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Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana won election on 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. "If I operated out of fear of a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job," Johnson told reporters this week. Los Angeles has voted for every Democratic Party candidate for president since at least 1964. In the seven presidential elections since George H.W. Bush's re-election bid in 1992, no Republican candidate has received as much as 30% of the vote in Los Angeles. According to House rules, the person chosen from the list “shall act as Speaker pro tempore until the election of a Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore.” McHenry is the interim, or temporary, speaker.
Here’s what to watch for in the 14th round of voting for House speaker.
Though it was not certain he had the votes to be elected, he said he planned to call for a floor vote on Wednesday at noon. The speaker is selected by the full House membership, though the majority party’s voting power ensures that the role is occupied by one of their own. The new speaker has been in Congress since 2017 and has no experience in the House leadership. On the other hand, when the speaker and the president belong to opposite parties, the public role and influence of the speaker tend to increase.
House conservatives signal they'll give Johnson more runway on spending bills
As the office has developed historically, however, it has taken on a clearly partisan cast, very different from the speakership of most Westminster-style legislatures, such as the speaker of the United Kingdom's House of Commons, which is meant to be scrupulously non-partisan. The speaker in the United States, by tradition, is the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, outranking the majority leader. However, despite having the right to vote, the speaker usually does not participate in debate and only votes on the most significant bills. The roles of the parties reversed in 1994 when, after spending forty years in the minority, the Republicans regained control of the House with the "Contract with America", an idea spearheaded by Minority Whip Newt Gingrich.
House to take up resolution declaring support for Israel
Almost immediately after Mr. Johnson was elected, lawmakers began debating a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel and condemning Hamas, which passed overwhelmingly. Mr. Johnson has opposed continued funding for the war in Ukraine, which has emerged as a bitter fault line in the G.O.P. and in the spending battles that he will have to navigate in the coming days. 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. 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.
House SpeakerJohnson Elected Speaker of the House, Ending Weeks of Chaos
Johnson's visit to the campus further elevates the issue, and marks the latest in a series of visits from lawmakers this week. Every Republican member of New York's congressional delegation has called for Columbia's president to resign. Meanwhile, Republicans nationally have seized upon a reluctance from university presidents to call out antisemitism on their campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. The dynamic gained steam in December, when a group of university presidents testified before a congressional committee. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the GOP conference chair, pressed the administrators at the hearing on how they have handled antisemitic incidents on their campuses. University leaders have been toeing a line on how to express disdain about antisemitic language and enforce university policies while also allowing students to practice free speech, as they face accusations that colleges are not doing enough to protect Jewish students.
Mr. Trump’s call into the chamber came on the two-year anniversary of the riot by his supporters to block congressional certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s win over Mr. Trump. Probing “the weaponization of the F.B.I.” as McCarthy just mentioned, was a big priority of the hard-right flank of defectors. Chip Roy of Texas said earlier tonight that the defectors won an assurance that McCarthy would launch a select committee investigating the “weaponization of government” that would receive “the kind of budget and the kind of staffing” that the Jan. 6 select committee received.
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. "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." "We're going to dispense with all the usual ceremonies and celebrations that traditionally follow a new speakership because we have no time for either one," Johnson said.
Jeffries
Republican Mike Johnson elected US House speaker, ending leadership vacuum - Reuters
Republican Mike Johnson elected US House speaker, ending leadership vacuum.
Posted: Wed, 25 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Johnson won the speaker's gavel in a single round of voting, with the support of all Republicans in attendance. In a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House, President Biden welcomed news of Johnson's election. The Democratic leader also vowed that his party will continue to support Ukraine to defeat Russia's aggression. Jeffries, the Democratic leader, presented him with the gavel, calling him a "family man, a hardworking man, a Baptist man, a Southern man, a son of a firefighter's household." Johnson also acknowledged that the chaos of the last three weeks has chipped away at Americans' confidence in the lower chamber.
“Experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic,” he wrote in one such article in 2004. The exchange reflected the lawmaker’s deeply conservative views, particularly on social issues, and his tendency to express them in inflammatory ways. “Do you support the right of a woman who is just seconds away from birthing a healthy child to have an abortion? Mr. Johnson came to Congress in 2017 with support from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, though he has never joined the group. “The slates of electors were produced by a clearly unconstitutional process, period,” he said.
It includes member of the Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, California State Assembly, California State Senate, United States House of Representatives, and Los Angeles citywide officials. Since then, Stefanik has led the charge among Republicans, pushing for the resignation of the university leaders. The visit came as college campuses continue to be roiled by protests and tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war. Many of the protesters are demanding universities to divest financial holdings in Israel. At Columbia, demonstrators have taken over a portion of the New York City campus, creating an encampment.
Third parties rarely have had enough members to elect their own leadership, and independents will generally join one of the larger party organizations to receive committee assignments. A party caucus or conference is the name given to a meeting of or organization of all party members in the House. The Los Angeles city attorney is an elected official whose job is legal counsel for the city and may prosecute misdemeanor criminal offenses within the city. The Los Angeles City Clerk is in charge of record-keeping for the city and elections.
In that case, even though the 26th United States Congress convened on December 2, the House could not begin the speakership election until December 14 because of an election dispute in New Jersey known as the "Broad Seal War". Two rival delegations, one Whig and the other Democrat, had been certified as elected by different branches of the New Jersey government. The problem was compounded by the fact that the result of the dispute would determine whether the Whigs or the Democrats held the majority. Neither party agreed to permit a speakership election with the opposite party's delegation participating. Finally, it was agreed to exclude both delegations from the election and a speaker was finally chosen on December 17. Some on the right opposed to Mr. Emmer cited his vote in favor of codifying federal protections for same-sex couples.
With less than seven years under his belt, Johnson has a shorter length of service in the House than past speakers in modern history. McCarthy was in the House for 16 years before he was elected speaker, Pelosi had 20 years of experience, Paul Ryan served for 16 years, and John Boehner had 20 years before he ascended to the top job. 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. In a secret-ballot vote on Tuesday night, Mr. Johnson got 128 votes, with 44 Republicans voting for nominees not on the ballot, including 43 for Mr. McCarthy, whom many view as unfairly ousted. Still, in a separate vote afterward, only a few Republicans indicated they would not back Mr. Johnson on the floor, while about 20 Republicans were absent.
In April, Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit by Dominion over reports broadcast by Fox that Dominion machines were susceptible to hacking and had flipped votes from Mr. Trump to Mr. Biden. The election on Wednesday of Mr. Johnson, 51, to the post second in line to the presidency has focused new attention on his behind-the-scenes role in trying to overturn the election results on behalf of former President Donald J. Trump. Johnson praises former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, unceremoniously deposed three weeks ago.
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