from Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik tweeted the full list of candidates shortly before the candidate forum was to begin this evening. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida, Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, Mark Green of Tennessee, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Roger Williams of Texas, are running. "Members are advised that House Republicans are planning to adjourn and votes are no longer expected in the House today," a notice from House Minority Whip Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts said. Reps. Byron Donalds, Mark Green, Mike Johnson and Roger Williams remain in the speaker race.

The exact dates of service for each individual speaker is shown in the Term of service column of the above table. But setting aside those glaring defects, what is singularly, unequivocally disqualifying is Jordan’s attempts, at Trump’s beckoning, to subvert an election that even Trump officials called the most secure in American history. All the talk of voter fraud, ballot-stuffing and other alleged subterfuge — which Jordan has widely promoted — is pure bunk. On Wednesday, California’s 12 GOP House members put tribal loyalty above the country’s best interests and heedlessly cast their votes to make Jim Jordan — election denier, Jan. 6 instigator, political pyromaniac — the next House speaker. But others said it was time for Republicans to get out from behind closed doors and vote.