|
the DON JONES
INDEX… |
|||
|
|
GAINS
POSTED in GREEN LOSSES
POSTED in RED 10/30/23...
14,879.89 10/23/23... 14,879.23 |
||
|
6/27/13… 15,000.00 |
|||
|
(THE DOW
JONES INDEX: 10/30/23... 32,417.28; 10/23/23... 33,127.28; 6/27/13… 15,000.00) |
|||
LESSON for October 30th, 2023 –
“AMERICA gets a JOHNSON?”
“On October 25, 2023, Congressman
Mike Johnson (LA-04) was elected as the Speaker of the House” according to the
U.S. House of Representatives’ official website. (Attachment One)
What
a long, strange trip it was. Don Jones
was mostly grateful for the cessation of Congressional chaos, with a few
exceptions... gays, trannies, abortion seekers and practitioners, people on
Social Security or Medicare, Pagans and Atheists, Jews and Muslims, Hindus and
Buddhists and Catholics and Mormons and Orthodox, poor people, sick and/or
disabled veterans and some few others who fear Speaker Johnson’s election might
render them dead.
But
that’s the way the croissant crumbles.
In a week of wars, disasters, (another) looming government shutdown, the
anger and attention of the American public was briefly diverted by Bob Card, a
Sergeant in the Army Reserve who... according to the Associated Press (October
28th, Attachment Two)... “ underwent a mental health evaluation after he began acting
erratically during training,“ a U.S. official told the AP. A bulletin had been
sent to police across the country shortly after the attack said that Card had
been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks after “hearing voices
and threats to shoot up” a military base; a gunshop
owner interviewed for television stated that Mr. Card had attempted to purchase
a silencer for the assault weapon he used to kill eighteen people in Lewiston,
Maine. He refused because of
restrictions on more weaponry for the demonstrably mentally ill fell under
Maine’s “Yellow Card” laws, Bob Card’s body count would have been much, much
higher had he waited a couple of weeks – thanks to Republicans in the Senate
and a few Democrats and Independents who tipped the scale in favor of the
crazies (notably Maine’s own Angus King).
Washington
lunged into action... not to prevent more mass murders, but to greenlight
private sector purges by repealing state sanctions like the Yellow Card with
the help of a few rebel Democratic Senators
(three concurring, plus two Independents... including Angus King, of
Maine – “only hours before a mentally ill veteran shot up two locations and
killed eighteen”... Reddit, Attachment Three) and allowing persons previously
committed to mental hospitals to buy as much and as powerful weaponry as their
bleak, blessed little hearts desired.
Was it King’s intent to make it easier
for mentally ill veterans to obtain and carry assault weapons... given that
Speaker Johnson is now second in line for the top job - and if President Joe is
too sick himself, or distracted, or impeached... well there’s what to
worry. Kamala Harris takes over – a Republican
dog whistle to wannabee Lee Harvey Oswalds, whether of
the lone wolf or partisan persuasions.
At
least it won’t be a chaotic purge.
We’ve
had enough chaotic governance in 2023, with more to come before the next
election – even with a functioning speaker who can solve the default crisis
slated for November 17th... or, more likely, kick that can down the
road a few months as Johnson has intimated he’ll do.
Looking
backwards, Don Jones might attribute the beginnings of the decline and fall of
truth, justice and the American Way back to the 2020 election and riotous
aftermath, or to Donald Trump’s elevation four years earlier or things even
earlier but, to keep us in the present year, if not time, the fall of the
divided House of K-Mac instigated by a small band of MAGApublicans
called the “Crazy Eights” might be a good starting point.
With
McCarthy deposed and Congress under the regime of interim Speaker Patrick
McHenry (who, however, lacked the power to pass legislation or much of
anything, save gas) the long, long nightmare began and the warriors of
Republican virtue stepped up to do battle with the forces of anarchy.
After
the debacles surrounding K-Mac and Jim Jordan – assorted Congressthings
ascribed Johnson’s elevation to “fatigue”.
As
the week began, Republican firebrand Jim Jorden, having stepped up to the
plate, swung and whiffed only three
times, the House caucus decided America didn’t need another fifteen round
debacle and voted to revoke their endorsement (Washington Post, Attachments Four and
Five) leading to a scramble among nine little Native Americans for the chiefly
headdress... a contingent that quickly dropped to eight made men milking votes
and donations from colleagues.
Emmer
was atop the list of prospects, followed by Rep. Kevin Hern (Okla), Rep. Pete Sessions (Tex.), Rep.
Austin Scott (Ga. -
the other election denialist denialist), Rep. Byron Donalds
(Fla.), Rep. Jack Bergman (Mich.), Johnson, Rep. Gary Palmer (Ala.) and Meuser.
Emmer...
the RINO’s partridge in a pear tree... won the popularity contest against a
contingent of nine little (censored), eight maids a milking (the donor
class), then seven dropout dwarves until
House Republicans (jumping at Donald Trump’s whistle) let it be known that
Emmer’s denial of election denialism should deny him the Speakership. Out of fear or prudence, Emmer decided he’d
rather be safe in Minnesota than under the glare (and, perhaps guns) of the
much-indicted 45th President of the United States and dropped out of the race shortly
before 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon (CNN, Attachment Six, 5:31 PM EST). The House adjorned for an hour to celebrate or grieve before doing
back into session to choose among the survivors who consisted of Johnson and
“Nobody”.
Sessions (Pete) “was thrown out of
the race Tuesday morning during the secret ballot voting,” as were Hern, Scott
and Donalds,
Asked about some hardliners who
have been mum when asked if they'd back GOP Whip Tom Emmer, if he were the
nominee, House Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole said at some point members have
to decide enough is enough.
“If you want to be in the doghouse
forever, this is about as good a way as I know to get there.”
The Congressthings
waited, listened and then pricked up their ears at Their Master’s Voice (or,
perhaps, widened their eyes and whimpered).
"I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the
House, and some are truly great Warriors," Trump wrote on his Truth Social
app. "RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of
them." (Fox, Attachment Seven)
“Republicans have now succeeded in
repudiating all three of their top leaders over the past few weeks,” the New
York Times reported with evident regret (Attachment Eight) “The chamber has
been frozen for the better part of a month as Republicans feud over who should be in charge, even as wars rage overseas and a
government shutdown approaches.
But former President Trump
continued to churn our “scathing” statements on social media expressing
vehement opposition to Mr. Emmer, calling him a “Globalist RINO” — short for
“Republican in name only” — whose elevation would be a “tragic mistake.”
Mr. Emmer had attempted to mollify
Mr. Trump by calling him over the weekend and praising him, according to the
former president. But Mr. Trump made clear he had not been won over.
“I believe he has now learned his
lesson, because he is saying that he is Pro-Trump all the way, but who can ever
be sure?” Mr. Trump wrote. “Has he only changed because that’s what it takes to
win? The Republican Party cannot take that chance, because “that’s not where
the America First Voters are.”
“Most of the country’s concerned
about inflation, what they’re experiencing at the grocery store, and they would
like to see Congress stand up and act like adults,” responded Representative
Brandon Williams of New York, who represents a district won by President Biden.
Williams called
the situation “disheartening” and reminiscent of the movie “Groundhog Day.”
“Most of the country’s concerned
about inflation, what they’re experiencing at the grocery store, and they would
like to see Congress stand up and act like adults,” Mr. Williams said.
Al Jazeera reported that Trump’s
top dog in Congress, Matthew Gaetz, exalted in his Gaetz-keeper role and
announced that the only MAGA choices would be Hern, Donalds
and Johnson. A cutoff of funding for
Ukraine (while ramping up support for Israel) was also proposed. (Attachment Nine)
Also remarking from across the
pond, the liberal Guardian U.K. attributed Emmer’s collapse to his vote to
certify the results of the 2020 election. So
it was back to the drawing board, where the portrait of America was looking
less and less like the Mona Lisa and more and more like the scrawlings
of a “disturbed” child.
“Chaos and dysfunction continue to be the order of the day in
the House Republican majority,” the House Democratic caucus chair, Pete Aguilar
of California, said Tuesday. “The American people and our allies abroad can’t
afford any more delays. Every day of this Maga [‘Make America Great Again’]
madness is another day of not sending aid to Israel and Ukraine, not taking
meaningful steps to fund our government and not making sure that we’re looking
out for working families across this country.”
Even some conservatives grew worried that the ongoing
dysfunction woult come back to bite Republicans at
the ballot box in the 2024 elections... now just over a year away.
“The clock is ticking every day,
and they don’t have near enough time. And it doesn’t even matter who wins the
speakership because the caucus is just ungovernable right now,” Doug
Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, a conservative-leaning
group, told the WashPost (Attachment Eleven).
“There’s very good reason to be nervous about a shutdown. The odds are
increasing.”
“In today’s world, you’re sitting
in Congress and you took a gamble to make sure the government was still open,”
McCarthy said after he was ousted, “and eight people throw you out as speaker
and Democrats have said they wanted to keep the government open. I think you’ve
got a real problem. I think you’ve got a real institutional problem.”
So everybody went to sleep, resolved to try again on
Wednesday... this time with Johnson, “a
little-known social conservative from Louisiana,” according to the New York
Times (Attachment Twelve) – one of three sources who prepared and produced
extensive timelines of the day. We have
merged these timeslines, conformed them as to
chronology nnd interspersed the commentary as
Attachment A, at the concusion
of our roster of Attachments
Entries from the Times, reflecting its
institutional liberalism, have been colorized in BLUE. By comparison, the conservative Fox print and
electronic listing have been depicted in MAGA RED
while the less partisan CNN network’s listings were posted in GREEN.
The aforementioned Attachment Twelve, posted on 5:14 PM,
after the conclusion of debating and voting, included Rep. Johnson’s
conciliatory, almost meek, victory speech in which he lavished patriotic praise
on Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and “Speaker Emeritus” K-Mac, threatened
the “enemies of freedom” (some on the left quickly questioning his stance on
social issues and the cultural war) and declaimed: “The people’s House is back
in business.”
More
or less everybody concurred on the new Speaker’s obscurity as they began to dig
through their archives on his voting record and personal statements, whether in
Congress, or during his prior tenure as a member of the
Louisiana State House, a college professor and a constitutional law attorney
who also had stints as a talk show host.
Facing “a
daunting list of challenges, with a fast-approaching government shutdown chief
among them.
The House is staring down a deadline of Nov. 17, when current government
funding expires. In his blueprint for the next few months,” CBS noted at least
an immediate commitment to compromise or, at least, reality, Johnson said a
“stopgap measure extending funding until January or April may be needed to
approve more spending and avoid a shutdown.”
(Attachments Thirteen and Fourteen)
Get ready for that can to be
kicked again!
Disdaining “all the usual
ceremonies and celebrations that traditionally follow a new speakership because
we have no time for either one," Johnson said, his sunny face darkened and
he acknowledged the multi-level desperations of the time, in a poetic phrasing:
"The American people's business is too urgent in this moment. The hour is
late. The crisis is great."
Across
the Hall, other CBS newsrats were scurrying this way
and that, fishing papers of long-postponed legislation from the “To Do” box and
doubling down on the “continuing resolution (or CR or, in vernacular, can-kick)
in order to prevent the Senate from "jam[ming] the House with a
Christmas omnibus," adding that the continuing resolution could have a
deadline of Jan. 15 or April 15, depending on the consensus in the GOP
conference.
Gaetz, a sworn enemy of CRs smiled and gave Mike a “thumbs
up”. President Joe welcomed news of
Johnson's election and, after conversing with the new Speaker on the phone
after his selection, said in a statement that both sides "need to move
swiftly to address our national security needs and to avoid a shutdown in 22
days."
The official recognition of Mike also included a subtle jab at
the House Republicans, inferring that Biden governed
while the GOP schemed and chattered, but concluded with a plea 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.” (Attachment Fifteen)
Trump, for his part, being the happy clown in whose pocket Mike
rests comfortably, offered his puppy congratulations as Newsweek disclosed that, in a November 7, 2020 post on Twitter, (now called X) Johnson said he’d called Trump after Biden
was declared the winner of the election and told the former president:
"Stay strong and keep fighting, sir! The nation is depending upon your
resolve. We must exhaust every available legal remedy to restore Americans'
trust in the fairness of our election system."
Almost… but not quite… endorsing the storming of the Capitol,
in which he now occupies the throne of power and dominion.
So now, as Johnson tells the Peacock that his first legislative
adventure “would be to pass a resolution denouncing Hamas for the Oct. 7
attacks in Israel that left more than 1,400 people dead,” a brave amd controversial move that immediately drew fire from Tehran, from pro-Hamas
American college students, and the ultra-liberals of the Democratic Squad.
He was, however, noncommittal on the House investigation and
impeachment probe of Biden, Hunter and various nefarious forces – either to
save America or, at least, extract some payback for Trump’s two failed
impeachments... reitering his pre-Speakership tenure
with the the House Judiciary
Committee and House Armed Services Committee.
In an Axios summary of his career, the new Speaker confessed that, “until colleagues
reached out to encourage him to seek the nomination, (he) had never contacted
one person about this, and (had) never before aspired to the office." (Attachment Sixteen)
“The
Louisiana Republican led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House
Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election
results in four swing states.”
Minions
of former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a driving force of the House Jan. 6
committee and an outspoken Trump critic, released old videos highlighting
Johnson's involvement, as well as a quote in the New York Times that called him
"the most important architect of the Electoral College objections,"
NBC reported.
The British journal Reuters also scrutinized Johnson’s life
and times… to the best of their ability… and reported that the Speaker was the
oldest of four siblings “and the son of a firefighter who was badly burned and
disabled in the line of duty,” who acquired a law degree and “mainly worked on religious
freedom issues, successfully defending Louisiana's same sex marriage ban in
2004.”
"I am a Christian, a husband,
a father, a life-long conservative, constitutional law attorney and a small
business owner in that order," he told the Louisiana Baptist Message
newspaper in 2016 – calling the overturning of Roe v. Wade “a great, joyous
occasion."
Foreigners,
like many Americans, “scratched their heads” over Johnson. In Dublin, where politicians frequently cross
the Atlantic to cultivate political ties with American counterparts, POLITICO
couldn’t identify any lawmakers who’d ever met Johnson.
When asked if he’d heard of the
lawmaker, a senior Irish government adviser said he hadn’t — and turned to
Wikipedia to find out. “Just a minute, don’t tell me, I’m curious how blood-red
his state might be.”
Finding Wikipedia listings for a
half-dozen politicians named Mike Johnson, many more professional athletes, a
serial killer and an Oregon punk rocker: “It says this Mike Johnson used to
front a band called Snakepit. That sounds perfect to
be the next speaker,” the Hibernian said. (Attachment Eighteen)
“Mike
Johnson?” wondered one member of the British shadow Cabinet, then staring
blankly, before a long pause. “Who’s Mike Johnson?”
Democrats, for their part, have been
quick to answer.
As to the wars in Ukraine and, now, the Middle East, Johnson made a strong statement in support of Ukraine in its effort to fight back against Russia in the wake of the invasion in February 2022... calling for stronger sanctions and voting for the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, a bill that aimed to ease the process for the U.S. to send military aid to Ukraine. The bill was later signed by President Biden and became law.
But, more recently, he voted
against two different appropriations bills that
provided aid to Ukraine, one in 2022 and another last month.
(The Hill, Attachment Twenty)
On the more recently rising issue
of aid to Israel, he has strongly supported their war against Hamas – stating
that the United States “unequivocally stands with Israel and we will provide
the support and resources necessary to rid the Middle East and the world of hamas’ terrorist regime,” Johnson said in a recent statement to Shreveport, La.,
television station KTAL.
Although his support of Israel has won him plaudits (if not necessarily) votes in the House, most Democrats still regard him with as much horror as finding a dead rat in the punchbowl.
The new speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.),
might be more dangerous than the firebrand Ohio Republican. For “Jordan’s shirt
sleeves demeanor and wrestler’s pugnacity, substitute a bespectacled, low-key
presentation, a law degree and an unswerving commitment to conservative dogma
and former president Donald Trump.” According to Ruth Marcus of the
Washington Post (Attachment Twenty One), “(t)his is not an upgrade. It is Jordan in a more
palatable package — evidently smoother, seemingly smarter and, therefore,
potentially more effective.”
The Speaker’s
connections to Trump... howsoever subtle and passed over until recently... is
now drawing worldwide attention around the world. (Al Jazeera –
Attachment TwentyTwo)
Trump said he hadn’t heard “one negative comment about him. Everybody
likes him.”.
Politics is personal Axios reminds us. After 22 days of paralysis and three failed nominees, the only candidate capable of uniting House Republicans was one who apparently hasn't served long enough to make any enemies. (Attachment Twenty Three) But his policies make enemies... plenty of them... Democrats who disparage his policies because they counter their own beliefs, Republicans who fear that the voters will take their revenge in 2024.
Make no
mistake warned Axios Johnson is a staunch
conservative whose election denialism, support for a
national abortion ban, and opposition to Ukraine aid will “move the House's
center of gravity firmly to the right.”
Citing election denialism, the Dominion voting
scandal masterminded by dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, and a plethora of
social issues, Axios citing a press conference by
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va) wherein Good hailed “a new level
of trust with Speaker Johnson that did not exist previously. That's why we have
a new speaker. He is a conservative partner.”
For the liberals at the New York
Times, one of their greatest dreads (after, of course, entering into a deal
with Glad Vlad Putin to allow Russia to conquer and
absorb Ukraine or steering anti-gay laws like those in Uganda mandating the
death penalty for Sodomites) is that, while eyes are looking backward to 2020,
the new Speaker has them clearly focused on 2024 (Attachment Twenty Four)
“Could the elevation of Mr. Johnson, who worked in league with former
President Donald J. Trump in trying
to undermine the 2020 election results, allow him to succeed in 2024
where he failed the last time?”
Perhaps.
But even if he does not face immediate opposition from within the slim,
diverse and quarrelsome Republican majority, his response to the myriad
economic, social and global threats peeking through America’s windows may
encounter... uh... problems. “Democrats
have made clear that they will use the new speaker’s political record against
vulnerable Republicans in the elections next year,” predicted those liberals
over thataway at GUK.
The sticking points are apt to be
his “history of supporting Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020
presidential election,” his committment to, and
efficacy in achieving fiscal responsibility in time to hold off the shutdown on
November 17th, even if it means playing kick-the-can with Hakeem
Jeffries, Chuck Schumer and President Joe.
The New York Times’ Annie Karnie (October 26th,
12:30 AM, Attachment Twenty Six) threw Speaker Johnson’s much (and recent)
disclosures upon his zeal to remake America as a Christian
Nationalist theocracy will also put his tenure and his party in peril next
year.
Mr. Johnson, who put America’s
sinners and liberals on notice that: “the evangelical Christian who won the
speakership on Wednesday with the unanimous support of House Republicans,” has
supported the strictest anti-abortion measures including prohibition of
pregnancy termination in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of a
mother carrying an un-viable foetus.
He has also spoken out sharply
against homosexuality, calling it “inherently unnatural” and a “dangerous
lifestyle” and linking it to bestiality, according to opinion essays unearthed
on Wednesday by CNN.
He
also stoked the fires of the race war during Congressiona
hearings on reparations and received a chorus of booing - then complaining (and
fundraising) to the Council for National Policy, “an assembly of conservative donors
known for its strict secrecy.”
Parsing the Rolling Stones, the extreme right did not get the man they
wanted (Jordan) but did get the one they needed, according to Carl Hulse, another Times server after Mike’s elevation (Attachment Twenty Seven) who predicted that,
while he is conservative enough to hold the Crazy Eights at bay, for the time
being, some of his pet proposals may run
into trouble from more mainstream Republicans who stood against Mr. Jordan
because they believed his allies had been underhanded in their sabotage of
Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who defeated Mr. Jordan in a vote for the speaker nomination.
“They vowed that Mr. Jordan would never be rewarded for such tactics. But with
the party becoming a national laughingstock because of its inability to find a
leader, no effort to deny Mr. Johnson surfaced, and Republicans rallied to Mr.
Johnson’s side, even though he had initially lost to Mr. Emmer.”
But, if Matt Gaetz does bring the
hammer down on Johnson’s johnson,
he can still (legally) seek aid and comfort from his pets, should he wish to
and acquire any. “Homosexual relationships
are inherently unnatural and, the studies clearly show, are ultimately harmful
and costly for everyone,” he wrote in 2004. “Society cannot give its stamp of
approval to such a dangerous lifestyle. If we change marriage for this tiny,
modern minority, we will have to do it for every deviant group. Polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line
to claim equal protection. They already are. There will be no legal basis to
deny a bisexual the right to marry a partner of each sex, or a person to marry
his pet,” (raising the prospect of his being forced to tender his Johnson to
Mister Trump, should the Exile return to power and demand submission and
satisfaction from his creatures?).
And, in another editorial, he wrote, “Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do,” he wrote. “This is a free country, but we don’t give special protections for every person’s bizarre choices,” according to CNN (Attachment Twenty Eight).
“By closing these bedroom doors, they have opened a Pandora’s box,” he added.
Unsprisingly, the media
pundits and comedians seized on that twenty year old remark – Steven Colbert
saying that gay, male Americans had little interest or desire for Pandora, or
her box. Lesbians... maybe...
The House may finally have a
speaker, but on Thursday’s episode of What Next, Slate and
C-Span reporter Mary Harris spoke with Miller about how this “Goldilocks
candidate” means the chaos is far from over. Their conversation (Slate,
Attachment Twenty Nine) was condensed and edited for clarity but, according to
the transcript, included such disclosures as the new Speaker’s
geniality... demonstrating “he’s the kind of guy who can do interviews and not
sound like a crazy person, which is an important bar to pass in the Republican
Party these days” and that he’s more like an “operational
defender” of Trump on the Hill. And Donald Trump likes those kind
of people.”
Someone (Trump) feels he could “cast in the role of a henchman.”
In the end, Miller predicted,
Republicans “... did not feel like (Jordan) was somebody that should be the
face of the party. And they feel like Johnson could be. I think that they’re in
for a rude awakening. And I think that a lot of folks are going to be
regretting their votes.”
Johnson,
whom Axious reminds us is “the
least experienced House speaker in 140 years (Attachment Thirty)” will face a
Pet Smart box of challenges right out of the carrying cage Trump brought him to
the House in.
The
Hill’s Niall Stanage selected five on Thursday
morning (Attachment Thirty One)... these being:
@20Can he unify his conference?
House Republicans have burned through most of October with their
self-inflicted Speakership debacle.
Fortunately, “(t)he exhaustion felt across the
GOP conference will also help him, lowering the appetite for any new
internecine drama.
@20 Can he keep the government open?
“The road ahead is unclear. A politically toxic shutdown is very plausible.
“The legislative politics of the issue are complicated, however. President Biden has hitched together aid for Ukraine and aid for Israel, as well as other causes, in a $106 billion supplemental request.” Could a forced divorce doom the Jews as well as Ukrainians to American isolationism?
@20 How does he deal with former
President Trump?
@20 Keeping the House majority
And, even an hour earlier than the midnight oily Stanage,
Houston Keene from Fox News proposed his five challenges for Johnson... some
complementary to those of The Hill, others not.
(Attachment Thirty Two)
@20 The government funding deadline
@20 Israel
As above, House Republicans
tend to support supporting Israel against Hamas, even as they grow tired of the
Russians and Ukrainians in their old, old war.
@20 The Border
Add to the toxic mix of guns, drugs and Mexicans, the southern border
“continues to be a major issue”... now further complicated by its status as an
entry point for terrorists.
@20 Ukraine
Also citing the Ukraine fatigue and repurposing of military aid to Israel
and the War on Terror,
“Johnson will have to balance the interests of the larger
conservative wing of his party with the moderate members who could influence
funding for Ukraine if they reach across the aisle to moderate Democrats.”
@20 Controlling the Conference (i.e. the
Republican Party)
Not on the checklist of either prognosticator: climate change,
inequality, crime or the social issues so important to the new Speaker.
If he could... Johnson would probably wrap up all of those problems listed by Fox and The Hill into a tight little ball, toss them up into the air
and say: “Jesus, take the wheel.” And
the more frequently he appeals to the Bible during his first week in office,
the more itchy that Democrats (and some closeted Republicans of the Ronald
Reagan Junior persuasion) become
Theocrats
are delighted that their time has come around, that pagan incursions into
governance like gay rights, racial and religious tolerance and a restoration of
sanity in the schools and marketplace will put the sinners and the infidels
(those Muslims and atheists, those Oriental weirdos
and Orthdox and maybe Catholic and Episcopalian
weaklings – as also the Jews, except when the issue is dominion in the Holy
Land) into their place.
Social
media is ablaze with ChriZi (Christian Zionism... one
step beyond Christian Nationalism) sentiments.
The Blaze host Steve Deace said,
"This is a very good start."
Fox also noted that some lawyers
and psychologists and other agents of The Devil were opposed to Johnson’s
Speakership. “Irrational beliefs should not inspire social policies,”
headshrinker Lucia Grosaru posted.
The post-election winners, Vox postulated (Attachment Thirty Five) were the religious
right hardliners (who didn’t get the Speaker Jim Jordan that they dreamed of,
but “firmly established the principle that the hard right is entitled to veto
any speaker”) and “torched the careers” of all of the top three “establishment”
party leaders (presumably Scalise, Emmer and
K-Mac). Mike was also a winner, of
course, as was Trump who, now, “has a true loyalist in the speaker’s chair
rather than someone backing him through gritted teeth.”
The Vox
losers, on the other hand, were those same RINO Republicans, deluded bipartisan
dreamers (neither party allowed defections from their partisan blocs... not
even Democrats as the prospect of a Johnsonian House emerged, and what Vox called::”The stability of the U.S. electoral
system.”
Defenders have had they say,
detractors theirs... but what does Johnson himself believe to be his
priorities. In a “wide-ranging
interview” given to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on
Thursday night, the Speaker cracked a dozen eggs out of his intellectual basket
and Politico scrambled the “top 12 lines from that interview.”
@20 On
President Joe Biden
@20 On the Biden administration
“I think it’s been a failed presidency.”
@20 On Foreign aid to Ukraine and
Israel
“(W) e need to bifurcate those issues.”
@20 On (other)
Foreign policies
@20 On U.S. boots on the ground in Israel
“It’s a very delicate situation;
it changes by the hour. We’re watching it very closely.
@20 On Palestinian aid
“We’re supposed to believe they’re
going to use U.S. aid for humanitarian purposes? Count me as a
skeptic, OK.”
@20 On the Biden impeachment
@20 On
China
“(W)e’re doing everything we can to ensure we maintain
our military superiority.”
@20 On
the Motion to vacate
“I think we’re going to change it.”
@20 On Stopgap budget measure
@20 On Gay marriage
@20 On Abortion
Inasmuch
as his last two replies may disturb some social and cultural conservative, the
right-wing Washington Examiner investigated the potentiality of MAGA or the
Crazy Eights kicking him out of his job. (Attachment Thirty Seven) When eight Republicans joined with House Democrats in throwing out former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), most of them justified their move, which was not
popular in the wider GOP conference and has received mixed reviews at best in
polling of rank-and-file Republican voters, by saying a more conservative
speaker was possible – higher than McCarthy, Scalise
or Tom Emmer.
(Jim Jordan has scored a perfect 100% over each of his sixeen
years in Congress.)
Johnson
isn’t a Freedom Caucus, though the group is secretive about its membership. But
the new speaker is at least Freedom Caucus adjacent.
“Congressional
conservatives have long argued that Republican leaders don’t drive a hard
enough bargain with the Democrats on spending, refusing to use the leverage
they believe is offered by shutdowns and the federal debt limit.
“We’ll soon find out whether Johnson can be a different story with a different ending.
Christian nationalism adheres to a
desire for strong leaders who through the threat of violence, or actual
violence, defend the preferred social arrangements and
hierarchies. This includes setting aside the results of free and fair elections to ensure a chosen leader
remains in power. Americans who embrace Christian nationalism are more likely
to support anti-democratic tactics and approve of political violence if an election does
not return favorable results.
Mike Johnson was a central figure in trying to overturn the results
of the 2020 election, joining 146 other Republicans in Congress. Repeating
debunked claims about “rigged” Dominion voting machines, Johnson went so far as to author an amicus
brief for a case where Texas moved to have swing-state results thrown out. His
consistent efforts to deny and overturn the 2020 election earned him the
nickname “MAGA Mike” from fellow lawmakers.
Speaker Johnson exemplifies this aspect of Christian nationalism disregarding the values of democracy to instead embrace any means through which political power remains in the “right” hands. And this comfort with setting aside democratic ideals aligns with another element of Christian nationalism.
Johnson has also often repeated the “Great Replacement Theory,” that Democrats are bringing in immigrants
to replace natural born citizens and secure Democratic votes. This is the core
of rightwing populist thinking, defending “real Americans” from elites and
outsiders corrupting our culture and politics. It is also the core of Christian
nationalism.
It follows, therefore, that Speaker
Johnson would at least support the idea of impeaching President Joe (and, of
course, Kamala Harris; devolving the Presidency to... himself). But how
vigorously will he pursue it?
During his Hannity
appearance, Johnson generally deflected most of the talkster’s
allegation of Biden family crimes and corruption - which WashPost
opinionator Phillip Bump deems “not what the facts
show” (October 27th, Attachment Thirty Nine) but did note that one
of the grounds for impeachment was bribery, which, he claimed, the Biden
situation “looks and smells a lot like.”
He
continued in a more or less neutral but convinceable
vein, adding: “I know people are getting anxious and they’re getting restless and they
just want somebody to be impeached,” he added later, no doubt aware that Hannity has been attempting to elevate that anxiousness
among his viewers for months. “But that’s not — we don’t do that like the other
team. We have to base it upon the evidence, and the evidence is coming
together. We’ll see where it leads.”
“Perhaps more will emerge,” Bump
concluded, “but at the moment, the GOP’s push toward impeachment is not based
on substantial evidence at all.” Nor, at
least, is it Johnson’s number one priority... given all of the other problems
that have festered during the Congressional “vacation”.
Yeserday, Fox reported that Johnson was, at
least, looking at issuing a subpoena just for Hunter... and let the chips fall
where they may as to his father’s culpability – perhaps awaiting a less
difficult time when accusations of weaponized
partisanship cannot include the enhancing factor of doing so in the midst of
numerous crises. (Attachment Forty)
"We're
the rule of law team. We don't use this for political partisan games like the
Democrats have done and did against Donald Trump twice,” Johnson snarked. “We are going to follow the law and follow the
Constitution, and I think we have a suspicion of where that may lead, but we're
going to let the evidence speak for itself," he told FOX News' Maria Bartiromo.
K-Mac
chimed in from his place in the beyond-the-beyond, telling Bartiromo that the president's son would be subpoenaed, but
only when the time is right.
So – if
Johnson supports Christian Nationalism and the Great Replacement Theory, is he
MAGA... or something worse, even, a Neo-Nazi?
Is he just “biden” his time before Congress
overthrows President Joe and Kamalala... or is he a
“Crusader Rabid” as delusional as his dogwalker?
Yesterday,
the WashPost sent reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske to
Shreveport, Johnson’s hometown, to dig up what could be dug up about his
childhood and the influences that shaped him.
(October 29th, Attachment Forty One)
Jeanne “Jee Jee” Johnson, 69, saw her
son’s selection in spiritual terms. “God did this,” she said. “ … It’s so good
for America.”
Shreveport-Bossier
is culturally and physically closer to Dallas, a three-hour drive west, than
New Orleans, five hours south. Its economy is dependent on oil and gas, making
it vulnerable to booms and busts.
Hennesy-Fiske interviewed residents like Celeste Gauthier who said: “Politics here is personal. People really do look at the funding we’re sending to Israel and Ukraine and say, ‘I can’t afford to go to Kroger.
State Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R) described Johnson as a consensus builder and
recalled an incident last summer in Natchitoche when
a man grew so upset with him that sheriff’s deputies offered to intervene. “Mike just waved them off and said, ‘I got
this,’” Seabaugh recalled. “By the time it was over,
the guy was completely mollified and walked up and shook Mike’s hand. Mike just
does that.”
|
Our
Lesson: October 23rd through October 29th, 2023 |
|
|
|
Monday, October 23, 2023 Dow: 32,935.41 |
Israeli PM
Bibi says: “It’s Do or Die and (Hezbollah) needs to die.” Gaza death toll 4,700 and rising, Israel
1,400 and steady; most agree that there are 222 hostages. Americans in Gaza face long breadlines,
Egyptian border refuseniks and Israeli shellings
that spread to Lebanon and the West Bank. Conditions are not yet as bad as in Gaza
(or Ukraine) but the growing ranks of uninsured sick Americans is forcing
U.S. hospitals to cut services or even go bankrupt. And strange days in the skies: Alaska
Airlines co-pilot goes suddenly insane and tries to crash a plane with 82
aboard before being tackled and subdued; and on the ground where a Superfog (abetted by fires in the marshes) grays out
Louisiana highway – 7 killed, 150 vehicles wrecked. Taylor Swift’s concert movie box office
knocks out “Killers of the Flower Moon” 31 to 23M and she watches Travis
catch a touchdown pass as Kansas City wins again. |
|
|
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 Dow:
33,142.37 |
President Joe pressures Israel to postpone
their ground invasion, Netanyahy says OK because it
will give them more time to prepare and to either rescue or negotiate for
hostages. Many portrayals of
helplessness are shown in the media.
America threatens to go to war against Iranian proxies Lebanon and
Syria.
Eight little men are squirming and worming their way into the mind and
heart of the One Guy who can make or break them – Donald Trump. (There were nine, but Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania
faced reality and drops out.) The
leading candidate, Minnesota’s Tom Emmer surmounted the House GOP caucus
fight gets a thumbs down from Donald and his prospects seem bleak.
Prankster posts image of Hitler to scoreboard during high school
football game. Thieves steal 5 million,,, in dimes. |
|
|
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 Dow: 33,206.28 |
Active
shooter in Lewiston, Maine (previously famous as the site of the Clay-Lison II fight on May 25, 1965) kills 22 in a bowling
alley, a restaurant, and on the streets,
He is Army reservist Bob Card, a firearms instructor who served time
in a mental institution for hearing “voices” that told him to kill people
(commanding officers?), is still on the run and has been described as a
“person of interest”... not a suspect yet, although there is footage of him
entering the bowling alley with an assault weapon. As regards mental health: TV doctors say
that mental health workers are having mental health issues due to
overwork. It is also reported that the
insane pilot (above) blames his crimes (83 counts of attempted murder) on a
bad trip experienced after taking “magic mushrooms”. Israelis and Palestinians keep doing what
they’ve been doing... killing each other.
After a record 700 die in Gaza shelling, the U.N. calls for a cease
fire. Everybody laughs. Only eight trucks of aid get through the
Rafah crossing and hospitals are running out of anesthesia for the wounded in
Gaza... here’s a chance for the Chinese to step up and send in some fentanyl. Mother Earth reminds the world that she’s
still around and still angry. The
Mississippi River has dried up to a trickle, stranding commercial barges and
paddlewheel tourist gambling boats.
Further south, Cat Five Hurricane Otis scores a direct hit on
Acapulco, ruining fall break and sending Elvis running for his life (were he
still alive and runnable). Mike Johnson (R-La) is elected Speaker by
the Republican caucus, then... quickly... the full House. (See above)
Donald Trump takes credit – and he’s probably right. |
|
|
Thursday, October 26, 2023 Dow:
32,784.30 |
Bob Card, Maine’s “person of interest”
still on the run. “Why,” a shot child
asks, “would anyone do this?” In the wake of the massacre (worst since Uvalde
last year), the Senate takes up and passes a bill to make it easier for
military veterans with incidents of mental illness to buy and carry
guns. The minority Republicans are
joined by three Democrats and independents Kirsten Sinema and Angus King, the
Senator from... Maine!
Speaker Johnson passes his first test – approving a resolution
supporting Israel that wins 412-10.
Joining nine dissenting Squadlish Democrats
is Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Ron DeSantis boosts himself by boasting that it was all his doing but
he still trails The Donald. Trump
takes time off from campaigning to attend some of his criminal and civil
hearings... after Judge Erdogan (New York) fines him #10,000 for threatening
the court clerk, he storms out of the courthouse. In
Congress, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY… one of the anti-Israel reps) pleads
guilty for pulling a fire alarm, maybe intended to halt or delay a bad vote,
maybe not. He gets a thousand dollar
fine, no jail time.
World Series is set.... Texas Rangers beat Houston and Arizona
Diamondbacks defeat Phillies. Both
series run to full seven games. And in
the first NBA game, Denver (with 38 year old LeBron) beat the Lakers. |
|
|
Friday, October 27, 2023 Dow:
32,417.59 |
As Congress gets back to “work” under its
new Speaker (partisan censures and a proposal to expel George Santos), RFK
Junior has dropped out of the Democratic primary to run as an Independent
(and help tilt America towards Mister Trump) but President Joe has a new
challenger. His name is Rep.
Dean Phillips from Jesse Ventura’s old hunting grounds
in Minnesota, and he is even more obscure than Johnson. He’ll duke it out with Marianne for Number
Two.
Killers and wannabe killers are headed to court... the Alaska airpline pilot who tried to crash the plane face 83 counts
of attempted murder, the Idaho murderer of four hopes to get back on the
street due to bollixed up grand jury instructions, Alex Murdaugh
seeks new trial for similar reasons and, in non-lethal proceedings, Ivanka
Trump is summoned to the stand to testify about Daddy’s fiscal doings.
Still on the run, Bob Card said to have left a suicide note full of
“rantings” and cops and associates believe he went to the bar and bowling
alley looking for an ex-girlfriend.
“This man was a ticking time bomb and should have had his weapons
taken away,” a TV cop declares.
Instead, the Senate greenlights making it easier for mental patients
to obtain assault weapons (above, Attachment Four) with the deciding vote
cast by Maine independent Angust King, just before
the rampage. |
|
|
Saturday, October 28, 2023 Dow:
Closed |
Bob Card is found dead at his old jobsite, presumably a suicide. The shelter in place regulations are lifted
and the funerals allowed to begin. RIH, Bobby. The slaughter escalates in
Gaza as Israel slowly but surely begins its ground invasion while continuing
the shelling. Humanitarians complain
and cry but a Netanyahu spokesman says that exterminating Hamas is more
important than saving the hostages.
“Israel is starting its payback,” an advisor to Bibi exclaims as
President Joe impotently pleads for restraint; Pope Frank says that the world
is entering a dark hour. For their
part, Iranians step up murders of women who wear their head scarve incorrectly. Woke college students
supporting Hamas hold mass protests and a thousand of them shut down Grand
Central Station – 300 arrested. In
Virginia, the wokesters tear down, then melt down, a statue of Robert E. Lee. UAW cutting a deal with Stellantis (Chrysler) somewhat on the model of the Ford
contract, leaving GM the only holdout. |
|
|
Sunday, October 29, 2023 Dow: Closed |
The Israeli ground invasion escalats as
Netanyahu goes on TV and “assures” Israeli that the war will be long and
bloody. Also escalating is the death toll
among Palestinians (Hamas, including its naval and air force commanders, and
civilians) tops 8,000. Israeli deaths
steady at 1,400 and there are 229 hostages (of which between ten and twenty
are Americans). In danger of failing to
qualify for the next debate, Mike Pence drops out of the Republican
primary. That leaves nine little
challengers – all destined to be stomped by former President Trump who is
bolstering his lead over President Joe. And in Sunday talkshows jampacked with
liberals, denunciation of Speaker Johnson’s views on gays, minorities,
Ukraine and the “stolen” 2020 election are denounced. Republicans cheer – but some admit to
worries about 2024, despite polls.
This Week’s Donna Brazile says Biden is
being unfairly persecuted for events beyond his control. Voice voice
the prospect of Kamala challenging Joe as opposed to quietly waiting for him
to die. Celebrities and 90’s fans
remember Matthew Perry (“Friends”) who dies in a hot tub in L.A. |
|
|
All the drama of the week... the
Speakership, the wars, the Maine-iac, the climate, inflation, etcetera etcetera and the Don remained virtually unchanged. The biggest gainer was a modest increase in
Federal revenues (taxes, to the malcontents) and the biggest loser was the
stock market. |
|
|
|
CHART of CATEGORIES
w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000 (REFLECTING…
approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013) See a further explanation
of categories here… ECONOMIC INDICES (60%)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
SOCIAL
INDICES (40%)
|
|||||||||||
|
ACTS of MAN |
12% |
|
|
||||||||
|
World Affairs |
3% |
450 |
10/9/23 |
-0.1% |
11/6/23 |
450.74 |
450.29 |
Aggressive Chinese planes buzz US jets, Xi’s Navy
encircles Phillipines. UN makes a pitiful plea for Gaza peace.
Parisian bedbugs spread to bedspreads in other EU cities. |
|||
|
War and terrorism |
2% |
300 |
10/23/23 |
-0.5% |
11/6/23 |
289,96 |
288,51 |
Gaza death toll 4,700 Monday; 8,000 Sunday. Biden lobbies Bibi for restraint, fearing
wider war with Iranian proxies or Iran itself. Netanyahu rejects the offer. Candidate Ron DeSantis claims credit for
US/Israeli support. Terrorists meet in
Tehran to decide who to terrorize next.
TV General Abrams says it’ll be “almost impossible” for Israel to wipe
out Hamas no matter how many civilians they kill. |
|||
|
Politics |
3% |
450 |
10/23/23 |
nc |
11/6/23 |
480.92 |
480.92 |
GOP Speakersits acquiesce
to Trumps veto of Tom Emmer, choose Christian nationalist Mike Johnson. (In court, Djonald
UnJailed glares at Mark Meadows and more voter fraudsters
cut deals to rat him out.) Unhung Mike
Pence drops out of Republican primery (Trump fails
to seore his endorsement, but approves as RFK drops
out of Dems to be Indpending, cutting into
President Joe’s votes. Biden also gets
a challenger - one Dean Phillips from somewhere enters the race. |
|||
|
Economics |
3% |
450 |
10/23/23 |
+0.5% |
11/6/23 |
426.61 |
428.74 |
UAW nears settlement with Ford and Stellantis.
Foodies predict price of holiday turkeys down; cranberries, gravy and Halloween
candy up. |
|||
|
Crime |
1% |
150 |
10/23/23 |
+0.1% |
11/6/23 |
247.00 |
247.25 |
RIH Maine man Bob Card: a suicide and Lewiston
relieved. Off-duty Alaskan Air pilot
subdued while trying to crash the plane – blames the magic mushrooms. Police warn that crazies may shoot up
Halloween parties. Mass shootings in
Maine (18 die), in Buffalo, Ohio, Indianapolis, Tempa,
Chicago and Texarkana. Four very petty thieves arrested for
stealing $5M in dimes |
|||
|
ACTS of GOD |
(6%) |
|
|
||||||||
|
Environment/Weather |
3% |
450 |
10/23/23 |
+0.1% |
11/6/23 |
397.80 |
398.20 |
Hot, hot summer haning on
in NE but will transit over to winter next week with onl
y a few hours of autumn.
Drought-stricken Texas gets ten inches of rain – and tornadoes. |
|||
|
Disasters |
3% |
450 |
10/23/23 |
-0.1% |
11/6/23 |
422.98 |
422.56 |
Cat Five Hurricane Otis slams Acapulco – death toll
is 48 and rising. “Superfog”
triggers Louisiana highway pileup: 7 die, 150 vehicles. Mixed messages at sea: 3 feared lost off
Savannah, but survivor found on raft after two weeks in Pacific
Northwest. -125 |
|||
|
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX |
(15%) |
|
|
||||||||
|
Science, Tech, Educ. |
4% |
600 |
10/23/23 |
+0.3% |
11/6/23 |
637.95 |
639.86 |
NASA reports that Mars used to have rivers. President Joe promises to rein in the worst
mad scientists of AI. |
|||
|
Equality (econ/social) |
4% |
600 |
10/23/23 |
+0.2% |
11/6/23 |
633.00 |
634,27 |
Ellen McNair appointed first female Commerce
Sec. Jews and Muslim rallies for the
politico/religious factions are mostly peaceful. |
|||
|
Health |
4% |
600 |
10/23/23 |
-0.1% |
11/6/23 |
472.96 |
472.49 |
Doctors say current Covid is weaker than RSV and flu,
and that mental health workers are facing personal mental health crises. Rising ranks of uninsured patients causing
hospitals to cut services or even go bankrupt. 61,000 unsafe gun safes recalled. |
|||
|
Freedom and Justice |
3% |
450 |
10/23/23 |
+0.2% |
11/6/23 |
468.69 |
469.63 |
In court: Sen. Bob Menendez (Egyptian spying), Rep.
George Santos (stealing from donors), parents sue Panera after teen drinks
“charged” lemonade. Rep. Jamaal Bowman
(D-NY) gets probation and $1,000 fine for pulling Congressional fire
alarm. Justice Thomas accused of
fraud. Chik-Fil-A settles Covid delivery
price gouging suits for 4.4M. |
|||
|
MISCELLANEOUS and TRANSIENT INDEX |
(7%) |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
Cultural incidents |
3% |
450 |
10/23/23 |
+0.2% |
11/6/23 |
506.54 |
507.55 |
Rangers and Diamondbacks tied at one game each in
World Series. Taylor watches Travis
score touchdown in KC win. then becomes an Official
Billionaire. Oprah’s book club selects
Jesmyn Ward’s “Let Us Descend”. Britney Spears writes her tell-all, says people (dad? Justin?) want
to kill her. Coming out: “last”
Beatles single Now and Then” (conjured up with AI on old out-tapes), Cher’s
new Christmas album, obligingly titled: “Christmas”. Eminem merches
“Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce”. RIP:
Matthew Perry (“Friends”). Richard Roundtree (“Shaft”), former Congresional clerk Bert Bowman, Richard (Night Court”)
Moll, world’s oldest dog (31) in Portugal |
|||
|
Misc. incidents |
4% |
450 |
10/23/23 |
+0.1% |
11/6/23 |
486.69 |
487.18 |
Rescue dog saves teen having stroke.
Beer (no... bear) invades Colorado
hotel and assaults security guard. (Heeee’rs Yogi!) Image
of Hitler appears on Michigan State scoreboard as a Wisconsin thrift store
donation box is filled with arms, ammo and cluster bombs. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
The Don Jones Index
for the week of October 23rd through October 29th, 2023 was UP 0.66 points
The Don Jones
Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman
and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian
Doohan, Administrator. The CNC denies,
emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well as any of its officers
(including former Congressman Parnell, environmentalist/America-Firster Austin
Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works,
“Entropy and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best,
mere pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective
legal action against parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders.
Comments,
complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.
ATTACHMENT ONE – From House.gov
Congressman Mike Johnson
(LA-04) is elected Speaker of the House.
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. Prior to his election to Congress in 2016,
Speaker Johnson was an attorney and served in the Louisiana State Legislature
from 2015 to 2017.
Learn
more about the current House
leadership and the history of the Speaker of the House by
visiting the House History, Art, and Archives website.
U.S.
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-224-3121
TTY: 202-225-1904
ATTACHMENT TWO – From the Associated Press
MAINE MASS KILLING
SUSPECT FOUND DEAD, ENDING SEARCH THAT PUT ENTIRE STATE ON EDGE
BY DAVID SHARP, PATRICK
WHITTLE, HOLLY RAMER AND MICHELLE R. SMITH Updated 12:40 AM
EDT, October 28, 2023
LEWISTON,
Maine (AP) — The Army reservist who opened fire in a
bowling alley and then at a bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people, was
found dead Friday from a self-inflicted gunshot, ending an intensive two-day
search that had the state on edge.
Robert
Card, a firearms instructor who grew up in the area, was found dead in nearby
Lisbon Falls, Gov. Janet Mills said at a Friday night news conference.
“Like
many people I’m breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is
no longer a threat to anyone,” Mills said.
April Stevens, a Lewiston resident who knew one of
the victims, said she was relieved to learn that the “monster and coward” who
inflicted so much pain was no longer a danger.
“I’m relieved but not happy,” she said.
“There was too much death. Too many people were hurt. Relieved,
yes, happy, no.”
Maine Department of Public Safety
Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said Card was found at
7:45 p.m. near the Androscoggin River, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) southeast
of where the second shooting occurred Wednesday evening. He declined to divulge
the location but an official told The Associated Press the body was at a
recycling center from which Card had been fired.
The
official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly
and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mills
said she had called President Joe Biden to alert him that Card was dead.
“Tonight
we’re grateful that Lewiston and surrounding communities are safe after
spending excruciating days hiding in their homes,” Biden said in a statement.
He added that “Americans should not have to live like this” and called on
Congress to take action on gun violence.
The
deadliest shootings in Maine history stunned a state of 1.3 million people that
has relatively little violent crime and had only 29 killings in all of 2022. In
Lewiston, the 37,000 residents and those in surrounding communities were told
to stay in their homes as hundreds of police officers, sheriff’s deputies, FBI
agents and other law enforcement officials swarmed the area.
Card, 40,
of Bowdoin, was a U.S. Army reservist. Leo Madden, who said he ran Maine
Recycling Corp. for decades, told the AP that Card worked there for a couple of
years and nothing about him stood out. Madden said he didn’t remember when Card
was employed or whether he was fired or quit.
Last
summer, Card underwent a mental health evaluation after he began acting
erratically during training, a U.S. official told the AP. A bulletin sent to
police across the country shortly after the attack said Card had been committed
to a mental health facility for two weeks after “hearing voices and threats to
shoot up” a military base.
A U.S.
official said Card was training with the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th
Infantry Regiment in West Point, New York, when commanders became concerned
about him. State police took Card to the Keller Army Community Hospital at West
Point for evaluation, according to the official, who was not authorized to
publicly discuss the information and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
On Wednesday,
Card attacked the bowling alley first, then went to
the bar. Police were quickly sent to both locations but Card was able to
escape. For the next two days authorities scoured the woods and hundreds of
acres of Card’s family-owned property, and sent dive teams with sonar to the
bottom of the Androscoggin River.
Law enforcement officials had said they hadn’t seen Card since his
vehicle was left at a boat ramp Wednesday shortly after the shootings.
Hours
before Card’s body was found, the names and pictures of the 15 men, two women
and 14-year-old boy who died in the shootings were released at a news
conference.
The victims of the shootings include Bob Violette, 76, a
retiree who was coaching a youth bowling league and was described as devoted,
approachable and kind. Auburn City Councilor Leroy Walker told news outlets
that his son, Joe, a manager at the bar and grill, died going after the shooter
with a butcher knife. Peyton Brewer-Ross was a dedicated pipefitter at Bath
Iron Works whose death leaves a gaping void in the lives of his partner, young
daughter and friends, members of his union said.
The
Maine Educational Center for the Deaf said the shootings killed at least four
members of their community.
Prior to
finding Card’s body, divers searched the water near a boat launch in Lisbon,
and a farming business in the same town. At points throughout the day Friday,
police vehicles were seen speeding through several towns, lights flashing and
sirens blaring.
A gun
was found in Card’s car, which was discovered at a boat ramp, and federal
agents were testing it to determine if it was used in the shooting, two law
enforcement officials told the AP. The officials were not authorized to
publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of
anonymity. Authorities have said publicly that the shooter used at least one
rifle. They have not released any other details, including how the suspect
obtained the firearm.
Authorities found a suicide note at a home associated with Card on
Thursday that was addressed to his son, the law enforcement officials said.
They said it didn’t provide any specific motive for the shooting. Authorities
also recovered Card’s cellphone in the home, making a search more complicated
because authorities routinely use phones to track suspects, the officials said.
The
Cards have lived in Bowdoin for generations, neighbors said, and various
members of the family own hundreds of acres in the area. The family
owned the local sawmill and years ago donated the land for a local
church.
Family
members of Card told federal investigators that he had recently discussed
hearing voices and became more focused on the bowling alley and bar, according
to the law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. When he
was hospitalized in July in New York, Card had told military officials he had
been hearing voices and said he wanted to harm other soldiers, the officials
said.
Authorities had banned hunting in several communities, in a state where
it is immensely popular. However, following confirmation of Card’s death, a
public safety alert was issued that announced: “The search is over for Mr.
Card. The caution is over. Hunting may resume.”
The
Lewiston shootings were the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according
to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
ATTACHMENT THREE – From Reddit
BILL GIVING VETERANS DEEMED 'MENTALLY INCOMPETENT'
EASIER ACCESS TO GUNS GAINS STEAM WITH SENATE APPROVAL
Angus King voted in favor of making it harder to
take guns away from mentally ill veterans who have been deemed incompetent to
handle their own affairs. He did so only
hours before a mentally ill veteran shot up two locations and killed 18.
Every time we warn people about the dangers of
mixing firearms with the mentally ill, they refuse to listen. While the vote
didn't make this tragedy happen, it WILL make future tragedies more possible.
We should be stiffening the nation-wide laws that report mental health issues
and remove guns from people who are suffering, not loosening them. That will
prevent MORE people from suffering when/if they end up using those firearms.
Our relationship with firearms is an absolute
sickness right now. Its appalling how low we've sunk
after the past four decades of unrelenting lobbying and propaganda spewed from
conservatives.
REDDIT
PEANUT GALLERY
GayForJamie
I'm assuming you're coming at this from a genuine
place, but it's really uncool to single out king while you make no mention of susan collins
here. She voted for it too, and has consistently sucked off guns for years.
collins is waaaaay worse than
king, and that context is needed.
Squidworth89
Or we just expect it from Collins and expect more
from king.
Dapoopers
Susan collins sucking off aa anthropomorphic gun is not an image I wanted in my head
today, but here we are.
HustlinInTheHall
Also this bill is particularly heinous given the
massive suicide problem among veterans with diagnosed mental illness. This is
just asking them to take their own life. Horrible treatment
of veterans.
JordanHolmesArt
In my history I was (regrettably) very close to a
police officer who had mental health problems.
What I know from this is that many officers and law
enforcement agents with mental illness are fearful and avoidant of seeking
mental help because they are worried about losing their access to firearms. And
sadly, many of them are suffering from moderate to severe mental illnesses.
We need to mandate regular mental health and social
media screenings for the people who are trusted by the government with weapons,
because as it stands they are actively motivated to avoid anything that may
take away their firearms. Untreated mental illness in our law enforcement,
military, and paramilitary is a threat to our safety.
moonpoon1
They do these in the military after every single
deployment. But as you stated, people are fearful of being removed or other
repercussions so they often will just lie. Everyone Soldier will be in a room
alone with a professional who asks important questions related to mental
health.
Bacon531
This. I think we need to find a way to turn this dilemma on its head. Right
now, not only are there obstacles to seeking/attaining mental health services,
but there is the added burden we don’t think about which is fear of losing your
access to their firearms (the reason behind why we want them to seek services).
We approach it from our needs and concerns but not theirs.
flowerkitten420
Considering the number of veterans committing
suicide each year, it’s almost like the government rather let these veterans
kill themselves(or others) instead of providing real
resources to address their needs. I sincerely can’t understand this at all
DisciplineFull9791
While I agree with America's sick relationship with
guns, research indicates mass shootings have less to do with mental illness and
more to do with anger and a need for men to externalize blame for problems in
their lives.
https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/mass-shootings
ppitm
Put differently, mass shootings are a cultural
practice of American men. It happens in certain other countries, but usually
quite seldom. Even in countries with poor mental healthcare and easy access to
firearms.
So while improving access to mental healthcare is
vitally important, we shouldn't expect it to be a particularly effective
solution to the problem of mass shootings.
chiksahlube
I had a coworker get kicked out of the USAF for
mental health problems including an unhealthy obsession with guns. He was
deemed too much of a risk for the military in a job where we never handled
firearms.
He owned at least a dozen guns and treated then like
toys. There's no recourse to prevent him getting more or to take them away.
He's more likely to hurt himself than anyone else.
But someone is gonna get hurt by one of his guns. It's just a matter of time.
mxservice
You know that being deemed incapable of managing
your own finances could just mean you have issues with spending related to
bipolar, etc, right?
People who have been involuntarily committed are
already prohibited from purchasing guns. We can take gun ownership away from
folks who voluntarily enter inpatient treatment, but we do run the risk of a
massive reduction in self-reporting of mental health issues and thus a failure
to get timely treatment.
Coffee-FlavoredSweat
“No way to
prevent this, says only country where this regularly happens.”
hike_me
That’s a bad look.
Plus it turns out our yellow flag laws are too
limited and we need real red flag laws.
JosiesYardCart
King also voted against looking into extremists and potential
terrorists in the military. Maine independent Sen. Angus King’s committee vote
in favor of Republican language calling for a halt to anti-extremism efforts in
the military
ATTACHMENT FOUR – From the Washington Post
THE
SEARCH FOR THE NEXT HOUSE SPEAKER
After
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) failed to become
speaker of the House last week,
here are the candidates
running for House speaker and what comes next. These
are the 25 House Republicans
who denied Jordan the
speakership, and see how each House
member voted.
Who will
replace McCarthy? Currently, there isn’t a speaker
of the House. House Republicans removed
Jordan as their nominee for speaker of the House after he failed
repeatedly to earn the necessary votes to take the gavel.
Acting
House speaker: Rep. Patrick T.
McHenry (R-N.C.) is serving as acting House speaker until a new leader is
chosen. Congress could grant the temporary House
speaker more power, but scholars say
the House can’t do much
without an elected speaker.
The
vote: Democrats joined eight House
Republicans in the vote to remove McCarthy. See how your
representative voted.
ATTACHMENT FIVE (a-i) – From the
Washington Post
HERE ARE THE EIGHT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES
RUNNING FOR HOUSE SPEAKER
By Mariana Alfaro Updated October
24, 2023 at 6:21 a.m. EDT
Published October 22, 2023 at 12:44 p.m. EDT
After Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) failed to become
speaker of the House following three votes on
the House floor last week, nine Republicans announced their intention to seek
their conference’s nomination. One has since dropped out, leaving eight in the
running as the GOP conference prepares to gather behind closed doors on Tuesday
to vote on its next nominee for speaker.
The
House speaker race will start again for Republicans after ousting Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)
as their nominee. Here are the nine Republicans
running for House speaker and what comes next.
What’s next in the
Republican fight for a new House speaker
All Republicans
interested in running for House speaker had to announce their candidacy by noon
Sunday to the office of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who chairs the House
Republican Conference. Stefanik’s office is running the internal meetings in
which the GOP lawmakers are expected to choose their next nominee. Democrats,
meanwhile, are widely expected to continue nominating and voting for House
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
All this
is happening as Congress inches closer to a key deadline: The government
will run out of funds in
mid-November and shut down if the House and Senate do not
pass a number of appropriations bills. Republicans have virtually frozen activity on the
House floor for almost three weeks over their inability to
choose a new lea
Notably,
all eight GOP lawmakers in the running for speaker are members of the
conservative Republican Study Committee — one of five of the
GOP’s ideological caucuses and,
historically, the largest.
Rep. Tom Emmer (Minn.)
Rep. Tom
Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, was among the first to make clear his
intention to run for speaker. Emmer has been in Congress since 2015 and has
served as whip since the beginning of this Congress. Before that, he chaired
the National Republican Congressional Committee — Republicans’ House campaign
arm — for four years. He is the highest-ranking Republican among the list of
official candidates and is a member of the conservative Republican Study
Committee.
Emmer,
62, has already received the support of former speaker Kevin McCarthy
(R-Calif.). Speaking to “Meet the Press” on Sunday, McCarthy
said Emmer is “head and shoulders above all those others who want to run.”
“We need
to get him elected this week and move on,” McCarthy said.
And, as
The Washington Post previously reported, some
members of the group who plotted to oust McCarthy have also floated the idea of
nominating Emmer for the job.
In
a statement d Saturday, Emmer
— who supported both Jordan and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) in their failed
efforts to become speaker — announced his intention to seek the gavel. He
highlighted his work as chairman of the National Republican Congressional
Committee, which works to elect Republicans to the House, and the connections
he’s formed with Republican members as majority whip.
“If
given the opportunity to be your Speaker, we will use that same culture of
teamwork, communication, and respect to build on the movements that brought us
success, learn from our mistakes, and keep fighting for each and every one of
you and our Republican majority,” he said.
But
right-wing outlets and allies of former president Donald Trump are
urging Republicans not to elect Emmer, who voted to certify the results of the
2020 election for Joe Biden.
Rep. Kevin Hern (Okla.)
Rep.
Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), who chairs the conservative Republican Study Committee,
told reporters on Friday that he’s in the speaker’s race.
In
a tweet d later that day, Hern —
who supported Jordan’s bid as speaker — said the GOP conference needs “a
different type of leader who has a proven track record of success, which is why
I’m running for Speaker of the House.”
When
McCarthy was initially ousted, Hern was floated as a possible candidate, but he
backed out of competing against Jordan and Scalise.
Hern,
61, a businessman who owned a number of McDonald’s franchises in Oklahoma, has
been in Congress since 2018 and has chaired the Republican Study Committee
since 2023. He voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. During
McCarthy’s speakership fight in January, Hern was nominated as a protest
candidate.
Rep. Pete Sessions (Tex.)
Rep.
Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), who previously chaired the House Rules Committee and
the National Republican Congressional Committee, said on Friday that he’s
running for speaker.
Sessions,
68, who has served 11 terms in the House, highlighted in a Newsmax
interview on Friday that he is running because of his years in Republican
leadership, and noting that during his time as chair of the NRCC, Republicans
won 63 seats in the House. He is a member of the conservative Republican Study
Committee and the Republican Main Street Caucus, which stands at the center of
all the ideological caucuses.
In
a post d on X
on Saturday, Sessions also said that, during his six-year tenure as Rules
chairman, he “helped usher a conservative agenda through Congress.”
“It’s
time to get back to work for the American people,” he said.
Sessions,
who supported Jordan’s speakership bid, was also one of the House Republicans
who voted against the certification of the 2020 election.
See how each House
member voted for speaker
Rep. Austin Scott (Ga.)
Rep.
Austin Scott (R-Ga.) emerged as a surprise speaker candidate last week when he
ran against Jordan in a conference-wide vote to select the next
speaker-designate, after Scalise declined to bring his speakership nomination
to a full House vote. Once Jordan clinched the nomination, Scott backed out of
the race and supported Jordan in all three rounds of voting.
When it
was clear Jordan would no longer be speaker-designate on Friday, Scott
announced another bid for the speakership.
“If we
are going to be the majority we need to act like the majority, and that means
we have to do the right things the right way,” Scott said in a post on X on
Friday. “I supported and voted for Rep. Jim Jordan to be the Speaker of the
House. Now that he has withdrawn I am running again to be the Speaker of the
House.”
Scott,
53, a businessman, has served in the House since 2011. He did not object to the
certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election and was part of
a group of Republicans who, in a letter to
congressional leaders, said lawmakers did not have the power to overturn the
results of the election. He is also a member of the conservative Republican
Study Committee.
Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.)
Rep. Byron
Donalds (R-Fla.) is a relative newcomer to Congress but, in just two terms, he
has become a relevant figure in the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. He
is also a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee.
Donalds,
44, received several
votes from his hard-right colleagues during the January speaker election, helping
slow down McCarthy’s path to the gavel.
A
staunch Trump ally, Donalds voted against the certification of the 2020
election and has repeatedly falsely claimed that
Biden is not the legitimate president.
Donalds
officially announced his bid for the speakership Friday. He told Newsmax
that the House is “having some issues” and that he would unify the conference.
“That
job can still be done, I believe I am the leader that can get that job done,”
he said.
Rep. Jack Bergman (Mich.)
Rep.
Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general, said
Friday that he’s running for speaker because he feels confident he can “win the
votes where others could not.”
“I have
no special interests to serve; I’m only in this to do what’s best for our
Nation and to steady the ship for the 118th Congress,” he said in a statement.
Bergman,
76, who chairs the House Armed Services subcommittee on intelligence and
special operations, has served in Congress since 2017 and is a member of the
conservative Republican Study Committee. He objected to the certification of
the results of the 2020 election.
On X,
Bergman noted Friday that he’s received the endorsements of Michigan GOP
Reps. Lisa C. McClain, John James, John Moolenaar and Tim Walberg.
Bergman
is also supporting a push by Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) to get all Republican
lawmakers to sign a pledge to
support the ultimate speaker-designate on the House floor.
Rep. Mike Johnson (La.)
Rep.
Mike Johnson (R-La.) formally announced Saturday
that he’s in the speaker’s race, saying in a statement that he has been
“humbled to have so many Members from across our Conference reach out to
encourage me to seek the nomination for Speaker.”
“Until
yesterday, I had never contacted one person about this, and I have never before
aspired to the office,” he said. “However, after much prayer and deliberation,
I am stepping forward now.”
Johnson,
51, an attorney and former radio host, has served in the House since 2017 and
is the vice-chair of the House Republican Conference, serving under Stefanik. From
2019 to 2021, he chaired the conservative Republican Study Committee. He’s also
the chair of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution and limited
government.
Johnson
is a close Trump ally, having served in the former president’s legal defense
team during his two impeachment trials in the Senate. Johnson has also
contested the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Rep. Gary Palmer (Ala.)
Rep.
Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) was a late addition to the list of speaker candidates. In
the House since 2015, Palmer chairs the House Republican Policy Committee.
Before joining Congress, he served as president of a conservative think tank in
Alabama. He is a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus and the Republican
Study Committee.
Palmer,
69, voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election and was also one
of over 120 House Republicans who in December 2020 signed an amicus brief in
support of a lawsuit that would have invalidated the results of the 2020
election in four states.
Out: Rep. Dan Meuser (Pa.)
Rep. Dan
Meuser (R-Pa.) dropped out of contention Monday.
Last
week, Meuser, who has served in the House since 2019, said in a post on X
that, should he decide to run for speaker, his “message will be focused on
politics of inclusion. Every Member of the Republican Conference needs to be a part
of policymaking, legislation, and communications.”
“I
believe ‘the show’ should be about the Members and not about the Speaker’s
Office,” he said. “It’s time to get back to work.”
Meuser,
59, was one of over 120 House Republicans who in December 2020 signed an
amicus brief in support of a lawsuit that would have invalidated the results of
the 2020 election in four states, including his home state.
Meuser
is a member of three out of the five GOP ideological caucuses: the moderate
Problem Solvers caucus, the Main Street Republicans, and the conservative
Republican Study Committee.
ATTACHMENT SIX – From CNN
REP. TOM EMMER DROPS OUT OF
HOUSE SPEAKER RACE
By Mike Hayes, Shania
Shelton and Jack
Forrest, CNN Updated 5:31 p.m. ET, October 24,
2023
What we're covering here...
·
Emmer is out: Rep. Tom Emmer has dropped out of the speaker's race just hours after his party selected him as
their latest nominee.
·
What happens now: House Republicans are expected
to hold another candidate forum at 6 p.m. ET. It’s increasingly unclear
whether any Republican can get the 217 votes needed to win the gavel from the
bitterly divided conference.
·
Chamber in limbo: Pressure is intensifying on House
Republicans to elect a new speaker three weeks after former Speaker
Kevin McCarthy was ousted. The
House remains effectively frozen — a dire situation as Congress faces a funding
deadline in November and as crisis unfolds abroad in Ukraine and with Israel’s war
against Hamas.
NOTE: Events and their times
presented in reverse chronology - DJI
16 min ago
Marjorie Taylor Greene says she'd never support Emmer because of vote on
2020 election certification
From CNN's Lauren Fox
Rep.
Marjorie Taylor Greene said she likes Rep. Tom Emmer but she was never going to
support him for speaker because of his political positions, including a
critical vote to certify the 2020 election.
She said
Emmer’s vote to certify the 2020 election “played a big role” in her decision
not to support him: “I couldn’t support a speaker of the House that didn’t
object.”
Greene
said Emmer's short lived candidacy is a sign that the conference is
shifting.
“The GOP
conference is changing, and it’s changing to reflect America first, and
Republican voters overwhelmingly support President [Donald Trump] and the GOP
conference and the speaker of the House should do the same,” she said.
Pressed
by a reporter if it was time to move on given it's been four years, Greene said
she still believes the election was stolen.
26 min ago
House Republicans will host another speaker candidate forum this evening
From CNN's Manu Raju
The House
GOP will host its second candidate forum for speaker in as many days at 6 p.m.
ET Tuesday after their Speaker designee, Tom Emmer, dropped out of the race,
multiple members told CNN.
New
speaker candidates will have until 5:30 p.m. ET to file for their intention to
run, though it is unclear if the conference will host a secret ballot election
tonight.
34 min ago
GOP lawmaker says he expects there will be another speaker's race, but
conference is taking a brief pause
From CNN's Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Sam Fossum
GOP Rep.
Lance Gooden told CNN’s Manu Raju he expects there will be another speaker’s
race after Speaker designee Tom Emmer dropped out, but the GOP conference is
taking a brief pause before deciding what to do next.
The
Texas Republican said there’s talk of potentially waving a candidate forum but
allowing more candidates to come forward. And he said “it’s very concerning” as
House Republicans continue to fail to coalesce around a speaker candidate.
“I
suspect there will be another speaker’s race, but we’re talking amongst
ourselves to see what that process is. We’re pausing for about 10 minutes or
so,” Gooden said.
He added
that Emmer “wanted to do what’s best for the conference and he didn’t have the
votes so he pulled his name down and got a standing ovation and so now we’re
moving onto the next phase.”
Asked
for specifics on what the next steps are, he said, “we’re
working on that process now. There was talk about potentially waving a
candidate forum but allowing more candidates to come forward. It’s all pretty
new. [Interim Speaker] Patrick McHenry is conferring with [GOP Chair Rep. Elise
Stefanik], it’s all very new to people.”
“It’s a
huge setback,” he said, “but we’ve become so accustomed to setbacks that one
setback doesn’t seem worse than another.”
1 hr 3 min ago
Tom Emmer, the House GOP's speaker designee, has dropped out
Rep. Tom
Emmer has dropped out of the speaker’s race, a source familiar told CNN, just
hours after becoming the House GOP's nominee for the position.
1 hr 8 min ago
Who is Rep. Tom Emmer, the House GOP’s new speaker nominee
From CNN's Piper Hudspeth Blackburn
Rep. Tom Emmer, the House majority
whip whose bid for House speaker was thrown into immediate
jeopardy Tuesday afternoon, has tried to balance an at-times moderate voting
record while trying to appeal to the Donald Trump-aligned base
of the Republican Party.
The
Minnesota Republican emerged Tuesday afternoon as House Republicans' new
speaker nominee in the scramble to succeed Kevin McCarthy. But with a razor-thin
GOP majority in the House, Emmer can only afford to lose four Republicans, and
26 voted against him behind closed doors. And despite a phone call with Trump
over the weekend, the former president has posted negative messages about Emmer
on his Truth Social platform in recent days.
Several Republicans who oppose Emmer told
CNN Tuesday they will not change their stance and are calling for
a new candidate.
Emmer has
recently been criticized by the right wing of the Republican
conference for, among other things, voting for the bipartisan law to
avoid a debt default and to codify same-sex marriage.
Perhaps
most importantly, he voted to certify the results
of the 2020 presidential election, a flagrant rejection of Trump's
oft-repeated falsehoods that the results were illegitimate.
But Emmer has
a history of supporting the former president. In interviews and
public comments, reviewed by CNN's KFile ahead of the speakership
vote, Emmer also refused to say Joe Biden won the election
and bashed the press for calling the race
in the wake of the 2020 election.
The Minnesota
lawmaker was first elected to Congress in 2014 and became majority whip earlier
this year. Emmer, who lost a race for Minnesota governor in
2010, was a state representative from 2004 to 2008. He sits
on the House Financial Services Committee.
As
majority whip, Emmer has experience with keeping the GOP's
narrow majority in line. Republican Rep. Patrick
McHenry, who is currently interim House speaker, told
CNN in January that Emmer helped hammer
out the negotiations between the 20 hardliners
and the speaker's office that eventually won
McCarthy the gavel after 15 ballots.
McCarthy
has backed the Minnesota Republican for speaker and
urged the conference to elect him by the end
of the week.
Read
more about this here.
1 hr 25 min ago
House GOP is now reconvening behind closed doors
From CNN's Haley Talbot
House
Republicans have returned to their meeting room after a roughly two-hour break
and will try to forge a path ahead given major opposition to
Speaker designee Tom Emmer.
Many
members returning are unsure what will happen in the meeting.
Trump says it looks like Emmer's speaker bid is "finished"
Speaking
outside the courtroom where his civil fraud trial is taking place, former
President Donald Trump said it looks like Tom Emmer is “finished.”
“It
looks like he’s finished. Looks like he’s finished,” Trump said.
Emmer,
the House GOP whip, is vying to be the new House speaker, but his bid is on the
verge of collapse amid opposition from the right flank of his party.
Trump
said Emmer was “not a supporter.”
“He was
a RINO. And it looks like he’s finished but we’ll see. You never know,”
Trump said.
1 hr 42 min ago
Hardline conservative says it's time to consider other speaker candidates
given no path for Emmer
From CNN's Haley Talbot and Lauren Fox
Hardline
conservative Rep. Matt Rosendale said it’s time to consider other candidates
besides Speaker designee Tom Emmer, who's race for the
gavel seems to be on thin ice.
The
Montana Republican pointed to Reps. Kevin Hern and Mike Johnson, who ran and
lost the nomination to Emmer during the secret ballot voting earlier Tuesday,
as possible alternatives for speaker.
“Tom
Emmer has secured the nomination but no longer has a path to secure 217 votes.
It’s time to get back in the room and give Kevin Hern and Mike Johnson an
opportunity to get to 217!” he posted on X.
1 hr 49 min ago
Rep. Sessions says Emmer failed to change minds of foes in closed-door
GOP meeting
From CNN's Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Sam Fossum
GOP Rep.
Pete Sessions said he did not see Speaker designee Tom
Emmer change anyone’s mind in a closed-door Republican conference meeting
as he tries to flip 26 holdouts. The Texas Republican suggested there may need
to be another candidate in the race.
“He did
not change anybody’s mind of these seven or eight or nine people that spoke,”
Sessions told CNN. He also said he “did not see anyone back away from their
objections,” when asked if he has any level of confidence that Emmer will get
the votes.
When
asked if there should be another candidate in the race, Sessions said, “I would
believe that’s evidently where we are. We perhaps believed that before the day
started.”
Sessions,
who threw his own name into the hat for speaker, was thrown out of the race
Tuesday morning during the secret ballot voting.
2 hr 15 min ago
Trump's team calling House GOP members and urging them to oppose Emmer,
sources say
From CNN's Melanie Zanona
Members
of former President Donald Trump's team are calling House GOP members and
urging them to oppose Rep. Tom Emmer for speaker, two
sources tell CNN.
One
source said they’re “whipping hard.” The other source said more members are now
pulling their support because of it.
Trump
rebuked Emmer's bid in a social media post on Tuesday, calling the Minnesota
Republican a RINO, or a "Republican in Name Only," and said voting
for him "would be a tragic mistake!”
2 hr 51 min ago
Tom Emmer’s bid to be speaker on verge of collapse, according to multiple
GOP members
From CNN's Manu Raju and Melanie Zanona
House
GOP Whip Tom Emmer’s bid to be speaker is
on the verge of collapse amid opposition from the right flank of his conference
over his past votes on fiscal and social issues — and amid fresh attacks waged
by former President Donald Trump, according to multiple Republicans.
Several
Republicans who oppose Emmer say they will not move off their opposition and
are calling for a new candidate.
Emmer
can only afford to lose four Republicans, and 26 voted against him behind
closed doors.
He voted
to certify the 2020 election, voted to keep the government open for 47 days,
voted for the bipartisan law to avoid a debt default and voted to codify
same-sex marriage — all issues that members of the hard-right have cited.
2 hr 26 min ago
House Republican says if Emmer can't get 217, "that's when it gets a
little scary"
From CNN's Annie Grayer
As
Speaker designee Tom Emmer works behind the scenes to win over the 26 GOP
members against him, GOP Rep. Mario Diaz Balart said that if Emmer can't flip
votes, "that's when it gets a little scary."
"If
Tom Emmer can't do it, then that's when it gets a little scary because
remember, he's the whip. He knows how to count votes. He has the relationships
with every member of the conference," the Florida Republican said.
If Emmer
fails to clinch 217 votes among Republicans, there is no consensus on a backup
plan.
2 hr 22 min ago
Trump formally comes out against Emmer
From CNN's Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes, Haley Talbot and Melanie Zanona
Former
President Donald Trump rejected Rep. Tom Emmer in a post on Truth Social
Tuesday, as the speaker designee looks to win over 26
GOP members who voted against him in a roll call vote
behind closed doors.
“I have
many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great
Warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them,"
Trump said in the post.
"He
fought me all the way, and actually spent more time defending Ilhan Omar,
than he did me—He is totally out-of-touch with Republican
Voters. I believe he has now learned his lesson, because he is
saying that he is Pro-Trump all the way, but who can ever be sure? Has he
only changed because that’s what it takes to win? The Republican Party
cannot take that chance, because that’s not where the America First Voters are.
Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!” he
continued.
Emmer
criticized a Trump rally crowd when they chanted "send her back"
regarding Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minnesota — the same state
as Emmer.
The
former president's posture on Emmer has shifted, according to two sources close
to Trump.
While
there is a lot of fraught history between many Trump allies and Emmer,
Trump had privately and publicly indicated that he would stay neutral in the
speaker’s race. Monday morning, multiple sources in touch with Trump described
him as "uninvolved" and "unfocused" on the happenings in
the House.
That
changed Monday afternoon when Trump was shown a tweet from Emmer responding to
Trump’s remarks in New Hampshire.
Trump
was angered by the familiarity of the tweet and according to one source, the
“deception” that Emmer and Trump had a relationship that they do not.
“Thank
you, Mr. President,” Emmer tweeted on a video of Trump saying he and Emmer got
along. “If my colleagues elect me Speaker of the House, I look forward to
continuing our strong working relationship.”
“Tom
Emmer has not been a friend to Donald Trump for 4-5 years,” a source close to
Trump said. “Now he’s painting himself as the Trump candidate or Trump
whisperer and it’s just not true.”
3 hr 23 min ago
Emmer's deputy whip says getting to 217 is "an exercise that we're
very comfortable with"
From CNN's Annie Grayer
GOP Rep.
Guy Reschenthaler, Speaker designee Tom Emmer's deputy whip, told CNN he and
Emmer are used to this process of working over the conference and getting to
217 votes.
"This is
an exercise that we're very comfortable with," the Pennsylvania Republican
said of the whipping process, which Emmer and Reschenthaler have done for every
floor vote this Congress.
Walking
out right behind Reschenthaler, though, was GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene,
who voted for the Republican's former Speaker designee Jim Jordan over Emmer
during a closed-door roll call vote and told CNN she would continue to do so.
2 hr 48 min ago
Scalise says he will do what he can to get Emmer to 217 votes
From CNN's Haley Talbot and Kristin Wilson
House
Majority Leader – and once-Speaker designee — Steve Scalise said that current
speaker nominee Tom Emmer is “working right now through some questions still
and we’re going to just continue having conversations.”
“We want
to work to make sure when we get to the floor, we have 217, and that’s
something Tom has said he wants to have before we go to the floor,” he said.
“We’re going to have more conversations. This is an ongoing process.”
Scalise
said they were “hoping to wrap this up today, but we’re still talking to some
individuals” and he said that Emmer is “hearing them out.”
3 hr 26 min ago
GOP lawmaker rails against Emmer as not conservative enough, says
"heated discussion" happening in meeting
From CNN's Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Sam Fossum
GOP Rep.
Jim Banks railed against Rep. Tom Emmer, telling CNN’s Manu Raju that the
speaker designee is not conservative enough.
There
are “dozens of members that won’t vote for him at this point,” the Indiana
Republican said, and there has been “heated discussion” going on in the GOP
conference meeting at the microphones during a closed-door roll call
vote.
“I’m a
conservative. I came to Washington to fight for conservative values. I can't go
along with putting one of the most moderate members of the entire Republican
conference in the speaker's chair. That betrays the conservative values that I
came here to fight for. So I hope there's a change along the way," Banks
said.
Rep.
Chip Roy, who supported Rep. Jim Jordan when he was the nominee, refused to
discuss why he voted “present” in the roll call vote as Emmer faces stiff
resistance, telling Raju: “I’m not going to talk about how I voted.” And Rep.
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania also raised concerns about Emmer’s speakership bid.
3 hr 33 min ago
House GOP dismissed from meeting until 4 p.m. ET and Emmer will meet with
holdouts in the meantime
From CNN's Annie Grayer and Manu Raju
House
Republicans are leaving their closed-door conference meeting until 4 p.m. ET
and will reconvene then.
In the
meantime, Speaker designee Tom Emmer and the 26 holdouts who voted against him
in the roll call vote earlier Tuesday will be meeting, according to multiple
members.
3 hr 44 min ago
Rep. Joyce says if Emmer can’t get 217 votes he's willing to bring up a
resolution to empower interim speaker
From CNN's Melanie Zanona and Lauren Koenig
Ohio
Republican Rep. Dave Joyce said if Rep. Tom Emmer can’t get to 217 votes, he’s
willing to bring up his resolution to empower interim Speaker Patrick McHenry —
but said he doesn’t know when the breaking point for the rest of the conference
will be.
“I
appreciate the fact that Tom is trying to get to 217 before we go out and
create a spectacle on the floor, but if we go over there and we’re not getting
the requisite votes that we need, we have to open the place up,” he said.
He said
his new resolution “would do just that,” so they can continue to have
conversations until they get the numbers.
House
Republicans debated the idea last week but put the plan is on ice amid fierce
pushback from some corners of the party.
“I don’t
know when this conference will feel enough pain to understand that this
practice is an exercise in futility, and we need to open the place back up,” he
said.
Joyce
said Emmer does not want to leave the room until he has 217 votes, “he wants to
go, if you’ve got a complaint, let’s hear ‘em right here, let’s get this over
with today, he’s not gonna make a public spectacle, unfortunately, that’s been
made over there before.”
3 hr 55 min ago
McCarthy says Republicans are tired and frustrated
From CNN's Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Sam Fossum
Ousted
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the path forward is not up to him now that
Speaker designee Tom Emmer faces significant opposition that could doom his
candidacy, but said Republicans are tired and frustrated and continued to
attack the eight members who ousted him from the speakership.
“I don’t
have the option. I don’t control it,” McCarthy told CNN’s Manu Raju when
pressed on what options Republicans have now. “Tom Emmer can decide what he’s
going to do, but he’s listening to everybody and that’s exactly what should
happen.”
“Every
member is tired of this. Every member is tired of those eight,” McCarthy said.
“That is why we’re where we are.”
“There’s
a big problem, we don’t have a speaker,” he said.
3 hr 54 min ago
Rep. Dusty Johnson insists Emmer is moving votes in his direction
GOP Rep.
Dusty Johnson of South Dakota admitted that members have concerns with a Tom
Emmer speakership — but said lawmakers are being honest and upfront with
their complaints and Emmer “is showing tremendous leadership.”
“He's
standing at the mic, people who have concerns are
coming forward. He’s taking them on head-to-head, not in an adversarial way,
but if they have questions, he’s providing answers. It is, frankly, a
remarkable display of leadership.”
“I tell
you I think he’s moving the room,” he said. “He is showing that he’s a real
leader.”
CNN
reported earlier Tuesday that 26 House GOP
members voted against Emmer in a closed-door roll call vote, according to
members in the room.
4 hr 5 min ago
GOP member says House Republican Conference is back where they started
Texas
Rep. Troy Nehls said the opposition to majority whip — and now Speaker-designee
— Tom Emmer has put the conference exactly where they’ve been for the past
three weeks: at an impasse.
“We
already had upwards of 20 who said they could not support Tom Emmer,” he said.
“We are again back to where we started.” Nehls himself voted present when his
name was called, he told reporters.
“So this
is this is we are again, back to where we started. This is where we are. Eight
were willing to step up and try to provide that leadership, and we're not there
so now what are we going to do? we're going to go
another round? Let's go into the third round draft choices right? And find
people willing to do this again?” he said.
Nehls
said if he goes to the floor, he will nominate the former president.
“I think
Donald Trump is our answer,” he said. “Maybe for the first time in the history
of our democracy, we should consider somebody from the outside. I suggested, if we go to the House floor for a vote, it is our leader
Donald J. Trump for 100 days.”
4 hr 13 min ago
GOP lawmaker says 26 votes against Emmer during roll call vote
GOP Rep.
Brandon Williams of New York told CNN’s Manu Raju there were 26 votes against
Speaker designee Tom Emmer during the closed-door roll call vote and said that
Emmer is trying to resolve the concerns of those members in the room right now
on open mic.
“There
were 26 that either voted present or voted for another candidate. Of those I
believe there were five that voted present and the bulk of them were for Jim
Jordan. I think there was five for Mike Johnson and one for Byron
Donalds," Williams said.
“It’s
like Groundhog Day, but I think there is a lot of interest in getting out of
this process, getting onto the floor, getting to a speaker, and getting
moving.”
Williams
also raised concerns about whether his constituents can put up with a
speakerless House for another week or so, telling CNN, “they would like to see
Congress stand up and act like adults.”
“Most of
the country is concerned about Israel. ... I think most of the country is
concerned about inflation, what they’re experiencing at the grocery store. They
would like to see Congress stand up and act like adults,” he said.
4 hr 34 min ago
Rep. Steve Womack says there was "significant opposition" to
Emmer during roll call vote
GOP Rep.
Steve Womack of Arkansas just left the room where the Republican conference is
meeting and said there is "significant opposition" to speaker nominee
Tom Emmer in the room.
Womack
said it's going to be up to Emmer to decide if he wants to go to the floor for
a speakership vote, but that he's going to likely want to meet with holdouts
and see how set they are in their stances.
CNN
reported earlier that Emmer asked for a roll call
vote to put members on the record about where they stand and make clear
to Emmer who his opposition is in getting to 217 to win the gavel.
4 hr 44 min ago
GOP member: There are about 10 "no" votes against Emmer
From CNN's Manu Raju
There
are about 10 "no" votes in the House GOP conference against Rep. Tom
Emmer, the speaker designee, according to Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania.
This is
enough to prevent him from becoming speaker on the full House floor. Emmer can
only afford to lose four defections on the floor.
Meuser
told CNN "there are some holdouts" to Emmer’s speaker bid, and that
there are "around 10" members opposed to him in the closed-door roll
call vote currently underway.
Asked
how concerned he is that there are about 10 "no" votes right now, Meuser
told CNN, “I’m concerned. But I think I hope that we have been through this
before so we need to finally come to a consensus.”
House
GOP lawmakers are still meeting behind closed doors.
4 hr 50 min ago
GOP member won’t say if she’ll vote for Emmer on House floor
From CNN's Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Sam Fossum
Rep.
Anna Paulina Luna of Florida would not say if she will vote for GOP Whip Tom
Emmer on the floor when asked by CNN’s Manu Raju.
“It’s
being looked at right now," Luna said when asked by CNN if she'd back the
Minnesota Republican.
5 hr 3 min ago
Emmer calls for GOP conference roll call vote
From CNN's Annie Grayer
After
winning the nomination, Speaker designee Tom Emmer asked for a roll call vote,
as CNN reported would happen. This will put members on the record about where
they stand and make clear to Emmer who his opposition is in getting to 217.
That
House GOP roll call vote is happening now, according to Rep. Doug LaMalfa of
California.
4 hr 52 min ago
JUST IN: House GOP selects Rep. Tom Emmer as new speaker nominee
From CNN staff
Rep. Tom
Emmer of Minnesota has emerged as the House Republicans' latest speaker
nominee after GOP members conducted a multi-round secret
ballot voting session Tuesday morning, according to Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Emmer
defeated a panel of seven other fellow Republicans Tuesday to earn the
nomination. However, it remains to be seen if he'll have the necessary votes on
the House floor to get the gavel.
Here's
the vote tally from the fifth round of House GOP voting for speaker, which
was won by Emmer:
·
Emmer - 117
·
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana - 97
·
Others - 5
·
Present - 1
Emmer's total
is still short of the 217 total needed to win the speakership on the House
floor.
Who is
Tom Emmer? Emmer, the House majority whip, said in a letter to his
colleagues d on Saturday that
he was seeking the speakership with the goal of delivering “historic change.”
Kevin McCarthy backed the Minnesota Republican for speaker, which delivered an
early boost for his candidacy.
Emmer,
who voted to certify the 2020 election in a rebuke to former President Donald
Trump, could face resistance from some members of the House Freedom Caucus
skeptical of the current GOP leadership team and as Trump’s allies have
attacked him.
The
former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman was first elected
to Congress in 2014 and became majority whip earlier this year. Emmer, who lost
a race for Minnesota governor in 2010, was a state representative from 2004 to
2008. He sits on the Financial Services Committee.
Here's
what we expect to happen next: There is no time or date scheduled for a
floor vote as of yet. That will be determined by the Speaker-designee.
5 hr 19 min ago
House Freedom Caucus member does not rule out backing Rep. Emmer for
speaker
From CNN's Liz Brown-Kaiser
South
Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman told CNN's Kasie Hunt that he voted for
fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida for speaker three
times this morning but did not rule out supporting GOP Whip Tom Emmer of
Minnesota in the future.
"Trust
is something people are looking for," Norman said, adding that "Tom's
honest."
"All
these votes go into the equation, but Tom is an honest man," the South
Carolina Republican said when pressed about Emmer's vote to certify the 2020
election. "I don't agree with that vote."
Norman
noted that Republicans need someone "we can trust" and said
"we'll find out who that person is and are they gonna do what they
say." He stressed that he wants commitments from all speaker
candidates on what they will and won't do while holding the gavel.
Specifically, Norman said the Freedom Caucus wants to sit down with the nominee
and ask tough questions.
"No,"
Norman responded when asked by Hunt if he feels pressure to select a speaker
today. He argued the position is too important to rush and that the
American people are more concerned about issues like gas prices and the border,
while the speaker's battle isn't their "highest concern."
The
congressman also said that Ukraine and Israel aid must be weighed by Congress
in two separate votes, rather than being linked.
5 hr 41 min ago
Hern and Donalds both out as House GOP begins 5th round of voting
From CNN's Haley Talbot
Reps.
Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Byron Donalds of Florida are both out as House
Republicans begin their fifth round of voting.
There
are just two candidates left: Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Mike Johnson of
Louisiana.
5 hr 55 min ago
Speaker candidates want 217 votes before going to the floor, but not
everyone in House GOP is convinced
From CNN's Annie Grayer, Lauren Fox and Manu Raju
During
the speaker candidate forum on Monday, all the speaker candidates agreed that
they wanted to get to 217 votes in the room before going to the floor, a source
familiar told CNN. But that doesn’t mean it will officially happen.
As the
voting gets down to the wire, House Republicans will have to decide yet again
whether they should stay behind closed doors until a speaker nominee locks in
217 votes, or again go to the House floor with a nominee who has just won a
majority of the conference and risk more public embarrassment.
Speaker
candidate GOP Rep. Kevin Hern told CNN on Monday that he and other candidates
in the race believe the conference should hold a private roll call vote ahead
of going to the House floor to test whether the GOP nominee has 217 votes to be
elected. That would avoid the spectacle on the floor that derailed Ohio Rep.
Jim Jordan’s bid.
“I think
the consensus is, and I've talked to some of the other people that are running
and others that are actually going to be the voting members, and we'd like to
see a roll call vote in the basement so that we know this. Because the American
people don't want to see another thing that happened like last week with Jim
Jordan,” he said.
GOP Rep.
Tim Burchett of Tennessee told CNN it is important for the conference to 217
behind closed doors because they need to avoid another public embarrassment on
the House floor.
“I do
not think it will go to the floor until we have 217 committed,” Burchett said.
“If it goes to the floor, it will succeed.”
But not
all Republicans are sold on the strategy. Texas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw told CNN,
“it’s impossible” for the conference to get to 217, but added “let’s see who
wins. The rebels might be tired.”
GOP Rep.
Ralph Norman of South Carolina told reporters in between voting rounds that the
conference decided to have a roll call vote once the race narrows to the final
two candidates so members can be on the record with who they support.
“We’ll
pare it down And then we get it down to I assume the
two, we will have a roll call vote.”
Scott is out after third round of secret ballot voting
Georgia
Rep. Austin Scott is out as the House GOP heads into their fourth round of
voting.
There
are four remaining candidates – Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Mike Johnson of
Louisiana, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Byron Donalds of Florida.
Emmer
again received the most votes in the third round of voting.
Here's
the latest vote tally, according to two sources:
·
Emmer - 100
·
Johnson - 43
·
Donalds - 32
·
Hern - 26
·
Scott- 12
·
Other- 3
·
Present- 3
Remember: Members
are casting a successive series of secret ballots, with the candidate who
garners the fewest number of votes in each round dropped from the running.
The process
will continue until there are only two candidates left or, until one candidate
receives a majority of the conferences’ votes — whichever comes first.
Here, a
plurality of votes is not enough. The winning candidate will need 50% +1 of the
conference or a minimum of 113 votes. The conference vote is expected to take
several hours as there will be several rounds of votes.
5 hr 54 min ago
Emmer is the top vote getter in second round of voting
From CNN's Haley Talbot
GOP Whip
Rep. Tom Emmer, who is considered the frontrunner and is endorsed by Kevin
McCarthy, received the most votes in
two rounds of secret ballot voting for a House speaker nominee, according to
members.
This was
the vote tally in the second round, according to two sources:
·
Emmer - 90
·
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana - 37
·
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida - 33
·
Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma - 31
·
Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia - 14
·
Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan - 7
·
Other- 3
·
Present- 2
Bergman was dropped from the
speaker race after the second round as he received the
least votes.
6 hr 13 min ago
The House GOP is voting for a speaker nominee by secret ballot. Here's
how the process works
From CNN's Haley Talbot
House
Republicans are meeting now to pick a new speaker.
With
multiple candidates currently in the running, members are casting a successive
series of secret ballots, with the candidate who garners the fewest number of
votes in each round dropped from the running.
The
process will continue until there are only two candidates left or, until one
candidate receives a majority of the conferences’ votes — whichever comes
first.
Here, a
plurality of votes is not enough. The winning candidate will need 50% +1 of the
conference or a minimum of 113 votes. The conference vote is expected to take
several hours as there will be several rounds of votes.
The
following candidates are now seeking to be next House speaker:
·
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, a second-term member of the far-right
Freedom Caucus.
·
GOP Whip Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican who is endorsed by Kevin
McCarthy.
·
Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, chair of the conservative group known as the
Republican Study Committee – which wields a large bloc of GOP members.
·
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the vice chairman for the House
Republican Conference.
The
speaker-designee will determine the next floor vote.
6 hr 35 min ago
Bergman out of the speaker's race after second secret ballot vote
From CNN's Haley Talbot
Rep.
Jack Bergman of Michigan is out of the speaker's race after the second secret
ballot vote of the GOP conference.
We are
now entering ballot number three with the following members still as
candidates:
·
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida
·
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota
·
Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma
·
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana
·
Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia
6 hr 45 min ago
Rep. Allen says he won't vote for Emmer on the floor
From CNN's Clare Foran and Manu Raju
Republican
Rep. Rick Allen told CNN's Manu Raju he would not vote for Rep. Tom Emmer on the
House floor, saying he’s “very concerned” about Emmer’s vote to codify same-sex
marriage in the last Congress.
“No,” he
said when asked if there was any way he would vote for him.
This
comes as other members, particularly those of the hardline Freedom Caucus, have
expressed reservations about supporting Emmer on the floor if he wins the GOP
nomination.
6 hr 44 min ago
Trump’s posture on Emmer’s speaker bid shifted after his tweet
From CNN's Kristen Holmes
Former President
Donald Trump’s posture on Rep. Tom Emmer has shifted in the last 12 hours,
according to two sources close to Trump.
While
there is a lot of fraught history between many Trump allies and Emmer,
Trump had privately and publicly indicated that he would stay neutral in the
speaker’s race. Monday morning, multiple sources in touch with Trump described
him as "uninvolved" and "unfocused" on the happenings in
the House.
That
changed Monday afternoon when Trump was shown a tweet from Emmer responding to
Trump’s remarks in New Hampshire.
Trump
was angered by the familiarity of the tweet and according to one source, the
“deception” that Emmer and Trump had a relationship that they do not.
“Thank
you, Mr. President,” Emmer tweeted on a video of Trump saying he and Emmer got
along. “If my colleagues elect me Speaker of the House, I look forward to
continuing our strong working relationship.”
“Tom
Emmer has not been a friend to Donald Trump for 4-5 years,” a source close to
Trump said. “Now he’s painting himself as the Trump candidate or Trump
whisperer and it’s just not true.”
5 hr 53 min ago
Sessions out of speaker's race after first secret ballot vote and Emmer
is top vote getter
From CNN's Manu Raju and Haley Talbot
Rep. Pete
Sessions is out of the speaker’s race after the first round of voting,
according to GOP chair, Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Rep. Tom
Emmer was the top vote getter in the first round, with a vote total in the
mid-70s, according to two members. Rep. Mike Johnson was second, members said.
The
House GOP is now beginning the second round of voting.
Some
more context: With Sessions' departure from the
race, there are now six House Republicans running
for the speaker position, including GOP Whip Emmer, who is
considered the front-runner and is endorsed by Kevin McCarthy.
With
multiple candidates currently in the running, members are casting a successive
series of secret ballots, with the candidate who garners the fewest number of
votes in each round dropped from the running.
The
GOP’s narrow majority in the chamber has made it increasingly unclear whether
any candidate will be able to secure the 217 floor votes needed to win the
gavel.
7 hr 22 min ago
House Rules Committee chair says it's time for "bloodletting"
to be over
From CNN's Lauren Fox and Lauren Koenig
House
Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole said that he had more optimism this morning that
Republicans will be able to coalesce around a candidate after weeks of
"bloodletting."
“I think
people are kind of exhausted a little bit, and the bloodletting is about to
stop. I think we’re gonna rally around somebody and have a really good
candidate," the Republican from Oklahoma said.
Cole
said he wasn't sure a candidate could get the votes tonight on the floor, but
he predicted that they would be able to work through it this week.
"I
feel pretty good. The candidates have all handled themselves pretty well,
they’ve all said they’re gonna support whoever comes out of this group of
eight," he added. “Leaders tend to set the tone for followers, I
think we’ve seen where destructive behavior leads, and hopefully people have
learned some lessons, and we’ll see that and have a speaker in the next couple
of days.”
Asked
about some hardliners who have been mum when asked if they'd back GOP Whip Tom
Emmer, if he were the nominee, Cole said at some point members have to decide
enough is enough.
“If you
want to be in the doghouse forever, this is about as good a way as I know to
get there.”
“This is
a time for people to rally together and get behind whoever wins the majority
vote in the conference,” he said.
7 hr 29 min ago
Democrat signals openness to helping Emmer win speakership — at a cost
From CNN's Melanie Zanona
Democratic
Rep. Dean Phillips said he would be open to helping fellow Minnesotan Tom Emmer
win the speakership but at a hefty cost.
“The
dysfunction in the House is a national and global security issue,”
Phillips wrote on
social media.
“I would
sit-out the Speaker vote if Tom Emmer will fund our government at negotiated
levels, bring Ukraine and Israel aid bills to the floor, and commit to rules
changes to make Congress work for the people," Phillips posted on X.
Skipping
the vote would help lower the threshold a candidate would need to become
speaker. But as Phillips signaled, Democrats have a list of demands in order to
help out Republicans — and it’s unclear whether any speaker candidate would be
willing to even entertain those ideas.
7 hr 42 min ago
McCarthy says there "has to be consequences" for those who
ousted him
From CNN's Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Sam Fossum
Former
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy railed against the eight Republicans who stripped
the gavel from him and said there must be “consequences.”
McCarthy
told CNN’s Manu Raju “there has to be consequences” for the eight Republicans
who tanked his speakership as he continued to rail against the group, calling
them the “eight crazies led by Gaetz” and said the episode reflects “very
poorly” on the conference “from every aspect.”
“There
has to be consequences since they broke the House rules,” he said of the group,
but when pressed by CNN for specifics on what he thinks the consequences should
be, he said that the “conference should decide.”
McCarthy
specifically went after GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the effort to oust him,
saying “at the end of the day I think when all the truth comes out on Gaetz it
will be hard for these seven to ever stand with him or anybody else again.”
McCarthy
said it’s been a “total embarrassment,” when asked to reflect back on the past
few weeks and said that it reflects poorly on the conference.
“Oh,
very poorly, very, very poorly. From every aspect, and it's frustrating because it's just a few, these
eight, working with all the Democrats to ruin the reputation of the Republicans
but we'll earn it back. There has to be consequences,” he told CNN.
7 hr 29 min ago
Candidates and supporters make final pitch before GOP vote
From CNN's Morgan Rimmer and Kristin Wilson
Rep.
Carlos Gimenez, who once pronounced himself OK – Only Kevin – is not so
"only" anymore. The Florida Republican is now OK with fellow
Floridian Rep. Byron Donalds, who he says Donalds “has a good shot” at claiming
the gavel.
“He’s
getting more and more support, so I look forward to the entire process of it.
It’s gonna be very interesting,” he said, saying Donalds “will at least make it
to the finals. The Final Four, right?”
House
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who had to abandon his own quest to lead his
conference, had praise – but not an endorsement – for a member of his own
leadership team, Rep. Tom Emmer.
“He's
got a strong record. You saw last, we’ve got a lot of candidates that represent
a good range of our conference that was laid out for what they want to do. I
think everybody's talking about the same thing, unified our conference, getting
us back on track, and a lot of work to do,” he said.
Texas Rep.
Chip Roy said that the process will only make the eventual nominee stronger,
and wouldn’t pick a specific one, saying “each one has their merits. Each one
has questions and we'll go through that today.”
Roy said
the importance of having consensus in the room is the driving force.
“I
certainly made that effort a week or two ago and I certainly think we might
have benefited from doing that but we'll see. We'll see what happens here. I
mean, I think there seem to be some general agreement among candidates that
they would prefer if not fully getting 218 but getting to a place a where they
feel really comfortable about what they're able to do,” he said.
And
Texas Rep. Pete Sessions says that “it’s up to the people in the room, not me”
if he stays in the race to the end, but touted the skills of the man putting
his name into nomination, Rep. Morgan Griffith, saying that Griffith will bring
a message that “if we work together to do as we did in 2010” he will pick up
votes.
“It’s a
magic equation that Morgan understands,” Sessions said. “And so that’s what
he’s going to say in today.”
And
Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon said he could tell reporters a lot more about who will
win “after the vote” but warned that subterfuge would be unwelcome.
“Unless
someone sabotages the winner like they did two weeks ago with Steve Scalise,
that was not right,” he said. “We don’t want any more of what’s gone on the
past two weeks.”
“There’s
been talk of having consequences if you don’t support the team. I think that’s
legit,” he said.
7 hr 30 min ago
Members say voters are furious at House GOP paralysis
From CNN's Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Sam Fossum
GOP
members heading into the meeting of House Republicans Tuesday morning said they
are worried about how the ongoing dysfunction could impact their ability to
hold the majority as they say their voters are furious about the current
impasse.
Rep. Dan
Newhouse — when asked how his constituents feel right now – said: “Everybody’s
frustrated. I think that’s the general consensus around the country — us
included, Republican members of the House.”
Asked
how he thinks this will impact the GOP’s ability to hold onto the House, he
said, “Well, it’s not a plus, but I think if we can get a speaker elected, get
back to business and continue to make progress, I think we can overcome it.”
Pressed
by CNN about how worried he is about a shutdown, he said, “I’ve never been a
fan of shutdowns. I think we need to do everything we can to avoid one,” but
said he is “not worried about it. I think we can get through this.”
He said
he is supporting Rep. Tom Emmer for speaker.
Rep. Pat
Fallon told CNN he’s hearing from constituents that “they want it over with, they want us to clean up the mess.” He said the impact
on the GOP of the ongoing speaker chaos is “obviously not good,” but downplayed
its potential impact down the line. “I don’t really honestly think this is
going to be that much of an issue in October of next year so long as it never
happens again.”
But
Fallon acknowledged the potential for a shutdown increases the longer the House
goes without a speaker. “The longer this goes on, the higher that probability
is. I do not want to see that. So I want to get this over with and move
forward.”
He said
he is supporting Rep. Mike Johnson, but will support whoever the nominee is.
7 hr 48 min ago
Freedom Caucus leader raises concern over Emmer’s voting record
From CNN's Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Sam Fossum
House
Freedom Caucus leader Scott Perry told CNN he’s “concerned” about House
Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s previous votes on spending.
His
comments come as some Freedom Caucus members have been non-committal about
supporting Emmer on the floor should he win the GOP nomination today.
Perry
told Manu Raju “I’m concerned about that” when asked if he would be comfortable
with Emmer as the nominee given his votes on spending. Emmer voted for the deal
to raise the debt limit and the short-term spending bill to avoid a shutdown.
7 hr 57 min ago
Rep. Gary Palmer withdraws from speaker race
From CNN's Haley Talbot
Alabama
Rep. Gary Palmer withdrew from the speaker race, leaving seven candidates
seeking the House speakership.
8 hr 8 min ago
GOP House member said 3 of 8 speaker candidates are "capable"
From CNN's Annie Grayer
Longtime
Kevin McCarthy ally GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa told CNN that he views three of the
eight speaker candidates as capable but McCarthy is still the "best
qualified" to lead the conference.
"I
would narrow it down to about three that are really capable. There's others that I don't know what they're doing" he
told CNN.
LaMalfa
said he walked into the candidate forum Monday night "completely wide
open" and plans to approach voting on "a layered basis of ballot by
ballot" during the elections for a speaker nominee Tuesday.
8 hr 12 min ago
Rep. Byron Donalds says he fully expects to be the nominee, but he'll
support any of the 8 running
From CNN's Lauren Fox and Lauren Koenig
Florida
Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for speaker, says he's confident he will win
the nomination Tuesday but he will back whoever is the ultimate nominee on the
floor.
“I’ve
been very clear, whether it was Kevin, or Steve, or Jim, they’ve all had my
support, and whoever our nominee, will have my
support, I just expect that person to be me," Donalds said.
He also
said he won't negotiate with members for the job.
“There’s
not gonna be back-room negotiations, we are gonna get our job done today, we
are gonna elect a speaker of the House today," he said.
Donalds
said he expects a "spirited" vote Tuesday.
"I
think the members are committed to making sure we elect a speaker, and that’s
what we’re gonna get done," he added.
8 hr 20 min ago
Rep. Kevin Hern projects confidence ahead of this morning’s secret ballot
From CNN's Sam Fossum and Manu Raju
Rep.
Kevin Hern said he has received “a lot” of commitments ahead of this morning’s
secret ballot election.
“That’s
what you love about secret ballots, always a mystery right?,” the Oklahoma
Republican, who is running for speaker, said when asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if
he was confident he had enough support.
Hern
added that he had “a lot” of commitments.
House
GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer declined to comment this morning to CNN on his way
in.
8 hr 27 min ago
Tom Emmer ally says he expects the speaker's race to take the week
From CNN's Lauren Fox
Rep.
Mike Garcia, who is backing GOP whip Tom Emmer, said he's not optimistic they can
finish the speaker's race Tuesday but said he's hopeful it can be wrapped up
"by the end of the week."
Garcia
says given the new slate of candidates, he's optimistic "this will be less
painful than the previous scenarios."
Pushed,
however, on whether he is sure conservative hardliners would vote for Emmer if
he won the nomination, Garcia said we'd have to wait and see.
8 hr 57 min ago
This Congress keeps setting records as the speakership saga continues
From CNN's Christopher Hickey
The Republican-controlled 118th
Congress has set many firsts.
On Jan.
3, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy became the first candidate in the majority
party to lose a bid for the House speakership in 100 years. He won the gavel in
the 15th round of voting, making his election the longest since before the
Civil War.
Then, on
Oct. 3, McCarthy became the first House speaker in history to be removed by a
motion to vacate.
Now, as
the House seeks a new speaker, the 118th is the first ever Congress to need two
speaker elections with multiple ballots. Rep. Jim Jordan, who on Friday lost
his third round of voting and later lost in a secret ballot, is no longer a
nominee. House Republicans are expected to select a new nominee Tuesday.
Here is
the history of multiple-ballot House speaker elections:
9 hr 6 min ago
Some House Freedom Caucus members non-committal
about backing Emmer on the floor
From CNN's Sam Fossum and Manu Raju
Some
members of the House Freedom Caucus were non-committal about backing House
Majority Whip Tom Emmer on the floor if he wins the GOP nomination for speaker
Tuesday.
Rep.
Lauren Boebert and Rep. Bob Good wouldn’t say when asked Monday night if they
would ultimately support Emmer on the floor.
“We got
a lot of good candidates and I hope we can get to 217 and I’m looking at all of
them,” Good said.
Boebert
ignored multiple questions about Emmer.
But
Freedom Caucus member Rep. Matt Rosendale said he would support whoever
ultimately ends up as the nominee.
“I’m
going to back whoever goes to the floor, guys,” Rosendale said.
9 hr ago
These are the Republicans running for House speaker
From CNN's Jack Forrest
House
Republicans are expected to meet soon to pick a new speaker nominee.
Some of
the eight candidates are fresh faces in the contest, while others have been
here before, either following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster or during the 15-round
speakership balloting on the floor in January.
After
giving his speech at the forum, Rep. Dan Meuser, a member of the bipartisan
Problem Solvers Caucus, dropped out of the speaker’s race, according to members
in the room. The Pennsylvania Republican had been announced as a candidate for
the job by House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik on Sunday.
Here are
the eight Republican lawmakers vying for the speakership:
·
Rep. Tom Emmer: Emmer, the House majority whip, said in a letter to
his colleagues d on Saturday that
he was seeking the speakership with the goal of delivering “historic change.”
McCarthy is backing the Minnesota Republican for speaker, delivering an early
boost for his candidacy. Emmer, who voted to certify the 2020 election in a rebuke
to former President Donald Trump, could face resistance from some members of
the House Freedom Caucus skeptical of the current GOP leadership team and as
Trump’s allies have attacked him.
·
Rep. Kevin Hern: The Oklahoma Republican,
who chairs the influential Republican Study Committee, told CNN on Friday that
he plans to run for speaker and will work “hard” to get people on his side.
Hern chairs the conservative group known as the Republican Study Committee.
Republican hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus floated Hern’s name as
a possible nominee for speaker earlier this month.
·
Rep. Jack Bergman: Bergman, a 40-year veteran of the US Marines, is also
running for the speaker role. The Michigan lawmaker reached the rank of
lieutenant general in the US Marines before retiring – making him the
highest-ranking combat veteran to have ever served in the House, according to
his office.
·
Rep. Austin Scott: The Georgia Republican – who launched a
last-minute bid against Jordan last week, but quickly dropped out and
then supported his Ohio colleague – is running for speaker again now that the
field is wide open, his spokesperson told CNN. The seven-term congressman has
been a vocal ally and defender of McCarthy, criticizing the Republicans who
voted to remove the California Republican as speaker.
·
Rep. Byron Donalds: The Florida Republican and Freedom Caucus member
announced on X that he’s seeking the speakership to advance a “conservative
vision for the House of Representatives and the American people.” Donalds also
received votes from the GOP’s far-right members in January as a protest to
McCarthy. He is serving his second term, winning his first election to Congress
in 2020 after GOP Rep. Francis Rooney vacated Florida’s 19th Congressional
District.
·
Rep. Mike Johnson: The Louisiana
Republican, who serves as the House Republican conference vice chairman, also
announced a run for speaker. Johnson was first elected to the House in 2016. He
also serves as a deputy whip for the House GOP and was previously chairman of
the Republican Study Committee.
·
Rep. Pete Sessions: Sessions of Texas announced his candidacy on
Friday in a statement posted to X, describing himself as a “conservative leader
who can unite the Conference.” He chaired the National Republican Congressional
Committee from 2009 to 2012 and the House Rules Committee from 2013 to 2019. He
currently serves on the Financial Services and Oversight and Reform Committees.
·
Rep. Gary Palmer: Palmer of Alabama has also entered the race. He
was elected to Alabama’s 6th District in 2014 and serves as chairman of the
Republican Policy Committee. Palmer also sits on the Committees on Oversight
and Accountability, and Energy and Commerce.
9 hr 50 min ago
Despite cordial phone call, Trump reposts attack against Emmer on social
media
From CNN's Manu Raju
Former
President Donald Trump reposted attacks against House speaker candidate Rep.
Tom Emmer on social media Monday evening, despite the Minnesota Republican's
cordial phone call with the former president.
House
Republicans are set to meet Tuesday morning to pick a new speaker nominee from
a crowded field. Emmer, who
serves as majority whip, is considered the front-runner in the race. Former
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is backing Emmer, delivering an early boost to his
candidacy. But Emmer, who voted to certify the 2020 election, could face an
uphill battle, as some allies of former President Donald Trump have been
critical of his candidacy.
Leaving
a GOP conference meeting Monday night, Emmer told CNN, “We have a good
relationship,” when asked about Trump.
8 hr 59 min ago
Analysis: A critical position in American politics has devolved into a
nightmare
From CNN's Stephen Collinson
The
chair normally occupied by the Speaker of the House is seen unoccupied in the
House chamber of the US Capitol on Friday. Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP
Winning
a majority party’s nomination for speaker of the House of
Representatives usually
elevates a lawmaker into the pantheon of American political leaders.
But such
is the toxicity of the GOP three
weeks after the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy that the nominee expected to emerge
on Tuesday may never get the top job.
The
nomination is an assignment to what may be an impossible political mission to
unite a conference that might never be reconciled. And even if the nominee wins
the gavel, the next speaker has a reasonable chance of a
tenure even shorter than McCarthy, who lasted nine months.
But this
is about more than the plight of a Republican Party that often looks like it’s
tearing itself apart. If the dysfunctional House GOP majority cannot get its
act together, the US government could run out of funding before Thanksgiving
week – and millions of Americans could pay the price.
As
lawmakers returned to Washington on Monday, there was a growing sense of rising
public frustration about a House that has been paralyzed for three weeks, as
global crises boil and the shutdown deadline approaches.
Florida
Rep. Vern Buchanan said his constituents “think all of us are incapable.”
Buchanan, who is supporting fellow Sunshine State lawmaker Byron Donalds for
speaker, added: “People are very angry and upset.”
Eight hopefuls are
expected to line up on Tuesday in a secret ballot as the party tries to pick a
nominee, following the failures of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan to replace McCarthy. The candidates made their
pitches to a meeting of the party conference on Monday night. But while one
candidate is expected to emerge from secret balloting, there is no guarantee he
will be able to get the required majority in the full House – given the extreme
splits in the GOP between some of the far-right hardliners who helped eject
McCarthy and more moderate lawmakers in battleground districts.
Because
of their tiny majority, almost every Republican must back the nominee for him
to become speaker – a longshot in a conference that is deeply divided.
Ex-President Donald Trump has been fielding calls from top candidates seeking
his endorsement but joked on Monday that only divine intervention could end the
crisis.
“I said
there’s only one person who can do it all the way,” Trump said in New
Hampshire. “You know who that is? Jesus Christ. If Jesus came down and said, ‘I
want to be speaker,’ he would do it.”
Read
the full analysis here.
10 hr 14 min ago
House GOP gets set to pick new speaker nominee from a crowded field
From CNN's Clare Foran, Haley Talbot and Kristin Wilson
House
Republicans will meet Tuesday morning to pick a new speaker nominee from a
crowded field, though it remains unclear whether any candidate can lock down
the 217 votes needed to ultimately win the gavel.
The vote
to pick a nominee will take place behind closed doors via secret ballot. Eight Republicans are
in the running after Rep. Jim Jordan was pushed
out of the race following three failed floor votes.
Pressure is intensifying on House Republicans three weeks after the ouster of
former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which has left the House in a state of
paralysis.
With
multiple candidates in the running, members will cast a successive series of
secret ballots and the candidate who garners the fewest number of votes in each
round will be dropped from the running. The winning candidate will need a
majority of the conference behind them.
Notably,
however, winning a majority of the conference is a lower bar to clear than
what’s needed to win the gavel on the floor. That requires a majority of the full
chamber. Given the intense divisions within the conference and the GOP’s narrow
majority, whoever emerges as the nominee will face tough vote math ahead.
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who
serves as majority whip, is considered the front-runner in the race. McCarthy
is backing Emmer, delivering an early boost to his candidacy. But the Minnesota
Republican, who voted to certify the 2020 election, could face an uphill
battle, as some allies of former President Donald Trump have been critical of
his candidacy.
Leaving
a GOP conference meeting Monday night, Emmer told CNN, “We have a good
relationship,” when asked about Trump.
The
other candidates are: Reps. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Mike Johnson of Louisiana,
Byron Donalds of Florida, Austin Scott of Georgia, Gary Palmer of Alabama, Jack
Bergman of Michigan and Pete Sessions of Texas.
Republicans
gathered on Monday for the candidate forum also behind closed doors. Rep. Dan
Meuser of Pennsylvania, who had been in the running, dropped his bid.
House
Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul of Texas told CNN’s Manu Raju on
Monday, “It’s going to be very difficult, but we have to get there,” when asked
how concerned he is that no candidate can get 217 votes on the floor.
Read
more about the race for House speaker
here.
ATTACHMENT SEVEN – From Fox
HOUSE GOP SPIRALS INTO CHAOS AS EMMER BECOMES
THIRD SPEAKER NOMINEE DROPPED IN THREE WEEKS
Emmer beat out six other GOP hopefuls on Tuesday morning
By Elizabeth Elkind Fox
News
Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has dropped out of
the race for speaker hours after being named House Republicans’ nominee, three
sources tell Fox News Digital.
Emmer won a majority of the GOP Conference on
Tuesday morning after five rounds of voting, against six other potential candidates.
But it quickly became clear that he did not have
enough support to outright win a House-wide vote. With Republicans’ razor-thin
majority, a GOP speaker-designate can only lose four members of their own party
to win the gavel without Democratic support.
At least 25 Republicans said they would not support
Emmer in a House floor vote after he won the title.
More GOP lawmakers indicated after the roll call
that the conference needed to move on to a new nominee.
"This morning I voted for Rep. Donalds for
speaker. Followed by Rep Johnson. Rep Emmer does not
have votes to be speaker and I will be unable to support him on the
floor," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wrote on social media platform
X.
WHY JORDAN COULDN'T
GRAB THE SPEAKER GAVEL AFTER THREE FAILED BALLOTS
Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., called on GOP
Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican Study Committee Chair
Kevin Hern, R-Okla., to jump back into the race. Both lost to Emmer earlier in
the day.
"This morning, the Republican Conference met to
elect a Speaker. I supported Kevin Hern until he was eliminated from the
ballot, at which time I supported Mike Johnson," Rosendale said on X.
"Tom Emmer has secured the nomination but no longer has a path to secure
217 votes. It’s time to get back in the room and give Kevin Hern and Mike
Johnson an opportunity to get to 217!"
HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTE
TO REMOVE JIM JORDAN AS SPEAKER NOMINEE
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump exerted
external pressure against Emmer.
"I have many wonderful friends wanting to be
Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors," Trump wrote on
his Truth Social app. "RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one
of them."
Shortly after Emmer dropped out, the offices of
Reps. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital they
were both re-entering the race.
Emmer is the third speaker-designate House
Republicans have had in as many weeks. Congress has been paralyzed since eight
GOP lawmakers voted with all Democrats to oust ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy,
R-Calif., the first time in history the House deposed
its own leader.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Judiciary
Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio – two of the highest-profile House Republicans
after McCarthy – were both forced out of the race because they were unable to
win over the 217 Republicans needed for victory.
Elizabeth Elkind is a reporter for Fox News Digital
focused on Congress as well as the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and
politics. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS
News.
ATTACHMENT EIGHT – From the New York Times
EMMER DROPS SPEAKER BID AFTER RIGHT-WING BACKLASH
Tom Emmer, the House G.O.P.’s No. 3 leader, narrowly
won his party’s nomination but drew an immediate backlash from right-wing
colleagues and former President Donald J. Trump.
By Luke Broadwater Oct.
24, 2023Updated 4:55 p.m. ET
Representative
Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid for speaker
on Tuesday hours after securing his divided party’s nomination, after a swift
backlash from the right, including former President Donald J. Trump, left his
candidacy in shambles.
Mr.
Emmer’s abrupt exit signaled that Republicans were as far as ever from breaking
a deadlock that has left Congress leaderless and paralyzed for three weeks. It
made Mr. Emmer the third Republican this month to be chosen to lead the party,
only to have his bid collapse in a seemingly endless cycle of G.O.P.
grievances, personality conflicts and ideological rifts.
Republicans
have now succeeded in repudiating all three of their top leaders over the past
few weeks. The chamber has been frozen for the better part of a month as
Republicans feud over who should be in charge, even as wars rage overseas and a
government shutdown approaches.
Mr.
Emmer began Tuesday with a scant victory, winning an internal party nominating
contest by a vote of 117 to 97 over a right-wing rival, Representative Mike
Johnson of Louisiana. The margin reflected that House Republicans were still
deeply at odds.
Then
immediately after Mr. Emmer’s nomination, about two dozen right-wing
Republicans indicated that they would not vote for him on the floor, denying
him the majority he would need to succeed in a vote of the full House. And as
he met with holdouts to try to win them over, the former president issued a
scathing statement on social media expressing vehement opposition to Mr. Emmer,
calling him a “Globalist RINO” — short for “Republican in name only” — whose
elevation would be a “tragic mistake.”
What Congress Can’t Get Done Amid the Speaker Fight
A legislative standstill. Republican
disunity in the House over who will be the next speaker has left the chamber
hobbled at a time of international and domestic crises. Here is a look at
the big tasks Congress
faces as G.O.P. infighting continues:
An aid package for Israel. There is
a broad bipartisan
consensus on the need to rush additional military
support to Israel for its war against Hamas. But the speakership vacuum means
there is no certainty about how soon any aid could be approved and delivered.
More assistance for Ukraine. A White House
request for $24 billion in additional funding for
Ukraine’s war against Russia is on hold
during the speaker fight. Republican opposition to continued aid for Kyiv, once
confined to the far right, has been growing
recently.
Avoiding a government shutdown. Congress,
which is operating under a temporary extension of
last year’s spending bills, has until Nov. 17 to fund the government. The
stopgap measure cost Kevin McCarthy his speakership; it is not clear how his
successor might avoid a similar fate.
“I have many wonderful friends wanting to be
Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors,” Mr. Trump wrote on
Truth Social. “RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them. He
never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement, or the breadth and scope of
MAGA—MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
A
majority of those opposed to Mr. Emmer were members of the ultraconservative
House Freedom Caucus and loyal to Mr. Trump. Any candidate for speaker can lose
only a handful of votes and still win the speakership because Republicans hold
such a small majority in the House.
Only
hours later, Mr. Emmer decided to drop his bid, according to a person familiar
with his thinking who divulged it on the condition of anonymity before it was
officially announced.
The
Republican disarray underscored a new ethos that has gripped the House G.O.P.:
Dozens of members have abandoned the old norms of respecting the winner of the
party’s internal elections, and instead are acting according to their
individual preferences, ideologies and allegiances.
Some
hard-right Republicans consider themselves a distinct political party from
their more mainstream, business-minded colleagues, whom they accuse of being in
a “uniparty” with Democrats.
The
House has been in a state of uncertainty and chaos since Oct. 3, when
rebels forced a vote to
oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker.
Eight Republicans backed that move along with Democrats, who remained united
behind their own leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Republicans have cast aside two previous winners of their closed-door
nominating process — Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana and
Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio — before settling on Mr. Emmer.
Mr.
Emmer began Tuesday by besting six other candidates vying for the job during a
series of closed-door votes. Mr. Johnson, a conservative lawyer who is a
favorite of the party’s right wing, endorsed Mr. Emmer after his loss, and said
he was trying to persuade his colleagues to unite around him.
But old
rivalries helped to tank Mr. Emmer’s speakership bid. Feelings remained raw
from a contentious race for his current post against Representative Jim Banks
of Indiana.
“I can’t
go along with putting one of the most moderate members of the entire Republican
conference in the speaker’s chair,” Mr. Banks said. “That betrays the
conservative values that I came here to fight for.”
Some on
the right opposed to Mr. Emmer were citing his vote in favor of codifying federal
protections for same-sex couples. Others
railed against Mr. Emmer’s vote in favor of a stopgap spending
bill put forward by Mr. McCarthy, the speaker at the time, to avert a
government shutdown. Still others said he was insufficiently loyal to Mr.
Trump, because he voted to certify the results of the 2020 election won by
President Biden.
Mr.
Emmer had attempted to mollify Mr. Trump by calling him over the weekend and
praising him, according to the former president. But Mr. Trump made clear he
had not been won over.
“I
believe he has now learned his lesson, because he is saying that he is
Pro-Trump all the way, but who can ever be sure?” Mr. Trump wrote. “Has he only
changed because that’s what it takes to win? The Republican Party cannot take
that chance, because that’s not where the America First Voters are. Voting for
a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!”
The
current free-for-all left more mainstream members of the party fuming.
“Our
conference has been essentially at war with itself,” said Representative
Brandon Williams of New York, who represents a district won by President Biden.
He called the situation “disheartening” and reminiscent of the movie “Groundhog
Day.”
“Most of
the country’s concerned about inflation, what they’re experiencing at the
grocery store, and they would like to see Congress stand up and act like
adults,” Mr. Williams said.
A former
college ice hockey player and coach, Mr. Emmer, 62,
currently holds the job of “whip,” the
chief vote counter for the party. He has allies among both the conservative and
the establishment wings of the party. He served two terms as the chairman of
the National Republican Congressional Committee, helping Republican candidates
around the country win elections and making inroads across the conference in
the process.
Catie
Edmondson, Robert Jimison and Kayla Guo contributed
reporting.
Luke Broadwater covers Congress. He was the lead reporter on a series of
investigative articles at The Baltimore Sun that won a Pulitzer Prize and a
George Polk Award in 2020. More about Luke
Broadwater
Who is Tom Emmer, the
latest Republican nominee for speaker?
Who is Mike Johnson, a
finalist for the G.O.P. nominee for speaker?
There’s still no House
speaker. What happens now?
The Republican Meltdown in the House
A
Republican uprising has led to the ouster of a House speaker for the first time
in American history.
Institutions Under
Stress: Kevin McCarthy’s stunning removal as
House speaker comes as Donald Trump is on
trial and another government shutdown looms. Is American
democracy veering out of control?
·
Electing a New Speaker: After Representative
Jim Jordan of Ohio, the hard-right chairman of the Judiciary Committee, failed in his bid to become their next speaker, tempers flared and uncertainty over how
the impasse might be resolved only grew.
·
‘Squishes’ No More: Facing intimidation for
opposing Jordan’s speakership bid, mainstream
Republicans refused to back down, defying their reputation for caving in the face of party clashes.
·
A Key Issue: The Republican shift on Capitol
Hill has highlighted how G.O.P. support for
continued aid for Ukraine has
decreased, and how opposition to
helping Kyiv has become a litmus test for the
right.
·
Matt Gaetz: The fourth-term Republican
congressman led the push to oust McCarthy. His success has ratcheted up
speculation that he already has his eye on his next target: the Florida
governor’s mansion.
ATTACHMENT NINE – From Al Jazeera
WILL US REPUBLICANS FINALLY ELECT A HOUSE
SPEAKER NOMINEE?
Published On 24 Oct 2023 24 Oct 2023
Republicans
in the United States House of Representatives are expected to choose their
nominee for speaker after a three-week leadership vacuum that has paralysed the
chamber, leaving it unable to vote on urgent funding for Israel and Ukraine.
The
221-member Republican majority in the House gathered on Tuesday morning for
closed-door votes on a nominee, a flashpoint issue that has divided mainstream
and hardline party members. The party is expected Eight
candidates are battling it out to win the speaker’s gavel, the most powerful
position in the House after the presidency. Failure to find a speaker could
lead to further turmoil in the House, which faces a November 17 deadline to
avoid a government shutdown.
Here’s
what you need to know:
What sparked the crisis?
The
House has been without a speaker since the removal of Kevin McCarthy three
weeks ago. McCarthy had been unseated in a vote led by Republican lawmaker Matt
Gaetz, who accused him of conspiring with the rival Democrats to push through a
temporary spending bill at the 11th hour, narrowly averting a government
shutdown.
Infighting
later derailed leadership bids by two Republicans: House majority leader Steve
Scalise and prominent conservative Jim Jordan. The latter, endorsed by former
president Donald Trump, was dropped as nominee last week, partly because of a
hardball campaign from his supporters that resulted in death threats.
It was
even suggested that Trump himself could take the gavel, but the Republican
presidential candidate said nobody was capable of uniting the party. “There’s
only one person who can do it all the way: Jesus Christ,” he told AP.
The
House is currently led by interim speaker Representative Patrick McHenry.
Having rejected Scalise and Jordan, the GOP now needs to select from a
lesser-known cast of candidates.
Who are the candidates?
On
Monday night, eight candidates made their pitches to the party, answering
questions about how they’d do the job.
The
candidates include Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, a former hockey coach,
Representative Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, a former McDonald’s franchise owner,
Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, a well-liked Trump ally, and
Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a constitutional law expert.
Also in
the running are Jack Bergman of Michigan, Austin Scott of Georgia, Pete
Sessions of Texas and Gary Palmer of Alabama.
Emmer is
currently leading the race. But it’s thought that McCarthy’s endorsement of the
representative, who is said to have strong leadership and campaign fundraising
experience, may put off hardliners.
Gaetz and other Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy favour Hern,
Donalds and Johnson.
Gaetz’s
hardline faction seems set to reject any leader who voted for the budget deal
McCarthy struck with Biden earlier this year. Many far-right Republicans
disagreed with federal spending levels, pushing for steeper cuts to federal
programs. Funding for Ukraine, which was dropped from the
bill to secure the deal, also sowed divisions.
Many
Republicans have said they will not back somebody who has support from the
opposition party. It remains to be seen whether this will change if the party
fails to choose a speaker in the coming days.
With a
narrow majority of 221-212 in the House, it is not clear whether any Republican
can get the 218 votes, or a simple majority, needed to claim the speakership.
But some
lawmakers said the party might keep voting and negotiating in private until
their next nominee has locked in Republican votes.
What’s next?
The plan
is to hold a House floor vote later this week.
The
federal government risks a shutdown in a matter of weeks if Congress fails
to pass funding legislation by a November 17 deadline to keep services and
offices running.
More
immediately, President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide $105bn in aid to
help Israel and Ukraine and to shore up the US border with Mexico. Federal
aviation and farming programmes face expiration without action.
“We’re
going to have to figure out how to get our act together” Representaive Dusty
Johnson told The AP.
“I mean,
big boys and big girls have got to quit making excuses and we just got to get
it done.”
ATTACHMENT TEN – From
Guardian U.K.
HOUSE STILL WITHOUT SPEAKER AS REPUBLICANS FAIL YET
AGAIN TO UNIFY
Tom Emmer – the third nominee in three weeks – drops
out of race just hours after winning nomination
By Joan E Greve Tue 24 Oct 2023 16.56 EDT
After three weeks of the House having no speaker and
mere hours after Tom Emmer of Minnesota won the nomination, the House still did not have a
speaker on Tuesday when Emmer dropped out after just hours.
Again, Republicans have failed to unify after the historic removal of Kevin McCarthy.
Ahead of the Tuesday vote, seven House
Republicans had launched speakership bids: Emmer, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Byron Donalds of
Florida, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Austin
Scott of Georgia and Pete Sessions of Texas. Two other declared candidates, Dan
Meuser of Pennsylvania and Gary Palmer of Alabama, announced before the Tuesday
vote that they would withdraw from the race.
Sessions, Bergman, Scott and Hern were eliminated
after the first four ballots, while Donalds dropped out following the fourth
round of voting. On the fifth and final ballot, Emmer and Johnson were the only
two candidates, and Emmer pulled off the win, becoming the conference’s third
speaker nominee in three weeks.
The final vote was 117 to 97, underscoring the
significant challenge that Emmer faced in attempting to unify his deeply
divided conference. An internal roll call vote taken after Emmer won the
nomination indicated that more than 20 Republicans intended to oppose him on
the floor, members told reporters. Although Emmer tried to allay those members’
concerns, he was unable to sway enough of his detractors to advance to a floor
vote.
Of the declared candidates, Emmer was arguably the
best known within the conference, because of his position in House leadership.
But Emmer has shown an occasional willingness to clash with Donald Trump, which
raised issues with some of his House colleagues. For example, Emmer is one of
just two speaker candidates, along with Scott, who voted to certify the results
of the 2020 presidential election despite the former president’s false claims
of widespread fraud in battleground states. However, Emmer also signed an
amicus brief urging the US supreme court to invalidate
the election results of four key swing states, which would have voided Biden’s
victory in the presidential race.
Emmer’s mixed record on election denial was not
enough to assuage the concerns of Trump, who urged House Republicans to oppose
the speaker nominee on Tuesday. Writing on his social media platform Truth
Social, Trump warned that a vote for Emmer would be “a tragic mistake”.
“I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker
of the House, and some are truly great Warriors,” Trump said. “Tom Emmer, who I
do not know well, is not one of them.”
Emmer’s nomination came four days after Jim
Jordan of Ohio abandoned his speakership bid due to entrenched opposition among more
moderate Republicans.
The House has now been without a speaker for three
weeks, since McCarthy’s ouster earlier this month. Because of Republicans’
razor-thin majority in the House, any speaker candidate can only afford four
defections within the party and still secure the 217 votes needed to win the
gavel.
As the House remains at a standstill, the chamber is
unable to advance any legislation. Joe Biden has called on Congress to pass a supplemental funding package providing aid to
Ukraine and Israel, but the House cannot consider such a bill until a new
speaker is elected.
Despite the high stakes, House Republicans have been
unable to unify around a single candidate. Following McCarthy’s removal, the
House majority leader, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, won the conference’s speaker
nomination, but he dropped out days later amid fierce backlash from hard-right
lawmakers. Jordan then won Republicans’ speaker nomination, but he was forced
to withdraw after three failed floor
votes.
“Chaos and dysfunction continue to be the order of
the day in the House Republican majority,” the House Democratic caucus chair,
Pete Aguilar of California, said Tuesday. “The American people and our allies
abroad can’t afford any more delays. Every day of this Maga [‘Make America
Great Again’] madness is another day of not sending aid to Israel and Ukraine,
not taking meaningful steps to fund our government and not making sure that
we’re looking out for working families across this country.”
In a potentially grim sign for Republicans’ hopes of
quickly reaching a resolution to the deadlock, the hard-right House Freedom
Caucus has demanded that members remain in Washington DC until a new speaker is
elected, jeopardizing the chamber’s planned recess
starting next week.
“We must proceed with all possible speed and
determination,” the caucus said in a statement released on Monday. “Intentional and unnecessary delays must end.
It serves only the lobbyists of the swamp and defenders of the status quo to
continue to drag out this process.”
ATTACHMENT ELEVEN – From the Washington Post
REPUBLICANS CAN’T OPEN THE HOUSE, WHICH COULD
SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT
The GOP’s infighting and inability to elect a House speaker means the
lower chamber cannot get to work, potentially delaying crucial legislation
By Jacob Bogage
and Jeff Stein
Updated October
24, 2023 at 5:01 p.m. EDT|Published October 24, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
The
repeated failures by House
Republicans to elect a new speaker are
making the federal government more likely to shut down next month, as the GOP’s
weeks-long internal dysfunction threatens to delay vital legislation.
The
House has been mostly closed for business since Oct. 3, when a band of
far-right rebels ousted then-Speaker
Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Republicans since have not coalesced around a replacement, running through
multiple options without electing anyone. Without a speaker, lawmakers can’t
bring bills to the floor.
On
Tuesday, House Republicans chose Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) as their next speaker
nominee — for a few hours, before he dropped out once it was clear that he
wouldn’t have enough support in a vote of the full House chamber to win. Former
president Donald Trump blasted Emmer shortly after the GOP vote to select him,
helping to doom his candidacy. The next move wasn’t yet clear by late
afternoon.
House Republicans
embark on electing third speaker nominee as Trump looms
Policy
discussions have ground to a halt, even as war has broken out in Israel and
federal funding is weeks away from expiring. Congress has until Nov. 17 to
approve a deal to fund the government, or members of the military
risk missing paychecks, national parks will close and the Internal Revenue
Service will run shoestring operations.
It’s a
high-stakes tussle for the GOP, which has crowed in recent weeks over polling
data that reported voters trusted
congressional Republicans rather than President Biden on economic policy.
And the
longer the Republicans dawdle, the less time the party will have to avoid a
government shutdown for which most GOP members concede they will likely bear
the blame.
What’s next in the
Republican fight for a new House speaker
“The
clock is ticking every day, and they don’t have near enough time. And it
doesn’t even matter who wins the speakership because the caucus is just
ungovernable right now,” said Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of the American
Action Forum, a conservative-leaning group. “There’s very good reason to be
nervous about a shutdown. The odds are increasing.”
Meanwhile,
business in the Democratic-controlled Senate has continued apace as members of
both parties negotiate over longer-term spending bills, the first of which is
expected to come up for a vote this week. Senators have mostly unified to
support short-term legislation to keep the government open at current spending
levels, and they generally back Biden’s $106 billion
foreign aid package to support Ukraine and Israel.
Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) went on “Fox News Sunday” and CBS’s
“Face the Nation” over the weekend to press the case for what has quickly
become Biden’s signature
foreign policy legislation — and to
encourage the House to act.
“I hope
they can get a speaker sometime soon, because it does send I think a poor message
to our allies and our enemies around the world,” McConnell said on Fox. “And we
also have work to do, we have appropriation bills to
pass. We have a supplemental to deal with. So I’m pulling for them to finally
wrap this up sometime soon.”
Republicans can’t
govern. Just ask them.
House
Republicans last week appeared to settle on an interim plan to reopen the lower
chamber for business. The House was set to grant Rep. Patrick T. McHenry
(R-N.C.), the speaker pro tempore, expanded powers to bring legislation to the
floor in light of the deteriorating situation in Israel and Gaza and the approaching funding
deadline.
But
McHenry declined to endorse such a plan. Some lawmakers said McHenry had the
authority to bring legislation to the floor even without specifically
delineated powers from the House. The speaker pro tempore threatened to resign
that position if those calls increased.
“If it
sounds like a mess,” said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy
at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, “that’s just because it is a
mess.”
The Republicans who say
we don’t even need a speaker
Whomever is elected
speaker will immediately face the same dynamics that led to McCarthy’s demise,
the first time a speaker was removed in the middle of a congressional session.
Facing an imminent
government shutdown in September,
McCarthy passed a short-term funding bill called a “continuing resolution,” or
CR, that kept federal operations going at current spending levels and
jettisoned a Senate request for aid for Ukraine. But the proposal was unpopular
with hard-line Republicans, who demanded draconian spending cuts.
Rep. Matt Gaetz
(R-Fla.) threatened to trigger a vote to boot McCarthy if
he put that bill on the floor and used Democratic votes to pass it. McCarthy
did anyway, daring Gaetz to call for a new speaker. Then seven other
Republicans voted to remove McCarthy, as well, and Democrats did not save him.
“In
today’s world, you’re sitting in Congress and you took a gamble to make sure
the government was still open,” McCarthy said after he was ousted, “and eight
people throw you out as speaker and Democrats have said they wanted to keep the
government open. I think you’ve got a real problem. I think you’ve got a real
institutional problem.”
After
removing McCarthy, the GOP rejected both his second-in-command, Rep. Steve
Scalise (R-La.), and Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as
replacements, before moving on to rejecting Emmer on Tuesday.
“Most of
us are getting beat up for not having someone in the position and looking like clowns,”
said one House Republican lawmaker, speaking on the condition of anonymity to
discuss the situation candidly. “There’s a sense of urgency this week that
wasn’t there the last two weeks.”
Hard-line
Republicans, particularly in the House Freedom Caucus, have a severe distaste
for CRs, preferring instead to pass full-year appropriations bills that fund
individual government agencies and programs. They’ve also decried spending
bills that pass the House using Democratic, rather than party-line Republican,
votes.
But the
House has only passed four appropriations bills so far, all of them at far
lower spending levels than McCarthy and Biden agreed on for the current fiscal
year during negotiations to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling in
the spring. And now there is not sufficient time for the House to pass the
eight remaining bills — which would also spend less than leaders agreed on —
and reconcile them with the Senate, rendering another short-term bill passed
with help from Democrats probably the only way to avoid a shutdown.
“I think
if we can get the seat filled, if we can get whoever it is to put the trains
back on the rails again and start moving out and finish the Commitment to
America and start getting the appropriation bills passed, avoid a government
shutdown — CR strategy now has to be very tight, very clean — then we recover
from this,” Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) said Monday. “But we’ve got to be
working as a team.”
Some
hard-line Republicans have voiced disgust at the prospect of using Democratic
votes to install a speaker, or legislate after one is elected.
“We
don’t deserve the majority if we go along with the plan to give the Democrats
control over the House of Representatives,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said
Thursday. “It’s a giant betrayal to our Republican voters.”
Previous
speaker candidates said they would use a CR to fund the government. Scalise
conceded to colleagues during his speakership bid that the House’s spell
without a leader meant it needed a CR to keep the government open as
appropriations work continued.
Jordan
pitched to members a longer continuing resolution that stretched through the
end of April, using larger budget cuts that are set to kick in after April 30
to compel hard-right Republicans and Democrats to the bargaining table. Those
cuts were part of the same agreement between McCarthy and Biden that the House
has since ignored in passing spending measures.
“That’s
probably the most realistic plan we’ve got,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a key
vote that sunk Jordan, said last week.
Added
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), another anti-Jordan vote: “I think the [House
Democrats] would be hard pressed not to vote for a clean CR in with the hope
that at some point they negotiate with the Senate.”
ATTACHMENT TWELVE – From the New York Times
JOHNSON ELECTED SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, ENDING WEEKS
OF CHAOS
Mike Johnson, a little-known social
conservative from Louisiana, did what three nominees before him could not: win
over support from mainstream Republicans and the far right.
Oct. 25, 2023 Updated 5:14 p.m. ET
After weeks of infighting that saw Republicans reject three nominees,
Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana secured enough party support to become
speaker of the House.
“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.”
“First, a few words of gratitude. I want to thank Leader Jeffries. I do look forward to working with you
on behalf of the American people. I know we see things from very different points
of view, but 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,
all right. I want to express my great thanks for our speaker emeritus, Kevin
McCarthy. He is the reason we’re in this majority today. [applause]
Last thing I’m going to say is a message to the rest of the world: They have
been watching this drama play out for a few weeks. We’ve learned a lot of
lessons. But you know what? Through adversity, it makes you stronger. And —
yeah, and 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.”
After weeks of infighting that saw
Republicans reject three nominees, Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana
secured enough party support to become speaker of the House.CreditCredit...Kenny Holston/The
New York Times
A table
that shows the current tally for the most recent vote for speaker of the House.
|
Representative |
Total |
DemocratsDem. |
RepublicansRep. |
|
|
Johnson |
220 |
0 |
220 |
|
|
Jeffries |
209 |
209 |
0 |
Note: To win, a member must receive a
majority of votes cast for a person, not counting “present” votes. The Constitution
does not specify that the speaker must be a current or even a former
representative.
ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN – From CBS
MIKE
JOHNSON ELECTED HOUSE SPEAKER WITH UNANIMOUS GOP SUPPORT
Washington — Rep. Mike Johnson,
a Republican of Louisiana, won election as the new speaker of the House on Wednesday,
ending three weeks of chaos since Rep. Kevin McCarthy's historic ouster.
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. All 209 Democrats voted for Rep.
Hakeem Jeffries, the party's House leader.
"The
people's House is back in business," Johnson told colleagues before being
sworn in.
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 new
speaker has been in Congress since 2017 and has no experience in the House
leadership. He laid out a plan for passing a series of government
spending bills earlier in the week that attracted support from some of McCarthy's
detractors, and his broad support among the Republican conference was a signal
of lawmakers' desire to move past the divisive speaker fight and reopen the
House.
Johnson
now faces a daunting list of challenges, with a fast-approaching government
shutdown chief among them. The House is staring down a deadline of Nov. 17,
when current government funding expires. In his blueprint for the next few
months, Johnson said a stopgap measure extending funding until January or April
may be needed to approve more spending and avoid a shutdown.
What comes next after Johnson's election
Speaking
after the vote, Johnson vowed to hit the ground running and get the House back
to work. A government shutdown is fast approaching, and the White House has
requested a $106 billion emergency aid package for Israel, Ukraine and other
priorities.
"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. "The American people's business is too urgent in
this moment. The hour is late. The crisis is great." He’s a poet, but
doesn’t know it! - DJI
Johnson
has laid out a tentative legislative schedule to approve new spending and take
up other pieces of legislation, but things could change quickly as he confronts
the realities of governing, especially given the fractious nature of the
Republican conference.
ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN – From CBS
MIKE
JOHNSON IS THE NEW SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
BY
STEFAN BECKET, MELISSA QUINN UPDATED ON: OCTOBER 25, 2023 / 4:05 PM / CBS
NEWS
Washington — Rep. Mike Johnson, a little-known Republican lawmaker from Louisiana, is now second in line
for the presidency after winning a vote to become the next speaker of the House, more than three weeks after Rep. Kevin McCarthy's ouster left the
chamber without a leader.
Johnson prevailed after a chaotic process that saw three other GOP
nominees fail to unite the party and secure a majority. He won 220 to 209 in
the House vote on Wednesday with unanimous support among Republicans, who enjoy
a slim majority in the chamber.
A member of Congress since 2017, Johnson has no experience in the House
leadership, but vowed to hit the ground running and get the House back to work.
A government shutdown is fast approaching, and the White House has requested a
$106 billion emergency aid package for Israel, Ukraine and other
priorities.
"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 after the vote. "The American
people's business is too urgent in this moment. The hour is late. The crisis is
great."
Johnson has laid out a tentative legislative schedule to approve new spending
and take up other pieces of legislation, but things could change quickly as he
confronts the realities of governing, especially given the fractious nature of
the Republican conference.
As speaker of the House, Johnson will
have final say over what bills make it to the floor. Funding the government
past a deadline of Nov. 17 is the most pressing item on the agenda.
Johnson sent
a letter to his colleagues on Monday laying out a tentative schedule for
how he would approach the next several months' worth of House business. He
endorsed a plan to bring up 12 individual spending bills, rather than a single
massive piece of legislation to fund executive branch departments. The
consideration of individual spending bills was one of the demands made by GOP
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and other who rebelled against McCarthy when he
endorsed a temporary extension of government funding.
"This is an ambitious
schedule, but if our Speaker can work across the Conference to unify our
membership and build consensus, we can achieve our necessary objectives,"
Johnson wrote.
Johnson proposed taking up individual bills between now and Nov. 17, when
current funding expires. He said another stopgap measure — known as a
continuing resolution — might be needed to prevent the Senate from "jam[ming] the House with a Christmas omnibus,"
referring to a consolidated spending bill. He said a continuing resolution
could have a deadline of Jan. 15 or April 15, depending on the consensus in the
GOP conference.
Gaetz seemed receptive to
Johnson's plan on Monday, calling it "quite attractive." The Florida
Republican voted for Johnson in Wednesday's vote, along with all other
Republican members.
Of course, any spending
bills would require passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate and President
Biden's signature, and drastic Republican-backed spending cuts would be dead on
arrival. His plan envisions beginning negotiations on spending in October, and
acknowledges they could continue until April.
Mr. Biden welcomed news of
Johnson's election and said in a statement that both sides "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. The two men spoke
on the phone Wednesday afternoon, according to the White House.
GOP Rep. Scott Perry, a
conservative member from Pennsylvania, said Tuesday that members will likely
give Johnson some leeway on government spending bills.
"We're in overtime
right now, right? So you don't blame the backup quarterback for the failures of
the guy that just came out of the game," Perry told reporters.
Johnson said his first priority would be to pass a resolution denouncing
Hamas for the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel that left more than 1,400 people dead.
Israel is said to be preparing for a ground offensive in the Hamas-controlled
Gaza Strip, and lawmakers have been anxious to show support for the key U.S.
ally as the speaker's fight dragged on.
The House moved quickly to take up the resolution, scheduling a vote on
the measure for Wednesday afternoon. Johnson said the House is "overdue in
getting that done."
The White House has requested an emergency aid package worth $106 billion, which would include $14 billion in aid to Israel.
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.
Johnson's blueprint for the next several weeks did not mention taking up
an aid package, but he said Wednesday that it's a "top priority."
"We'll be talking about the support and what's necessary to get it.
We have to ensure that Vladimir Putin is not successful and I think all the
House Republicans are united in that cause," he told reporters, despite
opposition from many Republicans to more aid for Ukraine. "We'll be
talking about how that's going to be done here in the coming days and it's a
top priority."
A bipartisan debt commission
Speaking to the chamber after his election, Johnson said the U.S. must
rein in government spending and address the growing national debt, which he
called "the greatest threat to our national security."
"It's unsustainable. We have to get the country back on track. This
is not going to be an easy task, and tough decisions will have to be made. But
the consequences if we don't act now are unbearable," he said.
Johnson said lawmakers "have a duty to the American people to
explain this to them so they understand it well, and we are going to establish
a bipartisan debt commission to begin working on this crisis immediately."
The new speaker did not elaborate on what the commission might
specifically be tasked with, or who might be tapped to serve on it.
Passing a farm bill
Congress passes a package of legislation that sets policy for
agricultural and food programs, known as the farm bill, every five years. The
most recent package was approved in 2018 and expired Sept. 30, though some of
its provisions remain in place, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Work on the farm bill has been ongoing. The House and Senate Committees
on Agriculture have been holding field hearings, and the Republican and
Democratic leaders of those panels met with Mr. Biden in May to discuss the
importance of passing the legislation this year.
In his blueprint for the rest of the 118th Congress, Johnson proposed the
House take up the farm bill in December and begin negotiations with the Senate
"as soon as possible" following action by the upper chamber.
Reconciling the NDAA
In July, the House passed its version of the must-pass defense
policy bill, which included a number of conservative policy priorities on
abortion, health coverage for transgender service members, and diversity,
equity and inclusion programs.
The legislation, titled the National Defense Authorization Act, typically
earns wide bipartisan support and has passed Congress each year for more than
six decades. But the House bill won approval in a near-party-line vote of
219-210. Four Republicans voted against the bill, while four Democrats voted
for it.
The Senate passed its own version shortly after the House acted, and
members from both chambers are now working to reconcile the two versions and
craft a consensus bill.
In his proposed schedule for the current Congress, Johnson said passing
the final version of the NDAA would take place in December.
Determining the next steps in the Biden impeachment
inquiry
McCarthy announced in September that he would be opening a formal impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden focused on allegations that he benefited financially from
his family members' foreign business dealings. Republicans have presented no
direct evidence of wrongdoing by the president since they began looking into
the Biden family's overseas work after taking control of the House in January.
A single hearing has
been held as part of the impeachment effort, by the House
Oversight Committee in late September. During the proceeding, law professor
Jonathan Turley, who was a witness for the GOP majority, said he did "not
believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment."
"That is something that an inquiry has to establish," he said.
"But I also do believe that the House has passed the threshold for an
impeachment inquiry into the conduct of President Biden."
Republicans could continue with their inquiry and ultimately decide not
to bring articles of impeachment against the president. Johnson said in
September that he supported the inquiry.
"Barring declarations of war, impeachment is the most awesome power
Congress holds, and we will undertake this great responsibility with a strict
fidelity to the truth," he said in a statement at the time. "It is
time to get to work."
ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN – From WHITEHOUSE.GOV
STATEMENT
FROM PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN ON THE ELECTION OF MIKE JOHNSON AS SPEAKER OF
THE HOUSE
Jill and I congratulate Speaker Johnson on his
election.
As I said when this process began, whoever the
Speaker is, I will seek to work with them in good faith on behalf of the
American people.
That’s a principle I have always held to, and that
I’ve acted on – delivering major bipartisan legislation on infrastructure,
outcompeting China, gun reform, and veterans care.
I restated my willingness to continue working across
the aisle after Republicans won the majority in the House last year. By the same
token, the American people have made clear that they expect House Republicans
to work with me and with Senate Democrats to govern across the aisle – to
protect our urgent national security interests and grow our economy for the
middle class.
While House Republicans spent the last 22 days
determining who would lead their conference, I have worked on those pressing
issues, proposing a historic supplemental funding package that advances our
bipartisan national security interests in Israel and Ukraine, secures our
border, and invests in the American people. These priorities have been
endorsed by leaders in both parties.
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.
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.
ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN – From Axios
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NEW HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON
By Sareen Habeshian
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected speaker of the
House on Wednesday after a 22-day deadlock that saw three previous Republican
candidates nominated and then defeated on the House floor.
Why it matters: The four-term conservative is both
short-tenured and little-known relative to others who have risen to the
speakership, but he became a consensus choice inside a deeply divided Republican
caucus over the past 24 hours. He'll now have to try to keep that caucus united
behind him heading into some bruising legislative fights.
Catch up quick: Johnson finished second to House
Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) in an internal ballot on Tuesday to replace
the ousted Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
• But
Emmer withdrew his candidacy just hours later.
• Johnson
then emerged from a fresh round of voting on Tuesday night and was elected by
the full House on Wednesday, with all the Republicans who cast ballots voting
for him.
What is Johnson's background?
Johnson, 51, has been a member of the House of
Representatives since 2016, and is currently serving his fourth term in the
House.
• He
represents Louisiana's fourth congressional district, which includes nearly
760,000 residents. Johnson won the seat with the largest margin of victory in
his region in more than 50 years, according to a biography on his website.
Of note: After earning both a bachelor's degree and
a law degree from Louisiana State University, Johnson spent nearly 20 years
practicing constitutional law.
• Johnson
then served in the Louisiana Legislature from February 2015 to January 2017.
• He and
his wife, Kelly Johnson, have been married since 1999 and have four children.
Where does he fit into the GOP landscape?
Johnson was unanimously re-elected as as vice chair
of the House Republican Conference for a second time last year.
• He
also serves as a deputy whip for the 118th Congress, and currently sits on the
House Judiciary Committee and on the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization
of the Federal Government.
What he's saying: In a letter to colleagues over the
weekend, Johnson said it's the duty of House Republicans to "chart a new
path" and that he has a "clear vision and plan for how to lead."
• He
added that until colleagues reached out to encourage him to seek the
nomination, "I had never contacted one person about this, and I have never
before aspired to the office."
Between the lines: A well-liked member of
leadership, Johnson is widely viewed as a policy-oriented and principled
conservative — if not a bit milquetoast, Axios' Zachary Basu and Juliegrace
Brufke report.
• Among
the eight Republicans who made a pitch for the position, Johnson (R-La.) has
seen the greatest of his sponsored
bills become law — 6.5%.
• A
social conservative, Johnson is a vocal opponent of gay marriage and a
supporter of bans on abortion. He typically votes in line with his Republican
colleagues and has a 92% rating from the American Conservative Union and 90%
from Heritage Action, per NBC News.
Who's supporting him?
Johnson came in second place out of nine candidates
in Tuesday's voting, indicating wide support, mainly among conservatives.
• After
he emerged as the nominee later in the day, most members quickly lined up
behind him.
What's Johnson's relationship with Trump?
Johnson is known to be a Trump ally and was a
staunch defender of the former president during the impeachment hearings.
• The
Louisiana Republican led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House
Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election
results in four swing states.
• The
team of former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a driving force of the House Jan. 6
committee and an outspoken Trump critic, released old videos highlighting
Johnson's involvement, as well as a quote in the New York Times that called him
"the most important architect of the Electoral College objections,"
NBC reports.
ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN – From Reuters
Who is Mike Johnson, the new
Republican US House Speaker?
October
25, 20235:25 PM EDTUpdated 16 min ago
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), the latest House Republican nominee for
House Speaker, reacts to former Speaker nominee and current House Majority Leader
Steve Scalise (R-LA) voting for Johnson during another round of voting to pick
a new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in
Washington, U.S., October... Acquire Licensing Rights Read more
WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Mike Johnson has been
elected by his fellow Republicans to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives,
after three weeks of turmoil and three failed candidates.
Here are five facts about the fourth-term conservative lawmaker who is
now the top Republican in Congress:
BIOGRAPHY
Johnson, 51, was born in Shreveport, Louisiana's third largest city, the
oldest of four siblings and the son of a firefighter who was badly burned and
disabled in the line of duty.
Prior to Congress, Johnson was a lawyer who mainly worked on religious
freedom issues, successfully defending Louisiana's same sex marriage ban in
2004.
"I am a Christian, a husband, a father, a life-long conservative,
constitutional law attorney and a small business owner in that order," he
told the Louisiana Baptist Message newspaper in 2016.
He was elected to the Louisiana statehouse in 2015 and ran for Congress
successfully in 2016. He now represents Louisiana's fourth congressional
districts, which occupies the northwestern corner of the state and includes his
hometown of Shreveport.
SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE
Johnson is a conservative who is perhaps best known for his defense of
former President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020
election.
As a former constitutional lawyer, he signed an amicus brief in a case that
attempted to throw out Pennsylvania's election results, and called for Trump to
"keep fighting."
He opposes same sex marriage and introduced a bill in 2022 that would
have banned schools from promoting or discussing gender identity.
He opposes abortion rights, calling the decision to overturn federal
protections for abortions a "great, joyous occasion."
OPPOSES UKRAINE AID
Johnson is opposed to sending Ukraine aid to defend itself against
Russia, receiving an F from Republicans for Ukraine, an advocacy group that
compiles a report card for lawmakers on their support.
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
Johnson served as chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee
and was elected vice-chair of the conference, but otherwise has no leadership
experience - a potential hindrance as he enters into negotiations with the
Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House.
He also has shown limited fundraising ability so far, typically a key
part of the speaker's role.
RELATIONSHIP WITH TRUMP
Johnson is an avowed supporter of Trump, as evidenced by his support for
Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump supported Johnson's
election as nominee.
ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN – From Politico
‘WHO’S MIKE JOHNSON?’: DIPLOMATS SCRATCH THEIR HEADS AT NEW SPEAKER
“Just a minute,
don’t tell me,” said an Irish government adviser as he searched the name
online. “I’m curious how blood-red his state might be.”
By MATT
BERG, DAN BLOOM, SHAWN POGATCHNIK and ESTHER WEBBER 10/26/2023
05:00 AM EDT\
As the
votes for Rep. Mike Johnson to become House speaker piled up, diplomats who
work closely with Washington were left scratching their heads … and Googling. And Googling some more.
“Mike
Johnson?” replied one member of the British shadow Cabinet, blankly, before a
long pause. “Who’s Mike Johnson?”
Johnson’s election as House speaker Wednesday
afternoon put him on the track to becoming a household name in Washington. And
the new position is guaranteed to bolster the Louisiana Republican’s
international profile — though it will likely take time.
Another
U.K. diplomat, who works on U.S. policy, was slightly more informed or at
least, well, diplomatic. The individual said they were “aware” of Johnson, “but
let’s say he certainly wasn’t an obvious candidate a week ago.”
Since
entering Congress in 2016, Johnson has been relatively quiet on foreign policy
issues. Still, he’s a member of the House Armed Services Committee and took a
strong stance on Ukraine by voting against sending Kyiv a $40 billion package
last year. He’s also something of a China hawk, having introduced at least two
bills targeting China: one that would bar ex-members of Congress from lobbying
on behalf of communist entities, and another that would prevent foreign
governments from funding litigation in U.S. courts.YYY
Yet in Dublin, where politicians frequently cross the Atlantic to
cultivate political ties with American counterparts, POLITICO couldn’t identify
any lawmakers who’d ever met Johnson.
When
asked if he’d heard of the lawmaker, a senior Irish government adviser said he
hadn’t — and turned to Wikipedia to find out. “Just a minute, don’t tell me,
I’m curious how blood-red his state might be.”
But it
turns out the world has produced many Mike Johnsons. After a few minutes of
typing on his smartphone, the Irish adviser — “Hold on! Don’t spoil the
suspense,” he pleaded — had found listings for a half-dozen politicians named
Mike Johnson, many more professional athletes, a serial killer and an Oregon
punk rocker.
“It says
this Mike Johnson used to front a band called Snakepit. That sounds perfect to
be the next speaker,” he said.
The
official and others were granted anonymity to speak freely about U.S. internal
affairs.
Johnson
represents a district that exports at least a quarter billion dollars in goods
to Canada. Yet, in Ottawa, news of his victory generated zero buzz on
Parliament Hill.
POLITICO
talked to five MPs from various parties and none recognized Johnson’s name.
When
asked for comment on Johnson’s foreign policy priorities or his interactions
with foreign counterparts, Griffin Neal, Johnson’s press secretary, had an
understandable response: “Things are a bit hectic right now.”
It’s
unclear whether the lack of international profile will be a boon or a stumbling
block for Johnson as he tries to pull together a consensus among a divided
party about how to handle issues from Ukraine, to the weeks-old Israel-Hamas
war to how to rein in China.
Despite
Johnson’s record, Ukrainian politicians, at least publicly, don’t seem too
worried about the new speaker.
“Whoever
the American people or their representatives choose, we will work with them and
look forward to fruitful cooperation,” said Yehor Cherniev, deputy chair of
Ukraine’s parliamentary committee on national security, defense and
intelligence, before the speakership vote.
Cherniev
added that he had heard “not too much” of Johnson before Wednesday.
President
Joe Biden linked Israeli and Ukrainian aid together in his $106 billion request to
Congress last week, a matter Johnson will have to navigate as several
Republicans staunchly opposed the measure.
The
Louisiana Republican appeared to agree with Biden’s Oval Office speech
announcing the aid package, tweeting that the
president’s remarks “only confirms the urgent need for the U.S. to act in
support of our great ally, Israel, as they fight against Hamas terrorists.”
He
continued: “We must elect a Speaker so the House can take all necessary action to
end Hamas forever.”
But Rep.
Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Johnson won’t be allowed to bring up a bill linking
the two wars because “more than half the conference opposes it,” according to NBC News.
One
leading European diplomat in Washington shrugged off the news of Johnson’s
ascendance as just the usual political grind.
“We’ll
now obviously send a congratulatory message. We’re obviously keen to know how
he’s going to handle the supplemental and the other bits of legislation needed
to get through, but we’re not going to do anything out of the ordinary,” said
the diplomat, adding, for good measure: “It’s a very important job.”
In a
text message, a former longtime diplomat in Washington admitted he hadn’t heard
about the speaker results until POLITICO reached out. And he had to do more
research.
“This is
funny,” he said. “I only found out who you’re talking about by Googling his
name.” He was granted anonymity because it isn’t a good look — to say the least
— in D.C. not to have heard of the person who’s about to take on one of the
most powerful jobs in Washington.
ATTACHMENT NINETEEN – From The Hill
HOUSE
ELECTS MIKE JOHNSON AS SPEAKER, ENDING GOP CHAOS
BY MYCHAEL SCHNELL AND EMILY BROOKS - 10/25/23 1:54
PM ET
The House elected Rep. Mike
Johnson (R-La.) to be the 56th Speaker on Wednesday, capping off
a chaotic three weeks that paralyzed the lower chamber in stunning fashion.
In finally coalescing around a new leader, House Republicans hope that
Johnson can steer them around a series of legislative and political landmines
in the weeks and months to come — an objective that is poised to be a heavy
lift in the fractured GOP conference.
Johnson, who was in his second term as vice chair of the House Republican
Conference, won the Speaker’s gavel in a 220-209 vote over Minority
Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), officially
cementing himself as successor to former Speaker Kevin
McCarthy (R-Calif.) following McCarthy’s unprecedented removal
earlier this month.
Republicans unanimously supported his election on the House floor.
Johnson’s ascension marks the end of a nasty and tumultuous period for
the House GOP conference, which witnessed McCarthy’s ouster, cycled through
four Speaker nominees and saw tensions reach a boiling point before settling on
Johnson as its next leader.
“We’re in the majority right now,” Johnson said in a news conference on
the House steps following his swearing-in as Speaker. “We’ve gone through a
little bit of character building, and you know what it’s produced, more
strength, more perseverance, and a lot of hope.”
“And that’s what we’re about to deliver to the American people,” he
added.
While that tempestuous chapter has come to a close, it will not be all
smooth sailing ahead for the House. Congress is staring down a Nov. 17 deadline
to fund the government or risk a shutdown, and the White House is asking
lawmakers to approve a $100 billion national security supplemental to support
Israel and Ukraine amid their respective conflicts.
The two legislative efforts will serve as early tests of Johnson’s
ability to manage the rabble-rousing GOP conference, a tall task that McCarthy
struggled with throughout his nine-month tenure.
If the first part of the 118th Congress — and especially the past few
weeks — are any indication, Johnson has his work cut out for him.
McCarthy was ousted in part over his move to pass a “clean” stopgap
proposal to fund the government until Nov. 17 and avert a shutdown. Johnson has
floated a stopgap measure into next year in order to avoid an omnibus package,
which Republicans abhor.
But some hard-liners signal they will give Johnson some more grace
navigating those issues than they did McCarthy.
“There was a trust factor with leadership last time,” House Freedom
Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-Pa.) said. “You don’t
blame the backup quarterback for the failures of the guy that just came out of
the game.”
The Louisiana Republican, for his part, signaled eagerness to meet
the many challenges ahead.
Just hours after electing Johnson as Speaker, the House brought up a
bipartisan resolution supporting Israel. Lawmakers were eager to consider the
legislation following Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7, but the
Speaker stalemate left the chamber unable to conduct any legislative business.
Johnson on Wednesday assured the U.S.’s allies and enemies around the
globe that Congress is back on track.
“The last thing I’m going to say is a message to the rest of the world,”
Johnson said in the House chamber. “They have been watching this drama play out
for a few weeks; we’ve learned a lot of lessons, but you know what? Through
adversity, it makes you stronger.”
“And we want our allies around the world to know that this body of
lawmakers is reporting again to our duty stations,” he continued. “Let the
enemies of freedom around the world hear us loud and clear: The People’s House
is back in business.”
Johnson was sworn in by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), the dean of the
House, Wednesday afternoon, officially installing the Louisiana Republican as
Speaker.
In a sign of his speedy rise to the Speakership — which came to
fruition in less than 24 hours — Johnson noted that his wife, Kelly, did
not make it to Washington in time for his swearing-in.
“She’s not here. We couldn’t get a flight in time. This happened sort of
suddenly,” Johnson said.
While Johnson’s climb was quick, the process that led to his win dragged
on for weeks.
Personal animosity, bare-knuckle tactics, moral outrage and even
former President Trump kept House Republicans in a doom loop of
internal turmoil for three weeks following McCarthy’s stunning ouster.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.),
hard-liners said, was too establishment — and some said his blood cancer
diagnosis gave them pause. His chief competition, founding Freedom Caucus
Chair-turned-Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), only
endorsed him hours after he won the nod, and McCarthy openly wondered whether
he could win the gavel. Scalise withdrew his name the next day.
Then, the conference tried Jordan. But fury from Scalise’s allies for
Jordan supporters tanked the Ohio representative’s bid, and an intense pressure
campaign that sparked death threats aimed at holdouts led to him losing three
ballots on the House floor. The conference then voted to rescind the
nomination.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) was up next — but
criticisms over his votes against overturning the 2020 election and in favor of
codifying same-sex marriage, as well as vocal opposition from Trump, led to him
bowing out just four hours later.
n the end, Johnson — who has a conservative voting record, no major
enemies and is generally known as a nice guy — became the consensus pick for
Republicans as they exhausted their options, and themselves.
“A man of deep faith, Mike epitomizes what it means to be a servant
leader,” House GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.)
said in her nominating speech Wednesday.
“A friend to all, an enemy to none, Mike is strong, tough, and fair — and
above all, Mike is kind,” Stefanik said.
Not even a last-minute push by McCarthy allies to try and reinstall him
as Speaker amid the chaos could overcome the conference’s momentum in
coalescing around Johnson.
The 51-year-old Johnson has been the House GOP’s vice chair, a junior
leadership position, since 2021. He is also a former chair of the Republican
Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House, and currently
serves on the House Judiciary and Armed Services committees.
Before joining Congress in 2017, Johnson was a member of the Louisiana
State House and a constitutional law attorney who had stints as a talk show
host and a college professor. His wife, Kelly, is a licensed Christian
counselor, and they have four children.
The mild-mannered Louisiana Republican has largely stayed under the radar
throughout his tenure in Congress, focusing on his work with the House
Judiciary Committee and House Armed Services Committee.
In 2020, Johnson emerged as a key player in Trump’s efforts to overturn
the results of the presidential election. Johnson, then the vice chair of the
House GOP conference, led an amicus brief backing a Texas lawsuit that sought
to reverse the outcomes of the vote in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and
Wisconsin.
Johnson brushed off a question about his stance on the 2020 election
Tuesday night. Asked about his efforts, the then-Speaker designate shook his
head and said, “Next question,” while GOP lawmakers surrounding him booed the
reporter and told her to “shut up.”
Democrats, for their part, have been quick to point out Johnson’s
involvement in the 2020 plot.
“Mike Johnson was one of the chief architects of trying to overturn the
results of the 2020 presidential election. Mike Johnson also wants to end
Social Security and Medicare as we know it,” Jeffries said on “CNN This
Morning” on Wednesday. “Those are extreme views, and House Democrats will push
back aggressively against that.”
Throughout the three-plus week Speaker saga, Republicans have largely
aimed their fire at the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy — a move
that set the chain of events in motion. Lawmakers have called for them to be
punished and have slammed them in public.
That group — led by Rep. Matt
Gaetz (R-Fla.) — joined with Democrats to boot the Californian from his post Oct.
3, marking the first time the House ever successfully deposed a sitting
Speaker. But despite bad blood and heightened rhetoric, members of the “crazy
eight,” as McCarthy dubbed them, say they have no regrets.
“It was worth it,” Gaetz said Tuesday night. “I promised the American
people that we would improve and upgrade the position of Speaker of the House.
And when we elect Mike Johnson, I will have delivered on that commitment.”
ATTACHMENT TWENTY – From the Hill
WHERE
HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON STANDS ON UKRAINE, ISRAEL
BY TARA SUTER - 10/25/23 12:51 PM ET
House Republican Vice Chair Rep. Mike
Johnson (R-La.) became the chamber’s Speaker on Wednesday, three weeks
after Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted.
On Tuesday, Johnson became his conference’s fourth nominee to replace McCarthy, and he takes over in the midst
of multiple international crises, most notably in Israel, Gaza and Ukraine.
There has been a split in the House GOP over aid to Ukraine for its war against
Russia, making the passage of some recent bills a tough hill to climb in the
lower chamber.
President
Biden announced the sending of a budget
request to Congress requesting aid for both Israel and
Ukraine in a speech last Thursday. The request is expected to be about $100
billion, with a large portion of the funds for Ukraine.
Johnson has shown some resistance to more funding for Ukraine in the past
but seems to wholeheartedly support Israel.
Here’s what you need to know about his history of views on both
conflicts:
Ukraine
Johnson made a strong statement in support of Ukraine in its effort to
fight back against Russia in the wake of the invasion in February 2022.
“We should impose debilitating sanctions on Russia’s economic interests,”
Johnson said in the statement, posted
to X, the platform then known as Twitter. “We should return to robust American
energy production to provide greater stability and security here and for our
European allies. We should exclude Russia from global commerce and
international institutions. Even though the best time to take these actions has
passed, we must act decisively.”
“America’s prayers remain with the Ukrainian people,” Johnson continued.
In April 2022, he voted for The
Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, a bill that aimed to ease the process for
the U.S. to send military aid to Ukraine. The bill was later signed by President Biden and
became law.
However, in recent times, he has taken a skeptical stance toward aid for
Ukraine. He voted against two different
appropriations bills that provided aid to Ukraine, one in 2022
and another last month.
“American taxpayers have sent over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine in the
last year,” Johnson said in an X post in February. “They
deserve to know if the Ukrainian government is being entirely forthcoming and
transparent about the use of this massive sum of taxpayer resources.”
After gaining the gavel, Johnson was asked whether he supports
additional aid to Ukraine.
“We all do…we are going to have conditions on that, so we’re working
through,” Johnson said while walking through the Capitol, in a clip posted
Wednesday to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“We want accountability, and we want objectives that are clear from the
White House,“ Johnson later said in response to a
question about what the conditions would be.
Israel
Johnson has been strong in his support for Israel amid its conflict with
Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“[T]he United States unequivocally stands with Israel and we will provide
the support and resources necessary to rid the Middle East and the world of
hamas’ terrorist regime,” Johnson said in a recent statement to
Shreveport, La., television station KTAL. “Please join us in continued prayers
for our friends and our allies in Israel.”
In a post on X on
Thursday, Johnson appeared to say Biden’s recent Oval Office speech “only
confirms the urgent need for the U.S. to act in support of our great ally,
Israel, as they fight against Hamas terrorists.”
“We must elect a Speaker so the House can take all necessary action to
end Hamas forever,” Johnson continued.
The Hill has reached out to Johnson’s office for further comment.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE – From WashPost
AS HOUSE SPEAKER, MIKE JOHNSON IS AS
DANGEROUS AS JIM JORDAN
By Ruth
Marcus October
25, 2023 at 3:09 p.m. EDT
If you
are feeling any sense of relief that Jim Jordan won’t be the next House
speaker, stop and worry again.
The new speaker, Rep.
Mike Johnson (R-La.), might be more dangerous than the firebrand Ohio
Republican. For Jordan’s shirt sleeves demeanor and wrestler’s pugnacity,
substitute a bespectacled, low-key presentation, a law degree and an unswerving
commitment to conservative dogma and former president Donald Trump.
This is
not an upgrade. It is Jordan in a more palatable package — evidently smoother,
seemingly smarter and, therefore, potentially more effective.
Johnson,
now serving his fourth term in Congress, was the moving force behind a Supreme Court brief that
helped lay the shoddy intellectual groundwork for Jan. 6, 2021. In
December 2020, he rallied fellow
Republican lawmakers to support Texas’s brazen bid to overturn the election
results. In a lawsuit that fizzled almost as soon as it was filed, Texas
Attorney General Ken Paxton sought to have the Supreme Court intervene in the
election by blocking the certification of electoral college votes in four swing
states — Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin — where voting rules had
been changed in the course of the election and voters, not coincidentally, had
favored Joe Biden. The justices swiftly rejected the case, tartly noting
that, “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the
manner in which another State conducts its elections.”
But not
before Johnson rallied the GOP troops to sign on to a friend-of-the-court brief
backing the Texas lawsuit — and took pains to emphasize that Trump was keeping
score. “He said he will be anxiously awaiting the final list to review,”
Johnson wrote on what was then Twitter.
Johnson later told the New Yorker’s
Isaac Chotiner that he regretted that wording. “It did not
cross my mind that somebody would interpret it as making an enemies list or
something,” he said. “It should have, in hindsight. It was a very casual
conversation. The President was not making a threat. Nor was I, of course.” Of course not. Purity test or no, 126 of his House
colleagues fell dutifully in line.
The
Johnson brief was a full-throated endorsement of the “independent state
legislature” theory, ultimately rejected by the Supreme Court in 2023’s Moore v. Harper.
The brief asserted that under the terms of the Constitution, only state
legislatures — without any review by state courts or involvement of other state
parties — have power to set rules for choosing
presidential electors. “The clear authority of those state legislatures to
determine the rules for appointing electors was usurped at various times by
governors, secretaries of state, election officials, state courts, federal
courts, and private parties,” the brief argued.
“Due in
large part to those usurpations, the election of 2020 has been riddled with an
unprecedented number of serious allegations of fraud and irregularities.
National polls indicate a large percentage of Americans now have serious doubts
about not just the outcome of the presidential contest, but also the future
reliability of our election system itself,” it continued, as if the supposedly
serious doubts had not been sowed by Trump himself.
Don’t
rely on the assessment of Democrat Josh Shapiro, then Pennsylvania’s attorney
general, now its governor, that Texas’s effort to interfere in those states’
determinations was a “seditious abuse of the judicial process,” as he told
the justices. Rather, listen to Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, no
liberal squish, who declined to sign the Johnson brief and denounced the Paxton bid as
“a dangerous violation of federalism” that “sets a precedent to have one state
asking federal courts to police the voting procedures of other states.” (Not
that this stopped Roy from voting Wednesday to make Johnson speaker.)
The
Texas episode was of a piece with Johnson’s conservative worldview. Before
being elected to Congress, he was a senior lawyer and national spokesman for
the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative group that opposes abortion,
same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights.
Running
for Congress in 2016, he described himself as
“a Christian, a husband, a father, a lifelong conservative, constitutional law
attorney and a small business owner in that order, and I think that order is
important.” Johnson said he had been “called to legal ministry and I’ve been
out on the front lines of the ‘culture war’ defending religious freedom, the
sanctity of human life, and biblical values, including the defense of
traditional marriage, and other ideals like these when they’ve been under
assault.”
His
congressional career has been more of the same, including backing a federal ban
on abortion after 15 weeks. Johnson twice served on the impeachment teams
defending Trump and pushed to expunge the first impeachment from the record.
His fealty to the former president
seems to have paid off. “My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading
candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!” Trump advised on his social
media site Tuesday. So, they did.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO – From Al
Jazeera
REPUBLICAN MIKE JOHNSON ELECTED US HOUSE
SPEAKER
Johnson wins House vote 220 to 209 with broad Republican support and will
fill key role that was vacant for three weeks.
Published On 25 Oct 2023
The US
House of Representatives has elected Republican Mike Johnson as its speaker
after a turbulent three weeks that left the rudderless chamber unable to carry
out its basic duties.
The 220
to 209 vote on Wednesday elevated third-term congressman Johnson, 51, to a
speaker’s chair that has been vacant since Kevin McCarthy was removed on
October 3 by a small group of hardline Republicans in response to a deal with
Democrats that averted a partial government shutdown.
In the
weeks that followed, Republicans who narrowly control the House considered and
rejected three possible replacements before settling on Johnson, a Louisiana
lawyer backed by former President Donald Trump who spent years advancing
conservative policies, such as school prayer.
“I think
he’s gonna be a fantastic speaker,” Trump said Wednesday at the New York court
where the former president, who is now the Republican frontrunner for president
in 2024, is on trial over a lawsuit alleging business fraud.
Trump
said he hadn’t heard “one negative comment about him. Everybody likes him.”
Social conservative
First
elected in 2016, Johnson will be the least experienced House speaker in
decades. A conservative with little leadership experience, he is best known as
the author of an unsuccessful appeal by 126 House Republicans after the 2020
presidential election to get the Supreme Court to overturn election results in
states that Trump had lost.
Johnson
declined to answer a question about that effort shortly after his nomination on Tuesday night.
In a
letter to colleagues, Johnson has pledged to advance overdue spending
legislation and ensure that the US government does not shut down when current
funding expires on November 17.
He will
also have to respond to Democratic President Joe Biden’s $106bn spending request for aid to
Israel, Ukraine and US border security. While the Republicans broadly support
funding for Israel and the US border, they are divided over further support for
Ukraine.
While
House leaders typically focus on fundraising and vote counting, Johnson is
better known as an advocate for conservative social positions.
He has
supported legislation that bars gender-related surgery and hormone treatment
for transgender teens, prohibits mask mandates on aeroplanes, and tightens
immigration and abortion restrictions.
Republicans
narrowly control the House by a 221-212 margin, leaving them with little room
for error on controversial votes. Divisions within the party were on display
during the past few weeks, as they nominated three candidates for speaker –
Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer – but were unable to secure the
217 votes needed to win the speaker’s gavel.
As
speaker, Johnson will have to confront the same challenges that felled McCarthy
and stymied his would-be successors. They include the demands of the caucus’
hardline members and the reality that with a Democratic majority in the Senate
and Biden occupying the Oval Office, no laws can currently be passed in
Washington without bipartisan support.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE – From Axios
MAGA MOVEMENT GETS ITS SPEAKER
By Zachary Basu
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), a four-term congressman
who has never chaired a committee, was elected speaker of the House with
unanimous Republican support — achieving a feat that few thought possible.
Why it matters: Politics is personal. After 22 days
of paralysis and three failed nominees, the only candidate capable of uniting
House Republicans was one who apparently hasn't served long enough to make any
enemies.
• Case
in point: Johnson is a Trump ally with a remarkably similar voting record to
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), yet he managed to win over all 25 Republicans who voted
against Jordan for speaker last week.
• That
includes moderate Republicans and members who represent districts President
Biden won in 2020 — but who still felt comfortable voting for the most
conservative House speaker in at least 80 years.
Driving the news: As Johnson
accepted the gavel and addressed the House floor for the first time as speaker,
it was easy to see how the folksy, mild-mannered Louisiana Republican could
command trust from every faction of the GOP conference.
• "Let
the enemies of freedom around the world hear us loud and clear: The People's
House is back in business," Johnson declared to raucous applause from
Republicans — and even some Democrats.
• But
make no mistake: Johnson is a staunch conservative whose election denialism,
support for a national abortion ban, and opposition to Ukraine aid will move
the House's center of gravity firmly to the right.
Zoom in: In December 2020, Johnson led an amicus
brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a failed Texas
lawsuit that sought to invalidate Biden's election victory in four swing
states.
• Johnson
also trafficked in a baseless conspiracy theory in November 2020 about
"rigged" Dominion voting machines allegedly having ties to deceased
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.
• When
Johnson was asked about his efforts to overturn the election at a press
conference last night, House Republicans shouted down a reporter and told her
to "shut up."
Between the lines: The election of a new
conservative speaker is being celebrated by the GOP hardliners who triggered
the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Oct 3.
• "If
you don't think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the
ascendance of this movement and where the power in the Republican Party truly
lies, then you're not paying attention," Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) argued
on Steve Bannon's podcast.
• "There
is a new level of trust with Speaker Johnson that did not exist previously.
That's why we have a new speaker. He is a conservative partner," Rep. Bob
Good (R-Va.) told reporters.
• "We've
been called a lot of names through this entire process. One of them was 'The
Crazy Eight,'" said Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.). "I'm crazy enough to
believe that this town could actually change
ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR – FROM the
NEW YORK TIMES
COULD MIKE
JOHNSON, THE NEW HOUSE SPEAKER, UNDERMINE THE 2024 ELECTION?
The
Louisiana Republican played a pivotal role in efforts to overturn the 2020
election. But his elevation to the top post in the House does not give him special
powers in the certification process if he tries again.
Oct.
26, 2023
Ever
since Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana assumed office on Wednesday, a question
has been on Democrats’ minds: Could the elevation of Mr. Johnson, who worked in
league with former President Donald J. Trump in trying to undermine the 2020 election results, allow
him to succeed in 2024 where he failed the last time?
The
speakership, which is second in line to the presidency, comes with broad powers
over the functioning of the House. And Mr. Johnson, a constitutional lawyer
whose stature in his party has grown with his election to the top post, could
try again to interfere. But there are several reasons that Mr. Johnson’s new
job alone would not allow him special powers to overturn the will of the voters
unilaterally.
Here’s
how it works.
The vice president, not the speaker, presides over Congress’s counting of
electoral votes.
When Mr.
Trump was attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, his pressure
campaign focused on his own vice president, Mike Pence, who was
presiding over the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, to count the
electoral votes. Mr. Trump encouraged Mr. Pence to throw out legitimate votes
in favor of false slates of electors, a move Mr. Pence said was
unconstitutional.
Vice
President Kamala Harris is in line to preside over the joint session on Jan. 6,
2025, when Congress will meet in a joint session to certify the results of the
2024 election. The speaker has no special role in the proceedings.
Johnson may not even be speaker by then.
Mr.
Johnson, 51, just became speaker, but his term will expire before Jan. 6, 2025.
Should
Democrats prevail in the House in the 2024 election — an outcome many analysts
see as a strong possibility — a Democrat would take over control of the
chamber, likely the current minority leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of
New York.
Four
charges for the former president. Former
President Donald Trump was
charged with four counts in connection with his widespread efforts to
overturn the 2020 election. The indictment was
filed by the special
counsel Jack Smith in Federal District Court in Washington. Here are
some key takeaways:
The
indictment portrayed an attack on American democracy. Smith framed his
case against Trump as one that cuts to a
key function of democracy: the peaceful transfer of power. By underscoring
this theme, Smith cast his effort as an effort not just to hold Trump
accountable but also to defend the very core of democracy.
Trump
was placed at the center of the conspiracy charges. Smith put Trump at
the heart of three conspiracies that culminated on Jan. 6, 2021, in an
attempt to obstruct Congress’s role in ratifying the Electoral College outcome.
The special counsel argued that Trump knew that his claims about a stolen
election were false, a point that, if proved, could be important to convincing
a jury to convict him.
Trump
didn’t do it alone. The indictment lists six
co-conspirators without naming or indicting them. Based on the descriptions
provided, they match the profiles of Trump lawyers and advisers who were
willing to argue increasingly outlandish conspiracy and legal theories to keep
him in power. It’s unclear whether these co-conspirators will be indicted.
Trump’s
political power remains strong. Trump may be on trial in 2024 in three
or four separate criminal cases, but so far the indictments appear not to
have affected his standing with Republican voters. By a large margin, he
remains his
party’s front-runner in the presidential primaries.
Should
Republicans hold the House, Mr. Johnson would need to win another leadership
election among his party. Given how raucous the Republican conference has been in recent months, that’s not a sure thing either.
The Electoral Count Reform Act has tightened safeguards.
In the
aftermath of Mr. Trump’s attempt to cling to power, a bipartisan group of
lawmakers, led by Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, passed a reform bill to try to ensure no similar
plan could be carried out in the future.
The new law
makes clear that a vice president’s role in counting electoral votes is “solely
ministerial,” with no power to reject electors. It also requires that one-fifth
of both the House and Senate sign on before any objection to state’s electors
can be heard. The law also limits the grounds for objections.
Republicans
who defend Mr. Johnson’s actions related to the 2020 election note that
Democrats have objected to certain states’ electors during previous
congressional certifications. But they have never done so as part of an
organized campaign directed by their candidate, with false slates of electors
being put forward and a violent mob assembled at the Capitol demanding that the
election results be reversed.
Mr. Johnson could still attempt to undermine the election.
While
Mr. Johnson cannot unilaterally overturn the 2024 election, he could attempt
other extreme steps to try to interfere with certification.
A Guide to the Various Trump Investigations
Confused about the inquiries and legal cases involving former President
Donald Trump? We’re here to help.
·
Key
Cases and Inquiries: The former president faces
several investigations at both the state and the federal levels, into matters
related to his business and political careers. Here
is a close look at each.
·
Case
Tracker: Trump is at the center of four criminal investigations. Keep
track of the developments in each here.
·
What
if Trump Is Convicted?: Will any of the
proceedings hinder Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign? Can a convicted felon
even run for office? Here
is what we know, and what we don’t know.
For
example, Mr. Johnson could use the power of his bully pulpit and his status as
a party leader to organize Republican lawsuits or pressure state boards of
elections to throw out legitimate votes. He could attempt to refuse to seat new
Democratic members of the House.
“His
main power would be as party leader,” said Representative Jamie Raskin,
Democrat of Maryland, who served on the House Jan. 6
committee.
Mr.
Johnson also could demand that Republicans in Congress vote as a bloc on Jan.
6, 2025, against certifying election results. But he would need 20 percent of
both chambers to agree to object, and then a majority of both chambers to vote
to sustain the objection.
Should
that occur, the presidential election could fall to a contingent election of
the House, in which state delegations would decide who became
the next president. Such a scenario — in which the House selected a
president who had lost at the ballot box — would almost certainly end up in the
courts.
Those
who have studied the reforms to the Electoral Count Act see it as highly
unlikely that Mr. Johnson could lead enough Republicans in both chambers
against the will of the voters.
“The
election deniers are far from having 51 votes in the United States Senate, and
that’s not going to change for many, many years,” said Norman L. Eisen, who was
a special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee and testified on the need
for reform legislation. “Fortunately, the Electoral Count Reform Act has closed
off many of the avenues that would be available to mischief makers. But given
his history, we will have to be on our guard.”
ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE – From the Guardian U.K.
REPUBLICAN MIKE JOHNSON ELECTED HOUSE SPEAKER AFTER
WEEKS OF CHAOS
Louisiana congressman – and the party’s fourth
nominee – wins support of all 220 Republicans who cast a ballot
By Joan E Greve
25 Oct 2023 15.27 EDT
Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana was
elected speaker of the House on Wednesday, winning the top job in a party-line
vote and ending a standoff that had stretched on for more than three weeks.
In the floor vote, Johnson won the support of all
220 Republicans who cast a ballot, while all 209 Democrats
present voted for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Due to four
absences in the chamber, Johnson needed 215 votes to become speaker.
Delivering his first speech as the 56th speaker of
the House, Johnson vowed to “rebuild and restore” the trust of the American
people, which he acknowledged had been damaged by the chaos of recent weeks.
“At this time of great crisis, it is our duty to
work together, as previous generations of great leaders have, to face these
great challenges and solve these great problems,” Johnson said.
“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.”
In a statement congratulating Johnson on his
victory, Joe Biden pledged to “work with [House Republicans] in good faith on
behalf of the American people”.
“Even though we have real disagreements about
important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever
we can,” Biden 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 won House Republicans’ speaker nomination on
Tuesday evening, just hours after Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the majority whip,
was forced to withdraw from the race amid criticism from
Donald Trump. Defeating Byron Donalds of
Florida after three rounds of voting, Johnson became House
Republicans’ fourth speaker nominee in three weeks.
An internal rollcall vote taken after Johnson’s
nomination showed no opposition to his speakership bid, although a number of
Republicans were absent. In the hours leading up to the floor vote, several
House Republicans who had opposed previous speaker nominees indicated they
would support Johnson, paving the way for his victory.
Johnson’s election brings an end to a standoff that
began earlier this month, when eight House Republicans joined Democrats to oust
former speaker Kevin McCarthy of California. In the weeks since, three other
speaker nominees – Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Emmer –
have tried and failed to unite the Republican conference.
Without a speaker in place, the House has been
unable to advance any legislation. Biden has called on Congress to pass an aid
package to assist America’s allies such as Ukraine and Israel, but the House
could not take up such a bill until a new speaker was elected. Johnson said on
Wednesday that the first measure taken up under his speakership would be a
resolution expressing support for Israel amid its war against Hamas.
Although Johnson’s election will allow the House to
resume business, Democrats have made clear that they will use the new speaker’s
political record against vulnerable Republicans in the elections next year.
Johnson has already faced questions over
his history of supporting Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020
presidential election. Johnson, who practiced constitutional law before
entering politics, was the architect of a
questionable legal argument that offered air cover to House Republicans who
wanted to sign an amicus brief urging the US supreme court
to throw out the electoral votes of key battleground states won by Biden. More
than 100 House Republicans signed on to the amicus brief, but the supreme court ultimately threw out the underlying lawsuit
challenging the election results.
Democrats believe Johnson’s central role in refuting
the 2020 election results and his conservative views on many social issues
could help them win back the House next year. Some Democrats were heard saying
“bye bye” as House Republicans representing battleground districts, such as
Mike Lawler of New York, cast their votes for Johnson.
Delivering remarks after Johnson’s election,
Jeffries pledged Democrats would “protect the peaceful transfer of power” and
“continue to push back against extremism in this chamber and throughout the
country”, while simultaneously promising to seek bipartisanship whenever
possible.
“The time for partisanship is over. It’s time to get
back to doing the business of the American people,” Jeffries said. He then
reminded Republicans: “Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. He’s doing
a great job under difficult circumstances, and no amount of election denialism
will ever change that reality – not now, not ever.”
Speaking after Jeffries, Johnson similarly pledged
to work with Democrats on points of mutual interest, while acknowledging their
starkly different policy preferences.
“I do look forward to working with you on behalf of
the American people,” Johnson told Jeffries. “I know we see things from very
different points of view. But 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.”
Even though the House is now open, Johnson’s
challenges in uniting his deeply divided conference may be just beginning. Government
funding is set to expire in less than a month, and Johnson risks causing a
federal shutdown unless he can convince fellow Republicans to back a stopgap
funding measure. That same dilemma caused the downfall of the last Republican
speaker.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY SIX – From the
New York Times
IN JOHNSON, HOUSE REPUBLICANS ELEVATE ONE OF THEIR
STAUNCHEST CONSERVATIVES
The new speaker played a pivotal role in
congressional efforts to overturn the 2020 election and opposes abortion rights
and gay marriage.
By Annie Karni Published Oct. 25, 2023 Updated Oct.
26, 2023, 12:30 a.m. ET
When
Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana wanted to make the case against
abortion rights last year during a Capitol Hill committee hearing, he grilled a
witness in graphic fashion.
“Do you
support the right of a woman who is just seconds away from birthing a healthy
child to have an abortion?” he asked at a Judiciary Committee hearing.
When the
witness, Dr. Yashica Robinson, a board member for Physicians for Reproductive
Health, responded that such a situation had never occurred, Mr. Johnson only
doubled down.
“Never
happened in your practice, ma’am,” Mr. Johnson fired back. “But it happens. How
about if a child is halfway out of the birth canal? Is an abortion permissible
then?”
The
exchange reflected the lawmaker’s deeply conservative views, particularly on
social issues, and his tendency to express them in inflammatory ways.
Mr.
Johnson, the evangelical Christian who won the speakership on Wednesday with the
unanimous support of House Republicans, has also spoken out sharply against
homosexuality, calling it “inherently unnatural” and a “dangerous lifestyle”
and linking it to bestiality, according to opinion essays unearthed on Wednesday by CNN.
“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
views are sharply at odds with those of most Americans, according to opinion
polls that have found the public is broadly supportive of gay rights. Mr.
Johnson’s abrupt rise to the speaker post this week in the depressed and
divided House Republican conference underscores the rightward lurch of the
G.O.P., which dumped his more mainstream predecessor, Representative Kevin
McCarthy of California.
“If you
don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the
ascendance of this movement and where the power in the Republican Party truly
lies, then you’re not paying attention,” Representative Matt Gaetz, the Florida
Republican who engineered Mr. McCarthy’s downfall, said in an interview on
Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast.
Elected
to Congress in 2016, Mr. Johnson, a lawyer and former chairman of the
conservative Republican Study Committee, has never led a powerful committee in
Congress or served in the top tier of House leadership. Democrats immediately
pounced on the pivotal role he played in congressional efforts to overturn the
2020 election. (As a loyal supporter of former President Donald J. Trump, he
has continued to use a podcast he hosts with his wife, a licensed pastoral
counselor, to rail against the prosecution of Mr. Trump for his efforts to
interfere in the 2020 election.)
But even
more than his election denialism, Mr. Johnson’s political career has been
defined by his religious views.
“I don’t
believe there are any coincidences,” he said on Wednesday in his first speech
on the House floor as speaker, adding: “I believe that God has ordained and
allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment in this
time. This is my belief.”
Mr.
Johnson, the son of a firefighter and the first in his family to graduate from
college, was 12 when his father was burned and disabled in the line of duty.
“All I
ever wanted to be when I grew up was the chief of the fire department in
Shreveport,” Mr. Johnson said Wednesday. But the explosion that harmed his
father, he said, “changed all of our trajectories.”
In
Congress, Mr. Johnson has voted for a national abortion ban and co-sponsored a
20-week abortion ban, earning him an A-plus rating from the anti-abortion group
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. After the Supreme Court voted to overturn
Roe v. Wade in June last year, he celebrated.
He said
that millions of unborn children had lost their lives because of what he called
a “legal fiction that the Supreme Court foisted upon this country” and said
that “God will bless us” for the court’s decision.
Last
year, Mr. Johnson introduced a bill that prohibited the use of
federal funds for providing education to children under 10 that included
L.G.B.T.Q. topics — a proposal that critics called a national version of
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. Mr. Johnson called the legislation “common
sense.”
He also
opposed legislation to mandate federal recognition for same-sex marriages — a
bill that passed with strong bipartisan support in both the House and the
Senate.
In the
years before he arrived in Congress in 2017, Mr. Johnson worked as an attorney
and spokesman for the anti-abortion-rights and anti-gay group Alliance Defense
Fund — now called the Alliance Defending Freedom. During that time, he
expressed some of his hard-line views in editorials in the local newspaper in
his hometown of Shreveport, La.
Writing
in 2004 in support of a state amendment banning same-sex marriage, he asserted
that without it, “There will be no legal basis to deny a bisexual the right to
marry a partner of each sex, or a person to marry his pet.”
Mr.
Johnson was only able to emerge as his party’s nominee for speaker this week
after three other G.O.P. nominees before him were unable to rally enough
support. It was unlikely to have happened in any other scenario.
Representative
Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican and the first to be
nominated for speaker following Mr. McCarthy’s ouster,
was ultimately seen as insufficiently pro-Trump by too many of his colleagues.
Representative
Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and
someone Mr. Johnson has described as a mentor, was the next member to be
elected speaker designate in a secret ballot. He had Mr. Trump and the far
right in his corner, but ultimately failed to win over more centrist members of
his party who steadfastly refused to support him.
Representative
Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the majority whip and the third candidate for the
speakership, had the biggest problems of any of the speaker-designates that
preceded him: the hard-right wing of the party rose up to oppose him and former
President Donald J. Trump branded him a “globalist RINO.”
Mr. Johnson’s
quick ascent came when members of the conference were worn down and ready to
accept someone whom they did not view as an obvious choice or the party’s
natural leader in waiting. Instead, he cleared a lowered bar: They view him as
someone sufficiently conservative and who they do not personally despise.
Mr.
Johnson’s hallmark in Congress has been combining his hard-line views with a
gentle personal style. That was on display on Wednesday, when he vowed to try
to find common ground with Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the
minority leader.
“I know
we see things from different points of view, but I know in your heart you want
to do what’s right, so we’ll find common ground there,” he said.
To show
support for racial equality, Mr. Johnson in the past has told audiences that he
and his wife adopted a Black teenager they met through an evangelical youth
group — like the movie “The Blind Side” but without the N.F.L. prospects, he
has quipped.
He
once d the story with a mostly
Democratic audience at a congressional hearing on slavery reparations, and he
was surprised to hear boos as he spoke, he later recounted to the Council for
National Policy, an assembly of conservative donors known for its strict
secrecy.
“I had
my feelings surgically removed back in the ’80s,” he joked, according to a recording of the event, and then suggested the
hearing had been packed with Black Panthers who disapproved of the mixing of
races. (The Black Panther Party dissolved decades ago.)
Instead,
he moved quickly to bring up a resolution expressing solidarity and support for
Israel. His next order of business, he said, would be addressing what he called
the country’s “broken border” with Mexico. He made no mention of the
impeachment inquiry into President Biden, or of the impending government
shutdown that will begin next month if Congress fails to pass legislation to
keep the government funded.
“These
last few weeks probably look like total chaos, confusion, no end in sight,” Mr.
Emmer, who tried and failed to become speaker, said on Wednesday. “But from my
perspective, this is one of the greatest experiences of the recent history of
our republic.”
ATTACHMENT TWENTY SEVEN – From the New York Times
The Far Right Gets
Its Man of the House
The new
speaker, Mike Johnson, is virtually unknown to most Americans, but he can be
expected to press a hard-right social and fiscal agenda.
By Carl
Hulse Oct. 25,
2023
In the
end, Republican hard-liners got their man.
He
wasn’t the person whom the most extreme element of House Republicans really
wanted — that was Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the godfather of the far
right in the House who ultimately was too toxic to ascend to the top post and fell
short.
But the
new Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a man unknown to most Americans, is a
second choice the far right can enthusiastically embrace. He s the deeply conservative ideology of
his mentor Mr. Jordan but lacks the confrontational profile or hard-edge style
of the Ohioan. In fact, he has little profile at all.
Mr.
Johnson, a second-tier member of the House leadership first elected in 2016, is
the most obscure lawmaker to rise to the helm of the House since J. Dennis
Hastert of Illinois was plucked from near the backbenches in 1998 to become
speaker after Representative Tom DeLay, that period’s version of Mr. Jordan,
realized he could not succeed Newt Gingrich.
But Mr.
Hastert, who later was disgraced in a sexual abuse scandal, had developed a
reputation for spearheading health care legislation. If Mr. Johnson has a
reputation at all, it is as a savvy and smooth constitutional lawyer who wrote
a brief offering a legal justification for trying to overturn the 2020 election and served as
a defender of President Donald J. Trump against impeachment.
Republicans
see the fact that he is virtually unknown outside his Louisiana district as an
advantage, giving him a chance to introduce himself to the public on his own
terms.
But
there should be no mistaking his extremely conservative views on social issues
such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage, which Democrats can be expected
to aggressively highlight in their efforts to tie more mainstream House
Republicans to their new leader in their push to regain control of the chamber.
He is
the first head of the arch-conservative Republican Study Committee to take the
speaker’s gavel, and though he is not a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus,
he s many of
the group’s positions. His strong standing on the right was underscored minutes
after his nomination Tuesday night. Mr. Johnson was
surrounded by some of the most extreme House Republicans, who shouted down
questions about his effort to overturn the election and other policy issues,
with one lawmaker, Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, shouting at
reporters to shut up.
Mr.
Johnson is fundamentally more conservative than the ousted speaker, Kevin
McCarthy, who despite his frequent partisan attacks realized he needed to cut deals with Democrats to keep the
government solvent and operating. He twice this year passed critical
legislation with Democratic votes — ultimately sparking the coup that led to
his downfall.
Whether
Mr. Johnson s that
same bipartisan imperative with a mid-November deadline looming for keeping the
government open will become clear in the coming weeks. He will need to navigate
his way out of a spending impasse that has split House Republicans before he
even gets to negotiations with the White House and Senate leaders who now find themselves dealing with an unknown and untested new partner.
On the
plus side for the new speaker, Mr. Johnson is certain to enjoy a honeymoon
period with those on the right who had a deep distrust of Mr. McCarthy and
feared he would work with Democrats, as he ultimately did. They are likely to
grant him considerable leeway in figuring out the spending morass with just a
few weeks remaining before the government runs out of money.
Mr.
Johnson has proposed the idea of a lengthy stopgap spending bill to allow the
House to take up its own funding measures, but they have been snarled by bitter
Republican feuds, and it is uncertain whether the House can approve them.
Mr.
Johnson was far from the first choice of his own colleagues. He was something
of a desperation candidate as House Republicans entered a fourth week without a
speaker, leaving the institution paralyzed and Republicans looking inept.
Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, defeated him
Tuesday morning in an internal vote for the speaker nomination — an outcome
that traditionally would have led to Mr. Emmer’s being elected speaker on the
House floor.
But the
old rules are gone. Hard-right conservatives quickly went to work to deny Mr.
Emmer any chance of obtaining the necessary votes on the floor and forced him to withdraw in just four hours. That opened
the door to a second round of nominations. Again, Mr. Johnson did not initially
win a majority but finally prevailed after multiple rounds of voting.
Some
more mainstream Republicans had stood against Mr. Jordan because they believed
his allies had been underhanded in their sabotage of Representative Steve
Scalise of Louisiana, who defeated Mr. Jordan in a vote for the speaker nomination.
They vowed that Mr. Jordan would never be rewarded for such tactics. But with
the party becoming a national laughingstock because of its inability to find a
leader, no effort to deny Mr. Johnson surfaced, and Republicans rallied to Mr.
Johnson’s side, even though he had initially lost to Mr. Emmer.
The
episode proved anew to hard-right Republicans that if they are willing to break
party norms and ignore their own majority’s position, they can still prevail —
an outcome that Mr. Johnson might later find does not always work in his favor
as speaker of the whole House.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT – From CNN
NEW SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE MIKE JOHNSON ONCE
WROTE IN SUPPORT OF THE CRIMINALIZATION OF GAY SEX
By Andrew Kaczynski and Allison
Gordon, CNN Published
2:20 PM EDT, Wed October 25, 2023
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has a history of harsh anti-gay
language from his time as an attorney for a socially conservative legal group
in the mid-2000s.
In editorials that ran in his local Shreveport,
Louisiana, paper, The Times, Johnson called
homosexuality a “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous lifestyle” that would
lead to legalized pedophilia and possibly even destroy “the entire democratic
system.”
And, in another editorial, he wrote, “Your race, creed, and sex
are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do,” he
wrote. “This is a free country, but we don’t give special protections for every
person’s bizarre choices.”
At the time, Johnson was an attorney and spokesman for Alliance Defense
Fund, known today as Alliance Defending Freedom, where he also authored his
opposition to the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas – which overturned
state laws that criminalized homosexual activity between consenting adults.
ADF wrote an amicus brief in the case which supported maintaining
criminalization.
“States have many legitimate grounds to proscribe same-sex deviate sexual
intercourse,” Johnson wrote in a July 2003 op-ed, calling it a public health
concern.
“By closing these bedroom doors, they have opened a Pandora’s box,” he
added.
Now, Johnson is the speaker of the House at a time when a majority of Americans are strongly supportive of gay
rights.
In the House Republican Conference’s voting for their speaker nominee,
Tom Emmer, who initially beat out Johnson, came
under fire from conservatives for voting to codify same-sex marriage in
2022.
Johnson, according to Punchbowl News, reportedly made an issue of
Emmer’s vote. Johnson voted against the bill. In 2022, Johnson also introduced a bill that some describe as a national
version of what critics have called Florida’s
“Don’t Say Gay” bill.
In the mid-2000s, Johnson’s anti-gay rhetoric was harsh. In September
2004, Johnson wrote in support of a Louisiana amendment banning
same-sex marriage saying it could lead to people marrying their pets.
“Homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural and, the studies
clearly show, are ultimately harmful and costly for everyone,” he wrote.
“Society cannot give its stamp of approval to such a dangerous lifestyle. If we
change marriage for this tiny, modern minority, we will have to do it for every
deviant group. Polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next
in line to claim equal protection. They already are. There will be no legal
basis to deny a bisexual the right to marry a partner of each sex, or a person
to marry his pet.”
(Does
that mean Donald trump can marry him?
- DJI)
Johnson added that allowing same-sex marriage could be the downfall of
the democratic system.
“The state and its citizens have a compelling interest in preserving the
integrity of the marital union by making opposite-sex marriage the exclusive
form of family relationship endorsed by the government,” he wrote. “Loss of
this status will de-emphasize the importance of traditional marriage to
society, weaken it, and place our entire democratic system in jeopardy by
eroding its foundation.”
In another 2004 column, Johnson again predicted same-sex marriage could
doom America.
“If you were shocked by the moral lapses at the Super Bowl you ain’t seen
nothin’ yet,” Johnson wrote. “Experts project that homosexual marriage is
the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the
strongest republic.”
ATTACHMENT TWENTY NINE – From
SLATE
HOW EXTREMISTS WON THE SPEAKER FIGHT
BY MARY HARRIS OCT 26, 20232:25 PM
Republicans
in the House of Representatives finally broke their deadlock on Wednesday. It
was the middle of the afternoon. And after three weeks of leaderless chaos,
Louisiana’s Mike Johnson took the gavel to become speaker of the House. If
you’re wondering, Mike who? You’re not alone. Mike Johnson has
been in office less
than seven years. And he was the fourth candidate for the job this month.
He got shoved into the spotlight—fast.
His
introductory speech offered a lot to think about. Johnson offered
a personal biography, speaking about his dad, who was a firefighter. He talked
a lot about God. He said he’d been moved to tears on the floor of Congress,
overwhelmed by the enormity of his responsibility.
“That
said, there’s a lot in his speech that was bullshit,” said Tim Miller, who
spent years as a Republican strategist. I called up Miller, who now writes for
the Bulwark, to help me read between the lines. “The speech included these
overwrought comments about the lack of institutional trust and how he’s there
to regain that. That’s a nice thing to say, I guess. But he didn’t do anything
to demonstrate that he wants to regain that trust. In fact, Mike Johnson’s been
somebody that’s been actively working to erode trust.”
What
Miller means here is that this pious-seeming guy, who’s been pretty anonymous
until now, has been fighting in the trenches for the conservative movement for
a long time, including as the main architect of one of Donald Trump’s schemes
to flip the 2020 election.
“He was
whipping people to try to vote to overturn the election,” Miller said. “He also
was advancing some of the more crazy conspiracy theories, like the Dominion
conspiracy that the voting machines were rigged.”
When
Rep. Matt Gaetz went on Steve Bannon’s show to talk about Mike Johnson, he called
him “MAGA Mike,” Miller said. But Johnson would never describe himself that
way. That’s why Johnson is the “Goldilocks candidate, because his actions are
everything that the people that listen to Steve Bannon’s podcast want. But his
affect and his words are collegial.”
The
House may finally have a speaker, but on Thursday’s
episode of What Next, I spoke with Miller about
how this “Goldilocks candidate” means the chaos is far from over. Our
conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Mary
Harris: Mike Johnson’s name first broke through the noise on Tuesday
night. Can you just lay out who he is, what he believes? What do we know about
his background?
Tim
Miller: Johnson is from Shreveport, northwest Louisiana. In a different
era, he would have been pretty much a Rick Santorum–type Republican. Just Christian conservative, cares a lot about social issues—things
in the gays and abortion and religious freedom space. That is his
natural place within the party, as part of the socially conservative wing. But
as he has gotten into Congress, he has developed pretty good relationships with
Steve Scalise and with the Republican leadership. He’s demonstrated he’s the
kind of guy who can do interviews and not sound like a crazy person, which is
an important bar to pass in the Republican Party these days.
Yeah,
sounding reasonable seems like his superpower.
It is.
And he also recognized the Trump rise within the party and really was lockstep
with Trump.
He
caught a shooting star. He would travel with Donald Trump, and then he got very
involved in Jan. 6, in the litigation around it.
Yes. He
wasn’t like Elise Stefanik. He wasn’t somebody that flipped and then became an
ostentatious defender of Trump. He was more like an operational defender of
Trump on the Hill. And Donald Trump likes those kind
of people.
Henchmen.
Someone
he feels like he could cast in the role of a henchman. And Mike Johnson really
does. And he has a lot of cred on the right because of his advocacy on social
issues.
And we
should be clear, he made this constitutional argument against Joe Biden’s
victory in 2020, and it went all the way to the Supreme Court. And again,
making it sound reasonable, saying like, “Listen, there was a pandemic, and
that meant there were all these changes to how elections worked. And really,
the legislature should be making those changes. That’s what it says in the
Constitution. But it was these other people, elections officials. And so it’s
like, Meh, those votes don’t count the same way.” And you can see
how he’s drawing the lines, even if you disagree with the outcome of what he’s
saying.
Yeah, I
went to the Louisiana GOP convention a couple of months ago now to cover it for
the Bulwark. And this is a very MAGA crowd. And Johnson’s remarks were very
well received. And he’s articulate and sounded intelligent. Louie Gohmert had
also spoken at this thing; he didn’t sound like Louie Gohmert. And so I heard
that and I was like, “Man, this guy is somebody to watch because he’s figured
out how to give these guys the right MAGA red meat while also having an
acceptable presentation for Face the Nation.” That demonstrates why
he is somebody they turned to, because this is something that the Republicans
desperately need.
They
essentially had two groups in the party: They had the people that were
basically old, pre-MAGA Republicans that were pretending on the MAGA stuff in
order to survive—that is your Tom Emmers and your
McCarthys and your Patrick McHenrys. And then you had the MAGA members that are
all just a little too weird to do the Face the Nation thing
and to do the ceremonial elements of the speakership that you have to do.
And
Johnson demonstrated that you can be a wild-eyed MAGA extremist who wants to
turn the country into a Donald Trump autocracy and talk about it in a way that
kind of sounds like you’re the captain of a high school debate team and drink
milk for lunch and have a podcast about religion with your wife, which he does.
Mike
Johnson didn’t really emerge as a potential speaker until a few days back, and
even then, he wasn’t a front-runner. Initially, Tom Emmer won the party’s
nomination, but he quickly dropped out once it was clear he wouldn’t have the
support of the MAGA wing. In the end, there were three candidates left, and
Johnson came out on top.
My sense
was that the reason why Johnson was able to elevate above the other two was
because among the more “normal” establishment Republicans, whatever you want to
call them, they were more drawn to Johnson. And Johnson had built good,
trustworthy relationships with leadership.
Looking
at the winners and losers of this speaker fight, it’s notable to me that Jim
Jordan did not win the gavel, but Johnson did. And to me, it made me wonder:
What does it mean? Like, what are the issues that are important to Republicans?
Because Johnson and Jordan seem very similar when it comes to
substance, but just different in style. It made me wonder if this is a
party of optics at this point.
Yeah,
that’s exactly what I thought. I just wrote about this for the Bulwark. If this
was an ideological fight, this would have been over weeks ago. If this was over
some policy issue or some ideology, then after McCarthy was deposed, whoever
started it and whoever their allies are would have gone to the conference and
said, “We will only go for a speaker that will do X, Y, and Z.” There would be
some specific thing that they wanted, but there wasn’t anything like that. They
had distaste for McCarthy and wanted to demonstrate power over him and wanted
to demonstrate that the MAGA elements within the party were the ones that were
in control, not the old establishment pre-Trump guys who had been around forever.
To me,
what was so weird was people like Ken Buck, who said
they couldn’t vote for Jim Jordan because of Jan. 6, but then all the
Republicans lined up behind Johnson, who was the architect of election
denialism.
So, you
have your Kay Grangers and your other appropriator types—Tom Kean and these old
bulls, if you will—and they went against Jordan. And some of that was
interpersonal. Jordan, for a long time, had been a thorn in their side. And so
some of this was just good old high school cafeteria stuff. But I also think
some of it was optics. They did not feel like he was somebody that should be
the face of the party. And they feel like Johnson could be. I think that
they’re in for a rude awakening. And I think that a lot of folks are going to
be regretting their votes
It’s
funny because earlier in the week we did a
show about the speaker mess in D.C., and I said it was a “make-or-break
week” for Republicans. So I’m curious: Which was it? Was it make or break or
both?
I think
it was “make” in the short term, but I think that they
run a very big risk of “break” by next year. Let me explain why. Back when I
was a Republican, we used to use the specter of Nancy Pelosi to really hurt
suburban Democratic candidates and certainly red-state Democratic candidates.
Like, so-and-so from Georgia voted 92 percent of the time with a San Francisco
liberal who wants to do all these far-left things—30-second ads, they write
themselves. The Democrats are now going to give the Republicans a taste of
their own medicine on this front. And all 18 of those guys in Biden districts
and even a handful that are in close Trump districts, now they have voted for
and empowered somebody as speaker of the House, as the leader of their party,
who was complicit in the effort to overturn the election, supports bans on
abortion with no exceptions, has had extremely far-out anti-gay legislation—not
just the “don’t say gay” stuff in Florida, but he wanted to allow gay sex to be
criminalized. And not to mention a climate change denier, who wants to
slash Social Security and Medicare. And I think it’s going to hurt these guys
to have to run and say, “OK, I’m on board with the Trump reelect and one of his
top lieutenants who’s this Louisiana extreme evangelical.” I don’t think that
that plays in these California and New York districts that are the reason why
Republicans have the House majority right now.
Let’s
talk about what happens now. Johnson is saying he’s going to move really fast.
He’s trying to jam through legislation this week, but he’s new to the job. He
still doesn’t really have a staff. You’ve worked behind the scenes with
politicians for a long time. Is moving fast possible for Mike Johnson?
It might
be possible on a couple of things. I don’t know what the deal was on the
continuing resolution. That’s the thing to watch. The government shutdown isn’t
until November, so we’ll see how quickly they can move on that.
Some of
the stuff is back to optics. Can he move fast on the bill that says we condemn
Hamas? Yeah, I guess. But I think that the thornier elements to this are going
to be more complicated than he realizes.
Like,
actually funding things.
Yeah. I
saw a list of things, like, “We’re going to do the farm bill by the end of the
year.” And it’s like, OK, brother, I don’t know. I feel like
an old guy now, saying, “Back in my day.” But I’ve been in D.C. during two farm
bills when there were speakers and majorities that were decently effective and
did get things passed where that thing got delayed forever because there are
all these random contingencies that you don’t think of. You know, the sugar
people are mad at the corn people. So, this guy with a staff of eight and a
bunch of people that are just new, and he has never really had to do anything.
He’s not in a competitive district and now he’s got to go raise money and do all of this stuff to prepare for 2024. He’s behind the
eight ball. He’s got to fund the government. They got to figure out what to do
with the Ukraine. I think that it’s going to be a steeper learning curve than
he presented.
Is
Johnson going to be governed by the same rules Kevin McCarthy was haunted by?
Like, the rule that any member of the caucus can try to boot him out at any
time if he strays from the rules.
He is.
But technically, Paul Ryan was also governed by that, and they just never
really did it. And so, I think that he’s in the sweet spot. Mike Johnson has
been a down-the-line right-wing congressman. There’s charts going around of all
of the controversial votes (among the Republican conference) since Kevin
McCarthy has gotten in—the debt ceiling bill and keeping the government open
and gay marriage—and Johnson was on the side of the crazies on every single one.
So, what reason would they have to overthrow him? And there’s
no signs that the more “moderate” folks are going to show the backbone
to use the same types of tactics that Matt Gaetz did. So he’ll probably be
clear on that front.
One of
the most important things Johnson’s going to have to do is reach spending
agreements with the Senate and the president, and he’s been so vocal in the
past about the need to slash spending on entitlement programs like Medicare,
Medicaid, Social Security. What does that mean for these debates and
conversations?
The
Ukraine thing is the biggest threat right now. So I think that’s issue No. 1.
Because
he’s voted against Ukraine funding in the past.
Yeah,
every time. And there’s been no even whispers that
that was part of the deal to get him through. I felt this way about McCarthy
when he first got in: Everybody gets one pass. I do think that he’ll get a pass
to deal with the budget in a way that can get through the Senate and onto the
president’s desk. I don’t know if there’ll be additional wheeling and dealing
on that or what that’s going to look like exactly. But I think that
he’ll get some leash within the Republican conference to do that. But in
the future, I think that we’re looking at severe, severe brinksmanship on government
funding in 2024.
So
you’re saying don’t be fooled if things look normal for the next couple months.
That’s
what I’m saying. I think that he will revert to the hard-line ideologue that
he’s been.
You spent
years as a Republican operative. And I thought it would be interesting to talk
to you in this moment, because I feel like I’ve just lived through these wild
swings of Republican identity during this speaker race. Like, literally
Tuesday, there was someone who was a speaker-designate who believed the polar
opposite of what the current speaker now elected believes, according to votes.
I wonder: Do you feel like Johnson’s election really points to what the
Republican Party is now?
I do. I
don’t even know, actually, if Johnson is the final manifestation of what the
Republican Party is now. The animating issues for Republicans right now are
completely different than they were 20 years ago. There’s
some similarities. There obviously is a line from Pat Buchanan to now and a
line from Newt Gingrich to now. But if you asked somebody in 1996 in the House
Republican Conference, what are the things that animate you? It’s
smaller government, lower taxes, maybe abortion, strong military. Like, that’s
the old three-legged stool of the Republican Party. If you ask the new class of
Republicans what it is now, it’s wokeness. It is
immigration. It is receding America from the world. And, maybe it’s also, for
some of them, smaller government and abortion. There are some things that
overlap, but there have been other issues that are totally changed. And the
types of politicians that were those old Chamber of Commerce Republicans that
have been hanging on in the House, they are representatives of a time gone by.
They’re
dinosaurs.
Yeah. It
was only a matter of time before they were overthrown. And frankly, they lasted
longer than I expected.
ATTACHMENT THIRTY – From Axios
SNEAK PEEKS
21 mins ago - Politics
& Policy
Mike Johnson's 3 biggest challenges as House speaker
22 days of GOP infighting has left Congress with 22
days to fund the government — giving new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a
narrow runway to manage the sequel to September's shutdown standoff.
Why it matters: That's far from the only challenge
inherited by Johnson, a relatively obscure lawmaker who on Wednesday was
elevated from the 211th most senior member of the House to second-in-line for
the presidency.
39 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Mike Johnson is the least experienced House speaker
in 140 years
Data: Office of the House Historian, Biographical
Directory of the U.S. Congress. Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios
House Speaker Mike Johnson — elected on Wednesday
after 22 days of chaos — is the least experienced representative to obtain the
gavel in 140 years.
Why it matters: The fourth-term Louisianian's status
as a relatively unknown figure outside Capitol Hill meant he had few enemies to
derail his campaign.
ATTACHMENT THIRTY ONE – From the
Hill
5
CHALLENGES FACING NEW SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON
BY NIALL
STANAGE - 10/26/23 5:00 AM ET
There is, finally, a Speaker.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) ascended to the role Wednesday, three
weeks and one day after eight GOP House members ignited chaos by ousting Rep.
Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Johnson got the unanimous support of his colleagues on the
House floor, an achievement that proved impossible for Majority Leader Steve
Scalise (R-La.), Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and
Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).
Johnson is a staunch social conservative, as well as a strong ally of former President Trump. Johnson aided Trump’s quest to overturn the 2020 election result.
Johnson has his hands on the gavel, but there are plenty of challenges
ahead.
Can he unify his conference?
House Republicans have burned through most of October with their
self-inflicted Speakership debacle.
It has produced moments when tempers burned red-hot.
During one meeting, Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) was widely reported to have “almost lunged” in frustration at Rep. Matt
Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the move to oust McCarthy.
When Jordan was seeking the Speakership, Republican dissenters openly
accused his allies of inciting threats against them.
Ill-feeling was rampant along other fault lines, too, including
supporters of Scalise, who were furious at what they perceived to be a lack of
support from Jordan loyalists.
Johnson at least has the moral authority that comes from his resounding
win.
The exhaustion felt across the GOP conference will also help him,
lowering the appetite for any new internecine drama.
Still, the wounds from the past few weeks are deep. Johnson faces a tough
job in trying to bind them up.
Can he keep the government open?
The next deadline for a government shutdown is looming.
And the time burnt off the clock by the Speaker chaos could prove critical.
The government will shut down if a deal is not reached by Nov. 17.
But the omens are hardly promising for reaching an agreement.
Johnson’s predecessor, McCarthy, was doomed by his decision to approve a
stopgap deal that leaned heavily on Democratic support.
Now, Johnson faces the task of threading a similarly fine needle.
Republicans want spending cuts and increased funding for border
security, but the Democratic majority in the Senate is sure to balk at
such demands unless there are substantial sweeteners.
The road ahead is unclear. A politically toxic shutdown is very
plausible.
Dealing with Ukraine
The war in Ukraine is now 20 months old, with no end in sight.
American popular support for aiding Kyiv in its efforts to repel the
invasion masterminded by Russian President Vladimir Putin has eroded but not
collapsed.
The issue has also become increasingly partisan, with Republican voters —
and GOP elected officials, especially on the hard right of the party — growing
increasingly skeptical.
In an Economist/YouGov poll published Wednesday, a plurality of
Republican voters, 38 percent, wanted the U.S. to decrease aid to
Ukraine, while only 11 percent of Democrats felt the same way.
Thirty-four percent of Republicans wanted to keep aid at its current level, and 15 percent of GOP voters wanted that aid
increased.
The issue has roiled the Republican conference, with figures such as
Gaetz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) being especially vociferous in
their opposition.
Johnson himself has tempered his earlier support for backing Ukraine. He
voted against two appropriations bills that provided aid to the eastern
European nation and has suggested the Ukrainian government needs to be more
“transparent” about how it is using the money.
The legislative politics of the issue are complicated, however. President
Biden has hitched together aid for Ukraine and aid for Israel, as well as other
causes, in a $106 billion supplemental request.
Johnson, like most members of both parties, is a strong advocate of
additional aid to Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in which
around 1,400 Israelis were killed.
How does he deal with former President Trump?
In one sense, Johnson owes his Speakership to Trump.
On Tuesday, Emmer had won the internal GOP conference vote to become the
party’s nominee for Speaker. But he also encountered resistance from roughly
two dozen House members who are staunch supporters of the former president.
As Emmer tried to win them over, Trump landed on Truth Social with a post
blasting the majority whip as a “globalist RINO” who was “out of touch”
with the GOP base. The writing was on the wall after that.
Trump was more welcoming to Johnson, as expected.
In the tumultuous period after the 2020 election, Johnson was a key
proponent of an amicus brief that would have invalidated
the election results in four states.
Johnson also amplified Trump’s false claims of election fraud. And he
duly voted, even in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot,
to object to election results.
Those actions will endear him to the former president and the party base.
But they also provide an inviting target for Democrats seeking to make
the case the Speaker and his party are extremists.
Johnson’s close bond with Trump will also prove complicated if, as is
likely, the former president makes electorally unhelpful interventions.
Keeping the House majority
Johnson has the support of all his colleagues for now, but his hold
on the gavel is tenuous because of the slimness of the GOP majority.
There are 221 Republicans, 212 Democrats and two vacant seats in the
House.
The 18 Republicans who represent districts carried by President Biden in
2020 will be the top Democratic targets in 2024, when Trump looks likely to top
the GOP ticket.
Johnson needs to find a way to ease their passage to reelection while
keeping the support of a party that remains in thrall to Trump.
It’s far from an easy task.
ATTACHMENT THIRTY TWO – From Fox
FIVE DILEMMAS NEW HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON
WILL HAVE TO TACKLE
Johnson won the speakership in a 220-209 vote
By Houston Keene Fox News Published October
26, 2023 4:00am EDT
The House of Representatives has a new speaker
in Mike Johnson, R-La.,
and he already has a full plate.
Johnson is taking the reins from interim House
Speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who took up the speaker pro tempore position
after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ouster weeks ago.
The new speaker, though, is inheriting a packed
docket that includes a looming government funding deadline.
GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEADLINE
The first issue Johnson will have to wrestle with is
funding the government.
There are 12 appropriations bills that need to pass
through Congress and reach President Biden's desk before a quickly approaching
Nov. 17 deadline.
The government is funded until mid-November, and
failure to get appropriation legislation across the finish line would lead to a
government shutdown.
A continuing resolution (CR) could be a move Johnson
considers to buy more time to pass the appropriations bills, but a CR was the
catalyst for McCarthy's ouster, led by GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
ISRAEL
The war in Israel has been a backdrop for the House's
speaker fight, and action will be taken now that the chamber has a leader.
With Americans being taken hostage and the potential
of Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists entering America at the southern border,
the House is under pressure to make a move.
Johnson's first bill as speaker was a House
resolution of support for Israel.
"The first bill that I'm going to bring to this
floor in just a little while will be in support of our dear, dear friend
Israel, and we're overdue in getting that done," Johnson said in his
acceptance speech for the speakership.
Funding for Israel is one of the big-ticket items
entering appropriation season and will likely see a fight from progressives in
the House who have called for aid to be cut off.
Additionally, rising antisemitism and support for
Hamas in America, especially on college campuses, will likely be an issue
Johnson will have to address.
THE BORDER
The southern border continues to be a major issue
affecting Americans as drugs and illegal immigrants pour into the country.
DEM COMMITTEE POSTS FALSE
INFORMATION PAINTING SPEAKER NOMINEE AS ‘MAGA EXTREMIST’
Border officials arrested 18 people on the FBI’s
terror watch list in September, making fiscal year 2023 a record year for such
encounters at the southern border.
According to Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) statistics, 169 people on FBI terror watch lists were
encountered between ports of entry at the southern border in the past 12 months,
a number that exceeds not only fiscal year 2022’s record-setting total (98) but
the last six fiscal years combined.
In addition to addressing the crisis at the southern
border, Johnson will have to battle with the Biden administration on its immigration
agenda.
UKRAINE AID
The war between Ukraine and Russia also rages on,
with funding being a point of contention in the House GOP conference.
Some conservative Republicans are opposed to sending
more money to Ukraine during the war while moderates and Democrats support more
aid.
Johnson will have to balance the interests of the
larger conservative wing of his party with the moderate members who could
influence funding for Ukraine if they reach across the aisle to moderate
Democrats amid the slim majority.
CONTROLLING THE CONFERENCE
Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks Johnson will
face is controlling the House GOP conference.
The Republicans have
proven to be a wild caucus in the eventful 118th Congress, ousting their own
speaker and electing a new one midterm, with conflicting interests driving much
of the politicking.
Moderates and conservatives in the GOP will be a
juggling act for Johnson in his new role — not to mention personal agendas of
members in the slim majority.
Johnson was elected speaker of the House Wednesday
with a vote of 220-209.
The Democrats nominated House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as
their speaker nominee.
Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw contributed reporting.
Houston Keene is a politics writer for Fox News
Digital. Story tips can be sent to Houston.Keene@Fox.com and on Twitter:
@HoustonKeene
ATTACHMENT THIRTY THREE – From the
Washington Post
HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON USED FAITH IN
CAMPAIGN AGAINST GAY RIGHTS
The Southern Baptist has denounced gay relationships and sought to narrow
the separation between church and state
By Isaac
Stanley-Becker October 26, 2023 at
8:32 p.m. EDT
Mike
Johnson had just entered the Louisiana state legislature in 2015 when he
introduced a bill that ran counter to a growing consensus among Americans —
clashing even with the attitudes of the conservative majority in Baton Rouge.
The
bill, the Marriage and Conscience Act, sought to protect people with anti-gay
attitudes from adverse government action, such as denial of a business license
or contract.
For
Johnson, who this week was chosen by his Republican colleagues in
Congress to become speaker of the House, the measure was in line with a
career-long crusade against gay rights. He first embarked on that crusade in
the 2000s as an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, now known as
the Alliance Defending Freedom,
a platform he used to call gay relationships “inherently unnatural.”
Johnson
had little luck with the polarizing proposal, which was voted down in
committee. But when the bill died, the conservative firebrand did something
unusual: He smiled for a picture with two of the activists who had worked to
kill it.
“We spoke on the phone almost every day during
that period, communicating honestly about how we were approaching the work,”
said one of the activists, Bruce Parker, who posed next to Johnson for the
photo, taken inside the state capitol building in Baton Rouge. The idea of
taking a picture together, no matter the legislation’s fate, had become a point
of levity for the two men during the days they spent at loggerheads, Parker
said.
The
posture by Johnson, now 51, points to his unlikely ability to pursue hard-line
priorities — those appealing to an influential far-right wing in the House —
while appealing to some skeptics. He is a congenial
crusader, say friends and foes alike, qualities that will now be tested by a
fractious Republican conference.
It’s
that rare mix that elevated him to the speakership, after three weeks of failed
votes that doomed better-known and more experienced candidates. The result is a
Republican standard-bearer who is virtually unknown to the public, even as
he was a leading proponent of former
president Donald Trump’s efforts to
overturn the 2020 election.
Johnson’s
voluminous record on hot-button social issues, unified above all by his efforts
to narrow the separation of church and state, is only now coming under
scrutiny.
A
Johnson spokeswoman pointed to a Facebook post written
by the congressman last year in which he argued that “biblical beliefs” were
inseparable from “public affairs.”
When he
addressed colleagues from the House dais on Wednesday, Johnson wrapped his own
ascension in his religious views, saying: “God is the one that raises up those in authority.”
“He is
brilliant and terrifying. And we are just seeing the beginning of him,” Parker
said.
‘Like a minister’
Johnson’s
worldview and interest in politics took shape early in life, by his own account
and those of friends.
He was
12 years old when tragedy struck his family. His father, an assistant fire
chief in Shreveport, responded to an explosion at a cold storage facility that
badly burned 80 percent of his body.
“The
explosion was such a pivotal thing my life,” Johnson, a Southern Baptist, would
later tell the Shreveport Times. “From a young age, I saw that prayer and faith
are real, tangible things. I watched God work a miracle and save my father’s
life.”
The
eldest of four children, Johnson studied business at Louisiana State
University, graduating in 1995, and continued on at the law school, earning his
degree in 1998.
“The
only election he has ever lost in his entire life was to me,” said Charles G.
Blaize Jr., a classmate who, in their final year of law school, bested him for
president of the student bar association. The two discussed their political
ambitions, his classmate said, and joked that one of them would ultimately
become governor of Louisiana.
In law
school, Johnson “carried himself like a minister,” Blaize said. “He didn’t
drink very much, if at all. He was very socially conservative.”
When
Johnson married his wife, Kelly Lary, in 1999, they chose what’s known as a
covenant marriage, which requires people to engage in premarital counseling and
makes it harder to get divorced. The couple became spokespeople for the
arrangement, first made available in Louisiana two years before they were
wed and only allowed in a handful of states. Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” a
few years later, they called covenant marriage a “no-brainer.”
“I’m a big
proponent of marriage and fidelity and all the things that go with it,” Johnson
said. He and his wife have four kids and live in Bossier Parish, across the Red
River from Shreveport.
After
law school, Johnson went to work for a prominent Shreveport law
firm, according to a partner there, Donald Armand Jr. He focused on
standard-issue litigation, Armand said, but soon informed the partners that he
was leaving for more mission-oriented work.
In 2002,
he jumped to the Alliance Defense Fund, as it was then known. The Christian
nonprofit, a conservative answer to the American Civil Liberties Union, has
been at the leading edge of litigating high-profile cases contesting
protections for abortion, contraception coverage and gay and transgender
rights.
He also
began writing columns in the local Shreveport paper decrying gay intimacy and
anti-discrimination protections for gay workers. After the Supreme Court struck
down a Texas law making gay sex a crime and erased sodomy laws in a dozen other
states, Johnson called the landmark 2003 decision, in Lawrence v. Texas,
a “devastating blow to fundamental American values and millennia of moral
teaching.”
A year
later, he described same-sex marriage as a threat to democracy. Weighing in on
a proposed amendment to Louisiana’s constitution defining marriage as “the
union of one man and one woman,” he argued that any other interpretation would
“de-emphasize the importance of traditional marriage to society, weaken it, and
place our entire democratic system in jeopardy by eroding its foundation.”
He
called gay relationships “inherently unnatural,” warning that if society
countenanced “such a dangerous lifestyle,” similar demands would emerge from
“every deviant group.”
“Polygamists,
polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line to claim equal
protection,” he wrote in the 2004 column, among numerous broadsides first reported by CNN.
He also
sought to put the weight of government behind his Christian belief system. He
endorsed the 2004 constitutional amendment enshrining a traditional definition
of marriage.
In 2005,
he pushed a local ordinance in a small Louisiana parish regulating
“sexually oriented businesses” and, in the Shreveport Times, called for
government action against the porn industry and what he called the “enemies
of innocence.”
Much of
his advocacy has been animated by an effort to shrink the separation between
church and state. In 2002, he argued in favor of
Bible instruction in public schools in Louisiana. Later, he led the Alliance
Defense Fund’s work on behalf of a North Carolina county board sued for opening
public meeting with a religious prayer. His group represented the board for
free, assisting in a five-year legal battle ending in 2012 when the U.S.
Supreme Court declined to hear the board’s appeal.
His
field of cultural battle was broad — extending to the Christmas hearth. In
2005, his was a leading voice threatening public officials not to refer to
Christmas trees as “holiday trees.”
“It’s a
sad day in America when you have to retain an attorney to say ‘Merry
Christmas,’” Johnson told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Johnson
was hardly toiling in the shadows. In 2007, he wrote the “faith” portion of the
campaign platform put forward by Bobby Jindal in his successful campaign for
governor, said longtime Jindal aide Kyle Plotkin.
“Mike’s
a happy warrior,” Plotkin said. “That’s why he’s well-liked within the
conference and also respected by the other side.”
Johnson
left the Alliance Defense Fund in 2010, according to a spokeswoman for the
group, and he ultimately led his own firm, Freedom Guard, which
defended a creationist group in its quest to secure tax rebates for a theme
park modeled on Noah’s Ark.
“A
movement is underway in America today to censor, silence, and marginalize
people of faith, and to erode our most fundamental rights,” said Johnson,
a longtime trustee of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the
Southern Baptist Convention, explaining the need for firms like his. “We are
concerned that many in our churches today have no idea of the storm that is
coming.”
‘Whip smart’ vs. ‘bigot of the highest order’
Johnson
put himself at the center of a storm when he sponsored the religious freedom
bill as a freshman lawmaker in 2015.
The
issue was a priority for Jindal, and it represented a major fault line in
national politics, with Indiana’s then-governor, Mike Pence, having
just championed a similar effort over
significant opposition. But most Republicans joined Democrats on a Louisiana
House panel to reject it 10-2.
Frances
Kelley, an activist for LGBTQ+ rights and the other Johnson adversary who posed
for the photo with him after his bill’s defeat, said his willingness to engage
with critics stood in stark contrast to some of his colleagues and made clear
to her that he believed in the righteousness of his actions.
“I think
he’s focused on being effective over the long-term on the issues that are most
important to him,” Kelley said. “People shouldn’t underestimate him. This is
not someone who’s trying to show off or get social media attention.”
The
political neophyte spent little time licking his wounds after his legislative
defeat. In June of that year, he was on the trial team defending a
Louisiana state law that required abortion providers to have admitting
privileges at a nearby hospital, according to Steve Aden, a former colleague at
the Alliance Defense Fund who also joined the trial team. Proponents of such
laws — a major test of abortion jurisprudence before the 2022 decision
overturning Roe v. Wade — said they were critical to women’s
health, while advocates of abortion rights said they effectively extinguished
access to the procedure.
The case
ultimately worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which invalidated the law in
2020.
Aden
described Johnson as “whip smart” with a “winsome personality.”
John
Delgado, a former Republican city council member in Baton Rouge, offered a
different view, calling Johnson a “bigot of the highest order.” (Johnson’s
office did not respond to the criticism.)
After just
a year in the state legislature, Johnson announced his candidacy for a
congressional seat. Johnson coasted to victory in the ruby-red district in the
northwest part of Louisiana and has won handily in each of his three
elections since, running unopposed last year.
His
Democratic opponent in 2020, a community organizer named Kenny Houston, said
Johnson has been using the seat to wage a cultural battle in which his
constituents never enlisted. Meanwhile, Houston said, the district has suffered
under the weight of joblessness and intensifying crime.
“You
would think with Shreveport being one of the most dangerous cities in America,
you would hear him talking about it,” Houston said.
Johnson
has spoken more about other issues, especially abortion. In 2020, during a
largely unnoticed interview with Students for Life Action, a leading
antiabortion group, Johnson was raising alarm about abortion pills, demand for
which has soared after the end of Roe.
“In the
abortion industry, Planned Parenthood and the abortion cartels are going to try
their best to maximize profits with that, of course,” he said.
Recently,
Johnson has tried his hand as a talk radio host, launching a podcast with his
wife last year called “Truth be Told.” In an episode
last fall, he argued that common understandings of the separation of church and
state are all wrong.
“The sad
irony is that over the last 60, 70, 80 years, radical progressives and leftists
and atheist organizations have twisted the meaning of it, and now they regard
the First Amendment as a weapon to be wielded against the people of faith when
it was supposed to be their shield,” he said.
The
country’s founders, Johnson argued, understood that catastrophe would ensue “if
the men in charge had no fear in eternal judgment by a power higher than their
temporal institutions.”
Meanwhile,
some of his friends are asking for help on his behalf from a higher power.
“It’s a
tough job,” said Aden, the former colleague from the Alliance Defense Fund. “I
will keep him in my prayers.”
ATTACHMENT THIRTY FOUR – From Fox
HOUSE
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON'S APPEAL TO 'GOD,' 'THE BIBLE’ ON HOUSE FLOOR SPARKS
DEBATE ONLINE
While conservatives praised
Johnson's religiosity, one leftist declared, 'Irrational beliefs should not
inspire social policies'
By Gabriel Hays Fox News Published October 26, 2023 8:00pm EDT | Updated October 27,
2023 4:02am EDT
New Speaker of The House
Mike Johnson's invocation of God and the Bible during his appearances following
his election has sparked a polarized reaction from social
media.
Conservatives on X - the platform formerly known as
Twitter – praised Johnson for wearing his Christianity on his sleeve in
his new role, while some liberals claimed that he is offending the
"Constitution and the New Testament" with his appeal to God inside
the House chamber.
After the GOP congressman’s election as Speaker of
the House Wednesday, following weeks of Republican lawmakers being unable to
decide on a candidate, Johnson made time for prayer and recognition of the God
of his Christian faith.
Speaking to Congress following his election, Johnson
declared, "I don’t believe there are any coincidences in a matter like
this. I believe that Scripture and the Bible is very clear that God is the one
that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you, all of us. And I believe God has
ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment
and this time. This is my belief."
"I believe that each one of us has a huge
responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the
extraordinary people of this great country and they deserve it," he added.
Other images of Johnson circulating on X showed him
bowing in prayer with fellow GOP lawmakers on multiple occasions.
Conservative X users seemed elated at the new
speaker’s piety. Conservative digital
strategist Greg Price remarked, "You
don't see too many politicians these days that talk about faith like
this."
The Blaze host Steve Deace said,
"This is a very good start."
Influential Christian conservative leader Bob Vander
Plaats praised Johnson, stating, "It's exciting to hear the new Speaker of
the House discuss his faith openly."
However, leftists saw Johnson’s appeal to prayer as
a bad omen.
Syracuse Law lecturer David Cay Johnson posted a
viral reaction to a photo of Johnston praying on the House floor, stating,
"House GOP members praying on the House floor offends both our
Constitution and the New Testament, which denounces public displays of
devotion. The blasphemy of the new Speaker, who says God ordained him, is just as
disgusting."
Psychologist Lucia Grosaru posted, "When a
country is ruled based on religious principles, you get the extremism that
managed to survive through the millennia. Irrational beliefs should not inspire
social policies. Mythology is to be studied (beautiful field) but has no active
place in modern societies."
She also asked, "What if some politician
somewhere would start proposing we all go by Apollo's principles? It's the same
for any other religion that made it to this day."
ATTACHMENT THIRTY FIVE – From Vox
3
WINNERS AND 3 LOSERS FROM THE HOUSE SPEAKER CIRCUS
Right-wing hardliners ultimately triumphed by making
Rep. Mike Johnson speaker.
By Andrew Prokop Oct 25, 2023, 3:35pm EDT
The
winner of the game of House Speaker musical chairs is … Rep. Mike Johnson
(R-LA), who won the job Wednesday with unanimous GOP support.
After a
22-day struggle among Republicans to agree on Kevin McCarthy’s replacement, the
right-wingers and the mainstream members in the conference decided to settle on
Johnson, despite — or perhaps because of — his limited experience in leadership
and lack of a national profile.
As in
all good face-saving compromises, there’s some ambiguity over which side has
caved — but overall, the right-wingers appear to have emerged triumphant.
We know
little about how Johnson would tackle the seemingly intractable governing
problems that took down McCarthy, such as how he’d keep the government funded
and avoid a shutdown. (He has distributed a plan that would
allow for a short-term funding bill to avert a government shutdown, but the
best-laid plans…)
Overall,
though, Johnson is a movement conservative close to the Christian right. He’s
also a stalwart Trump ally who actively worked to help the former
president try to overturn Joe Biden’s victories in key 2020 swing states —
making Trump, who helped torch the chances of Johnson’s leading rival Tom Emmer
on Tuesday, another winner.
The
losers include the existing slate of House GOP leaders, all of whom took embarrassing
public L’s over the past few weeks. And while a bloc of mainstream Republicans
got some satisfaction in taking down Jim Jordan, they decided to stop there
rather than flexing their muscles further — meaning that the party leadership
has ultimately gotten further away from them.
Winner (for now): Mike Johnson
When
this saga started 22 days ago, no one would have predicted that it would end
with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. And yet it has.
Johnson
was first elected to the House in 2016, which would make him the least
experienced speaker since the 1880s. Yet for close House watchers,
Johnson didn’t totally come out of nowhere. Since 2021 he’s been the
fifth-ranking member of the House GOP leadership’s team, serving as vice chair
of the conference. Before that, Johnson chaired the Republican Study Committee
— an organizing body of House conservatives who are mostly not far-right enough
to be in the Freedom Caucus.
But now
he’s suddenly speaker, in large part because all the other contenders who were
more prominent than him — McCarthy, Steve Scalise (R-LA), Jim Jordan (R-OH),
and Tom Emmer (R-MN) — had made too many enemies. Since it currently only takes
a mere five Republican defections to sink a GOP speaker nominee on the House
floor, having few haters in the party is actually more important than having
passionate supporters.
Hence
Speaker Johnson. But is the speakership a poisoned chalice, destined to result in the
demise of anyone who drinks from it? The core problem that has bedeviled GOP
speakers since John Boehner is that there is a faction of hardliners on the
right who seem fundamentally unsuited to the reality of governance and
especially to the compromises necessary when Democrats control the White House
and Senate.
Speaker
Johnson has no secret plan to force President Biden and 60 senators to bend the
knee and accept massive cuts to government spending. He may be talking a big game about passing 12
separate appropriations bills with Republican votes, but McCarthy made that
same promise in January and found it impossible to fulfill. And inevitably, a
spending deal has to be cut with Democrats, or the government shuts down and
Republicans get blamed, imperiling their chances of holding the chamber in
2024.
Johnson’s
best hope is that he can convince the hardliners to chill out for a bit and
give him more leeway to cut those deals than they gave McCarthy. But the longer
he remains in the speaker job, the more he’ll inevitably disappoint some
Republicans. And it is worth noting that he has never done this job before. Can
he do it?
Winner: GOP hardliners
Rep.
Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who started this whole ball rolling by moving to oust
McCarthy, summed up his takeaway on Steve Bannon’s
podcast Wednesday: “If you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA
Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement and where the power in the
Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention.”
Indeed,
Republican hardliners didn’t get the Speaker Jim Jordan that they dreamed of.
But they firmly established the principle that the hard right is entitled to
veto any speaker nominee the conference produces — and they torched the careers
of all of the top three “establishment” party leaders. Not a bad month’s work.
Johnson’s
surprising ascendance is also a win for the Christian right. While Boehner,
Ryan, and McCarthy all supported conservative policies and viewed the
religious right as an essential part of the GOP coalition, Johnson is of that
movement — before entering elected office, he was a top lawyer for a Christian
legal advocacy group and has long opposed abortion rights and LGBTQ rights.
(In contrast, Emmer was sunk in part because he had voted in favor of marriage
equality — one holdout House Republican told him Tuesday that he needed to “get right with Jesus”).
The
practical impact of Johnson’s conservatism will be limited so long as Democrats
control the Senate and the White House. A more conservative speaker does not
necessarily translate to more conservative laws. But the right-wing hardliners
have proven that while they may not yet fully control the party, they’re now
the most powerful force inside it.
Losers: The House Republican leadership slate
McCarthy,
Scalise, and Emmer were the first, second, and third-ranking members of the
leadership team the House GOP elected less than a year ago. But in the past few
weeks, they’ve all been publicly humiliated as their speakership dreams were
dashed by right-wing hardliners — even though each was clearly preferred by a
majority of the GOP conference.
McCarthy
was tossed out of his job by just eight defecting Republicans (who joined with
all Democrats to oust him as speaker). Then Scalise, after winning an internal
GOP conference vote, lasted barely more than a day as speaker nominee
before quitting. And this week, Emmer exceeded even that — he was the speaker
nominee for just four hours before dropping out.
Now, the
top three ranking Republicans all have egg on their face, with their political
futures uncertain. The party is moving on to new leaders and may no longer have
room for them.
Winner: Donald Trump
Trump
was mostly a minor player in the House speaker race — the GOP hardliners don’t
need his encouragement to make trouble for party leaders. But while he didn’t
end up with Speaker Jordan (his initial endorsement), he may have ended up with
the next best thing.
“Johnson
was deeply involved in efforts to keep Trump in power starting immediately
after 2020 election,” the Washington Post’s Robert Costa tweeted. “Johnson — then all but unknown —
worked with allied Trump groups and conservative leaders in a coordinated way
to make sure that whole orbit was working together to help Trump.”
Early
on, Johnson publicly made false claims that voting
machines were “rigged.” In December, he used his constitutional law expertise
to put together a legalistic justification for throwing out Biden’s wins in key
swing states — he claimed that state voting policy changes
implemented during the pandemic were illegal unless they went through state
legislatures, and got more than 100 House Republicans to sign on to the
argument. He stuck by that argument up to January 6 itself, and even when Congress reconvened
after the attacks, he voted to throw out Biden’s wins.
Trump
also played a role in the denouement of the crisis. Emmer had initially
defeated Johnson for the speaker nomination midday Tuesday, but he’s long had a
tense relationship with Trump. And while Emmer was struggling to win over
hardliner holdouts, Trump publicly blasted Emmer as a “Globalist RINO,” in what may have been the
nail in the coffin for his bid. Now, he has a true loyalist in the speaker’s
chair rather than someone backing him through gritted teeth.
Loser: Anyone dreaming about bipartisanship
As
Republicans struggled for so long to achieve near-unanimity to elect a speaker,
many observers asked an obvious question: Why couldn’t some Republicans cut a
deal with some Democrats to pick a speaker, and govern the
House from the center?
Various
ideas to this effect were batted around — the one that gained the most steam
was for an “empowerment” of temporary speaker Patrick McHenry for a set period
of time. But it proved to be toxic among Republicans. It drew fury from
conservative media, and GOP leaders distanced themselves from any idea of a
“coalition government.”
A
Washington Post editorial blamed Democrats for failing to throw a
reasonable Republican their votes. But that argument missed the point — the
relatively more “reasonable” Republican options, Scalise and Emmer, never
actually went to the House floor, instead quitting beforehand. For Emmer in
particular, there had been chatter that some Democrats might throw him their
votes or vote present. But he evidently didn’t want to be
elected as a speaker with Democratic votes, since that would forever mark him
as a party traitor. Partisanship and polarization remain ascendant.
This is
also why the mainstream bloc of Republican holdouts ultimately lost their
staring contest with the hardliners. The ultimate leverage the mainstreamers
could have deployed would have been a threat to deal with Democrats. But they
all have Republican primaries they want to win, Republican donors they want to
woo, and Republican social worlds they inhabit. A deal with Democrats would
likely have meant the end of their own political careers, and evidently no one
wanted to take that risk.
Loser: The stability of the US electoral system
After
Johnson won the GOP conference’s speaker nomination Tuesday night, one
reporter asked him about having led Trump’s
challenges to the 2020 election results. The assembled GOP leadership team
booed, with one member yelling “shut up!” Johnson demurred: “Next question.”
In
January 2021, when Trump was trying to stay in power, the House of
Representatives was under Democratic control, so the actions of House
Republicans didn’t matter all too much. Most of them could vote to throw out
Biden’s wins in key states, but they didn’t have a majority, so they couldn’t
actually do that.
January
2025 could be different. The House that meets to certify the presidential
election results that month will be newly elected, but Johnson could well still
be speaker. If so — and if there’s a similar dispute where Trump is denying a
Biden victory — it’s far from clear what Johnson will do.
Generally,
from November 2020 through January 2021, the Republican Party behaved terribly
irresponsibly, but just enough Republicans in positions of power did the right
thing — certifying the results at some political
cost. Since then, critics of Trump’s attempt to seize power have largely been
purged from the party, and election denial has been increasingly normalized.
For instance, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), an idiosyncratic conservative, said he initially wouldn’t support a
speaker candidate who denied the election results — but he backed Johnson
anyway.
Would a
GOP-controlled House certify a Democratic victory in the 2024
presidential election? With Johnson in charge, that may have grown
less likely — and that has ominous implications for the state of American
democracy.
ATTACHMENT THIRTY SIX – From
Politico
MIKE JOHNSON ON HANNITY: 12 KEY LINES FROM THE NEW HOUSE SPEAKER’S
INTERVIEW
The
newly anointed speaker gave the Fox News host a peek into his thinking.
By ANDREW
ZHANG 10/26/2023 10:59 PM EDT
House
Speaker Mike Johnson, the previously little-known Louisiana Republican who
claimed the chamber’s gavel this week after 22 days of chaos, gave a
wide-ranging interview to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday night. Here are
Johnson’s top 12 lines from that interview.
1.
President Joe Biden
“If you
look at a tape of Joe Biden making an argument in the Senate Judiciary
Committee a few years ago and you see a speech that he delivers now, there’s a
difference. Again, it’s not a personal insult to him. It’s just reality.”
2. The
Biden administration
“I think
it’s been a failed presidency.”
3.
Foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel
“I told
the staff at the White House today that our consensus among House Republicans
is that we need to bifurcate those issues.”
4.
Foreign policy
“We
can’t allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine because I don’t believe it
would stop there. It would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make
a move on Taiwan. We have these concerns.”
5. U.S.
boots on the ground in Israel
“It’s a
very delicate situation; it changes by the hour. We’re watching it very
closely. We certainly hope that it doesn’t come to boots on the ground.”
6.
Palestinian aid
“They
use the Palestinians as shields. They don’t even provide the people with clean
drinking water. We’re supposed to believe they’re going to use U.S. aid for
humanitarian purposes? Count me as a skeptic, OK.”
7. Biden
impeachment
“If, in
fact, all the evidence leads to where we believe it will, that’s very likely
impeachable offenses.”
8. China
“China
is a near peer-to-peer adversary to us right now, and their goal is to rebuild
the empire. So we’re doing everything we can to ensure we maintain our military
superiority.”
9.
Motion to vacate
“I think
we’re going to change it.”
10.
Stopgap budget measure
“We’re
working through this with the ideas and trying to ensure that if another
stopgap measure is required, that we do it with certain conditions.”
11. Gay
marriage
“This
has been settled by the Supreme Court in the Obergefell opinion
in 2015. So, that’s the decision. ... I’m a constitutional law attorney, I
respect that and we move forward.”
12.
Abortion
“There’s
no national consensus for the people on what to do with that issue on a federal
issue for certain.”
ATTACHMENT THIRTY SEVEN – From theWashington Examiner
MIKE JOHNSON WON THE HOUSE
SPEAKER FIGHT. WHAT ABOUT CONSERVATIVES?
by W. James Antle III, Politics Editor October 26, 2023 07:00 AM
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) won the election for speaker of the House on Wednesday.
The next question is: Did
conservatives?
BIDEN AND TRUMP COURT INDEPENDENT VOTERS AMID THIRD-PARTY THREAT
When eight Republicans joined with House Democrats in throwing out former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), most of them justified
their move, which was not popular in the wider GOP conference and has received
mixed reviews at best in polling of rank-and-file Republican voters, by saying
a more conservative speaker was possible.
On paper, Johnson
certainly fits the bill. His 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference,
formerly American Conservative Union, rating was 91%. His lifetime rating over
six years is 91.87%.
That’s better than McCarthy’s ratings of 82% and 84.08%, respectively, or House
Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-LA) 2022 rating of 82%, though only a touch
better than his lifetime score of 91.43%. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN)
was just 73% last year and 79.63% over his congressional career.
House Judiciary Committee
Chairman Jim
Jordan (R-OH) was the only
candidate for speaker who was rated as being more conservative than Johnson,
with 100% scores for last year and his entire 16-year stint in Congress.
But Jordan never got
particularly close to being speaker, receiving fewer votes on the floor than
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) each time. By the third ballot,
Jordan had dipped below 200 votes and had 25 Republicans declining to support
him. The conference dumped him as the nominee shortly thereafter.
One reason House
Republicans elected McCarthy in the first place was that no one associated with
the Freedom Caucus had the votes to become speaker. Jordan was widely
considered the most plausible member of that faction for the job. That
experiment has now been tried and ended poorly.
The theory was that McCarthy could be
held to certain commitments in exchange for conservative holdouts finally relenting
to his election on the 15th ballot, including a low threshold for the motion to
vacate, essentially making himself easy to fire.
Many House conservatives
did not like McCarthy’s approach to the debt ceiling or a temporary government
funding bill to avert a shutdown. A much smaller number was ready to oust him
over it immediately. So fire him they did.
“We told you how to use
the power of the purse: individual, single-subject spending bills that would
allow us to have specific review, programmatic analysis and that would allow us
to zero out the salaries of the bureaucrats who have broken bad, targeted
President Trump, or cut sweetheart deals for Hunter Biden,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), an anti-McCarthy
ringleader, said on the House floor last month.
Johnson isn’t a Freedom
Caucus member either, though the group is secretive about its membership. But
the new speaker is at least Freedom Caucus adjacent. He has a deep reservoir of
goodwill across the conference. He will surely need to draw upon it as the next
government shutdown deadline nears and some judge him by the standards Gaetz
laid out for McCarthy.
Before becoming speaker, Newt Gingrich led a conservative revolt against a
bipartisan tax increase signed into law by then-President George H.W. Bush. It
didn’t take long before Gingrich was the target of conservative revolts himself
once he took the gavel in 1995, though his speakership ultimately ended for
other reasons.
Under House Speaker Dennis
Hastert, Republicans formalized a conservative-backed rule bearing his name
that requires the “majority of the majority” to support legislation that made
it to the floor. By the end of his tenure, intraparty fights over federal
spending began to intensify. Republicans lost control of the House in 2006.
GOP Speakers John Boehner
and Paul Ryan clashed with the new Freedom Caucus and its allies. Over time, a
perceived combativeness and a willingness to flout conventions in pursuit of
conservative objectives became as important as policy or ideological
differences.
McCarthy lasted just nine
months and could only be replaced after House Republicans pondered their fourth
option.
Democrats have already
pointed out that Johnson was closer to former President Donald
Trump, backing him on 2020 election certification. Spending will
inevitably be the first test, however.
Congressional
conservatives have long argued that Republican leaders don’t drive a hard
enough bargain with the Democrats on spending, refusing to use the leverage
they believe is offered by shutdowns and the federal debt limit. R
We’ll soon find out
whether Johnson can be a different story with a different ending.
ATTACHMENT THIRTY EIGHT – From
Time
THE CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM OF SPEAKER MIKE
JOHNSON
BY ANDREW WHITEHEAD AND SAMUEL L. PERRY OCTOBER
27, 2023 2:38 PM EDT
On his
first day as the new Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
Mike Johnson (R-LA) wasted no time in using sweeping religious rhetoric to
magnify this political moment. While addressing his colleagues he shared how, “I don’t believe there are any
coincidences. I believe that scripture, the Bible, is very clear that God is
the one that raises up those in authority, he raised
up each of you, all of us. And I believe that God has ordained and allowed us
to be brought here to this specific moment and time.”
While
what Speaker Johnson believes God ordained him to do will become clear in the
coming weeks and months, his prior work, words, and writing give several clues.
Although he has never called himself a Christian Nationalist nor publicly
embraced the term as other House Reps have done,
each example points to the strong embrace of the ethos of Christian nationalism—a cultural framework that advocates for a particular
expression of Christianity to be fused with American
civic life, with the government vigorously promoting and preserving this
version of Christianity as the principal and undisputed cultural framework.
Speaker
Johnson has explicitly embraced the idea that the U.S. was founded upon
particular Christian principles, in 2016 claiming, “You know, we don’t live in a democracy . . . It’s a
constitutional republic. And the founders set that up because they followed the
biblical admonition on what a civil society is supposed to look like.”
In the
same interview, he reiterated his belief that the separation of church and
state is not a constitutional principle. “Over the last 60 or
70 years our generation has been convinced that there is a separation of church
and state . . . most people think that is part of the Constitution, but it’s
not.” And in 2022, he stated “The founders wanted to protect the
church from an encroaching state, not the other way around.” Johnson, and those
he has famously
represented, insist the United
States is a nation with “Judeo-Christian roots” at which “secular
forces are chipping away.”
Having
studied Christian nationalism for over a decade, we find it is consistently
made up of several different elements. When we say Speaker Johnson is a
Christian nationalist, we mean he provides a near-perfect example for each
element.
Traditionalist
Social Arrangements
First,
Christian nationalism strongly favors traditionalist social relationships and
hierarchies. This ideal society revolves around patriarchy, heterosexual marriage, and pronatalism. Consequently, certain citizens and
family arrangements should have easy access to
various civil rights and liberties, while others should be denied access.
As an
attorney working for the Alliance Defense Fund, now known as Alliance
Defending Freedom (founded by leaders with similar
Christian nationalist commitments, like James Dobson, D. James Kennedy, and Bill Bright), Speaker Johnson opposed the decriminalization of homosexual activity
through Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 and in 2004 proposed banning same-sex
marriage.
He
argued how both will “de-emphasize the importance of traditional marriage to
society, weaken it, and place our entire democratic system in jeopardy by
eroding its foundation,” and that “experts project that homosexual marriage is
the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the
strongest republic.”
Mike
Johnson has sponsored multiple bills aimed at a nationwide ban on abortion,
which he once publicly blamed for school shootings. He also once
structured opposition to Roe v. Wade in terms of how it—in his view—limited the
number of able-bodied workers in the economy, which fundamentally weakens the
government’s ability to fund various social programs.
Like a
car engineered to run on gasoline, Johnson sees our nation—and any nation for
that matter—only running properly on the social arrangements elevated in the
conservative Anglo Protestant tradition. Johnson’s politics are those that formally
privilege gender traditionalism and heterosexuality as the national ideal.
Authoritarian
Social Control
Second,
Christian nationalism adheres to a desire for strong leaders who through the
threat of violence, or actual violence, defend the preferred social
arrangements and hierarchies. This includes setting aside the results of free and fair elections to ensure a chosen
leader remains in power. Americans who embrace Christian nationalism are more
likely to support anti-democratic tactics and approve of political violence if an election
does not return favorable results.
Mike
Johnson was a central figure in trying to overturn the
results of the 2020 election, joining 146 other Republicans in Congress.
Repeating debunked claims about “rigged” Dominion voting machines, Johnson went so far as to
author an amicus brief for a case where Texas moved to have swing-state results
thrown out. His consistent efforts to deny and overturn the 2020 election
earned him the nickname “MAGA Mike” from fellow lawmakers.
Speaker
Johnson exemplifies this aspect of Christian nationalism disregarding the
values of democracy to instead embrace any means through which political power
remains in the “right” hands. And this comfort with setting aside democratic
ideals aligns with another element of Christian nationalism.
Ethno-Racial
Boundaries
Third,
Christian nationalism is characterized by strong ethno-racial boundaries around national identity, civic participation, and social belonging. In fact, scholars often call the
ideology white Christian nationalism for
this very reason. The ideal American is generally understood to be a
natural-born Anglo Protestant. It is this group who created the U.S., and it is
this group who should remain central to its cultural identity and political
leadership.
Speaker
Johnson has supported legislation that would sooth the conscience and protect
the authority of such Americans, such as laws that limit
teaching on race-related topics within public schools, like
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. Johnson has also advanced legislation that would increase the burden on undocumented
immigrants seeking asylum.
Within
the Christian nationalist vision, our research shows, ethnic diversity is not
our national strength, but a hindrance. And so there must be
barriers around who gets to enjoy those benefits and participate in the civil
sphere. Americans who embrace Christian nationalism can simultaneously claim
Christian ideals of caring for those less fortunate while objecting to the
nation serving various populations in need of refuge.
Populism
and Conspiratorial thinking
A final
element of Christian nationalism is a populist impulse that creates space for
Americans to embrace feelings of victimization—that
certain “elites” are trying to persecute them—which lends itself to adopting
more conspiratorial thinking that includes belief in anti-vaccine myths, QAnon, and antisemitic
tropes.
In
addition to repeatedly elevating Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020
election, Johnson has also often repeated the “Great Replacement
Theory,” that Democrats are bringing in immigrants to replace natural born
citizens and secure Democratic votes. This is the core of rightwing populist
thinking, defending “real Americans” from elites and outsiders corrupting our
culture and politics. It is also the core of Christian nationalism.
It is
critical to recognize the influence of Christian nationalism on Mike Johnson’s
vision for the U.S.. “Christian nationalism” isn’t a
political slur. It’s a term that accurately describes an ideology that is
antithetical to a stable, multiracial, and liberal democracy—an ideology
clearly guiding the now-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
ATTACHMENT THIRTY NINE – From the
WashPost
MIKE JOHNSON POINTS TO A BIDEN IMPEACHMENT,
EVEN IF THE FACTS DO NOT
Analysis
by Philip Bump October 27, 2023 at 10:51 a.m. EDT
On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)
granted his first cable-news network interview since securing his new role. He
was not playing on “hard” mode, certainly; his interlocutor was Fox News’s
generally pliable Sean Hannity.
Because Johnson isn’t running against Trump, the
questioning was gentle, like a dad giving his son a job interview at the family
business. But Hannity was able to steer Johnson to dig a little deeper into
some of Hannity’s pet issues — such as his ongoing campaign against President
Biden.
Hannity had been pressing Johnson on his views of
Biden administration officials and, then, on using impeachment to remove them
from their positions. Then he turned to the president — or, really, to the
president’s son and brother, who made millions working as consultants, often
with foreign business partners.
“They’ve
discovered nine particular Biden family members have been paid,” Hannity said
of Republican representatives including House Oversight Committee Chairman
James Comer (R-Ky.). “And then you have the issue of Joe on tape admitting that
he used our money, taxpayer money, to leverage $1 billion in loan guarantees,
which was [Barack] Obama administration policy, to fire a prosecutor
investigating his son.”
This is not what the facts show. Biden was “on tape”
participating in a panel discussion where he described applying pressure on
Ukraine to fire a corrupt prosecutor, an effort that was the shared goal of a
number of international actors. The prosecutor was not investigating Biden’s
son, nor was the prosecutor investigating the company on whose board Biden’s
son Hunter sat.
Johnson didn’t point these errors out. Instead, he
praised Hannity’s presentation as a “pretty good recitation of the facts.”
He praised Comer’s work, which has robustly
documented that, in fact, members of Joe Biden’s family did receive money from
business partners. He has not shown that Biden himself received any money —
except in the form of a loan repaid to him by his brother. “We have the
receipts on so much of this now,” Johnson said, which, again, is true. It’s
just that “this” is not anything that demonstrably ties Biden to the payments.
Nevertheless, Johnson continued, “that’s the reason
that we shifted into the impeachment inquiry stage on the president himself. Because if, in fact, all the evidence leads to where we believe it
will, that’s very likely impeachable offenses.” He noted that one of the
grounds for impeachment was bribery, which, he claimed, the Biden situation
“looks and smells a lot like.”
“I know people are getting anxious and they’re
getting restless and they just want somebody to be impeached,” he added later,
no doubt aware that Hannity has been attempting to elevate that anxiousness
among his viewers for months. “But that’s not — we don’t do that like the other
team. We have to base it upon the evidence, and the evidence is coming
together. We’ll see where it leads.”
That’s a pretty generous assessment of the process
so far. Comer and his colleagues, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman
Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have repeatedly presented new allegations as proof of
Biden’s wrongdoing — only to have them slowly be revealed as incomplete,
misleading or unimportant. The loan repayment from Biden’s brother that Comer
hyped last week is just such an example, presented as money flowing to Biden in
proof of Comer’s long-standing allegations, before the nuance became obvious.
A better example is the testimony of Devon Archer, a
former business partner of Hunter Biden’s. In a deposition before Oversight
investigators, Archer confirmed that Hunter Biden understood that he couldn’t
leverage his father, that he didn’t know of any point at which the president
aided the business and that the company for which they both worked saw the
firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor as a setback. But Comer and his allies
focused heavily on Archer’s testimony that Joe Biden occasionally would call
his son and be put on speakerphone while his son was in meetings with business
partners. There were some slightly sour cherries to be picked, so they were
picked.
The Hannity interview was useful in one sense.
Johnson’s predecessor as speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), had approved
the impeachment inquiry driven largely by Comer and Jordan. When McCarthy was
ousted, it wasn’t clear what would happen. Johnson confirmed that it will move
forward.
Or perhaps it won’t. In late September, the
impeachment inquiry held a hearing involving a handful of witnesses, none of
whom could provide any evidence impugning Joe Biden or his son, by their own
admissions. The 2019 impeachment of Donald Trump — probably the target of
Johnson’s sniffy disparagement of “the other team” — had released its final
report about three weeks after its first hearing (which was followed by four
more days of hearings). The Biden “impeachment inquiry” has held no more
hearings in the month since the first one. And, by his own
admission, Comer doesn’t want to.
“I don’t know that I want to hold any more hearings,
to be honest with you,” Comer said while speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill
last week. He complained that it was hard to keep members present for hours on
end, given that so many had other commitments. Instead, he said, he preferred
depositions, which “you can do more with.”
There’s a truth buried in that, of course. You can
do more with cherry-picked transcripts when your goal is to coat Joe Biden with
insinuations and unproved allegations. Had Devon Archer’s deposition been a
hearing, the final result would have been that viewers saw him acknowledge that
Biden was not involved in his son’s work. There would have been multiple
Democrats on hand to evaluate Archer’s testimony critically, something that
does Comer (and, by extension, Johnson) no good. In 2019, the witnesses were
generally deposed before offering live testimony with cross-examination from
Republicans. Comer appears to prefer stripping out that last bit.
Johnson’s tenure as leader of his party’s caucus
began with his allies shielding him from difficult questions about the 2020
election. He has little choice but to endorse Comer’s efforts, of course, but
it does seem that he’s been shielded to some extent from just how thin the
allegations concerning the president actually are. There’s a narrative,
carefully tended by Hannity, Comer and others, that continually overstates the
case against Biden or that pronounces him guilty by familial association.
Perhaps more will emerge, but at the moment, the GOP’s push toward impeachment
is not based on substantial evidence at all.
One would think that at some point, Comer would need
to present evidence that withstands objective scrutiny — including by
non-right-wing media outlets. The value of adjudicating these things in public
hearings is that they are tested and challenged, making the surviving evidence
stronger. We can be more confident that Biden’s role in the firing of the
Ukrainian prosecutor was not corrupt because the assertion was evaluated during
the 2019 impeachment.
But we know this isn’t really necessary. Johnson and
Comer can remain surrounded by their allies, including Hannity, and pluck stuff
out of depositions that hops over the low evidentiary bar they’ve all agreed
to. After all, it’s what they’ve done so far.
ATTACHMENT FORTY - From Fox
SPEAKER JOHNSON 'LOOKING AT' HUNTER SUBPOENA
AS HOUSE MARCHES FORWARD WITH BIDEN IMPEACHMENT PROBE
The newly-appointed speaker said House Republicans have a 'constitutional
responsibility' to follow the truth where it leads
By Taylor Penley Fox News
Published October 29, 2023 1:35pm EDT
Newly-appointed House Speaker Mike
Johnson, R-La., signaled a promising future for the impeachment inquiry into President Biden on Sunday, nodding to what he
called House Republicans' "constitutional responsibility" to follow
the truth where it leads.
"We're
the rule of law team. We don't use this for political partisan games like the
Democrats have done and did against Donald Trump twice. We are going to follow
the law and follow the Constitution, and I think we have a suspicion of where
that may lead, but we're going to let the evidence speak for itself," he
told FOX News' Maria Bartiromo.
"I look forward to rolling that out over the
coming days and weeks and letting the American people see exactly why we're
taking the next steps and where it's headed."
Responding to whether House Republicans plan to
subpoena Hunter Biden during the investigation, Johnson said he is looking at
the option, but a decision hasn't been made just yet.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Bartiromo in September that the president's son would be subpoenaed, but only when the
time is right.
"The one thing the American public has to
understand is there's a strategy behind everything. We only follow facts.
Hunter Biden will get subpoenaed, but when's the appropriate time? Do you do it
because television wants it, or do you do it around the facts and the
timing?" he said at the time.
McCarthy specifically stated that bank records would
be needed in order to know which questions to ask Hunter, adding, "To just
subpoena Hunter Biden because you want to fundraise, or you want to do
something… that's not how we're going to run an investigation."
Johnson said Sunday that House Republicans are
working on putting together evidence as they have done, and the work is far
from over.
"We're trying to move forward on some of this
very aggressively. I think the American people are owed these answers," he
said.
"And I think our suspicions about all this, the
evidence that we've gathered so far is affirming what many of us feared maybe
the worst… As Jamie Comer likes to say, 'Bank records don't lie.' We already
have a lot of this evidence. The dots are being connected, and we'll see where
it leads."
The new House Speaker also discussed support for
Israel, antisemitism erupting on
college campuses across the U.S. and government spending,
including the November 17 budget deadline, suggesting he would be open to a
short-term stopgap funding measure through Jan 15.
"I've talked to my colleagues about this in the
speaker's race. I mentioned that I would favor, as for purposes of discussion
to build consensus around, if there indeed has to be a stopgap funding measure,
that we would do that until January 15. And the reason for that is it gets us
beyond to the end of the year push," he said.
"And oftentimes, the Senate tries to jam the
House and force an omnibus spending bill," he continued. "We’re not
doing that here anymore, we’re having single subject bills in our separate
appropriations bills and so pushing that into January I think would assist us
in that endeavor."
ATTACHMENT FORTY ONE – From The
Washington Post
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Louisiana
hometown guided by faith and family
By Molly
Hennessy-Fiske October
29, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
SHREVEPORT,
La. — In this small town masquerading as a city, a mention of newly elected
House Speaker Mike Johnson during the lunchtime rush at Strawn’s Eat Shop Too
(“home of the ice box pie”) drew an interruption.
“Are you
talking about Mike Johnson?” said a woman in a flowered blouse, gold-cross necklace
and gray ponytail. “I’m his mom.”
Jeanne “Jee Jee” Johnson, 69, had been
sharing a “celebration lunch” Thursday with her cousin here in the central Broadmoor neighborhood, pausing to greet fellow diners as
her cellphone exploded with well wishes.
Johnson
saw her son’s selection in spiritual terms. “God did this,” she said. “ … It’s
so good for America.”
In
northwest Louisiana, people navigate their lives by family and faith. The
politician raised here shares a heavy reliance on both.
Mike
Johnson, 51, is a staunch conservative who championed religious causes before
he was elected to the state legislature in 2015 and to Congress the following
year. Although more low-profile than other Donald Trump supporters in Congress,
he played a pivotal role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election and opposes
abortion rights, gun control and same-sex marriage, views shared by many
supporters at home.
In
accepting the speakership last week, Johnson prayed on the House floor and
said, “God is the one that raises up those in
authority.” His wife, Kelly Lary Johnson, a pastoral
counselor whose brother is a local Baptist minister, prayed for her husband for
days leading up to his selection as speaker, both the new speaker and Jeanne
Johnson said.
“It’s a
cultural conservatism, a view not only of politics but of religion and faith,”
said Royal Alexander, 56, a conservative lawyer, referring to what guides much
of the community and Johnson, who he got to know after college. “People here
are rugged individualists who want to make their own decisions.”
The
Ark-La-Tex region in northwest Louisiana that includes Johnson’s hometown is
full of historic Black and White churches, more like neighboring Arkansas,
Texas and the rest of the Bible Belt than the rest of
the state. It’s often overshadowed by flashier cities to the south: New Orleans
and the state capital, Baton Rouge. The idea that one of its sons is now second
in line to the presidency has been met with joyous surprise in many quarters.
But views are mixed about whether his ascension will benefit all residents, who
remain divided, like much of the country, along ideological and racial lines.
Residents call
the metro area of about 760,000 Shreveport-Bossier, encompassing Shreveport —
population 180,000, where Johnson was raised on the west bank of the Red River
— and growing suburbs to the east in Bossier Parish, where the speaker now
lives.
But
there are vast distinctions between the two sides, the residue of disinvestment
and white flight by families like Johnson’s.
The city
proper is about 57% Black, 37% White and 3% Latino, according to the most
recent census. Bossier Parish, home to about 130,000 people, is about 70%
White, 24% Black, 7% Latino. Overall, Shreveport-Bossier’s median household income is about $48,600, below
the national median of nearly $75,000. About 22% of Johnson’s district lives
below the poverty level.
Like
many cities in Louisiana, Shreveport is governed by Democrats and Bossier
Parish is largely Republican; Republicans will control all three branches of
state government once conservative Attorney General Jeff Landry, elected
governor earlier this month, takes office in January.
Shreveport-Bossier
is culturally and physically closer to Dallas, a three-hour drive west, than
New Orleans, five hours south. Its economy is dependent on oil and gas, making
it vulnerable to booms and busts. But there are also glittering riverfront
casinos, universities like Louisiana State Shreveport, hospitals and Barksdale
Air Force Base, enough to lead many locals like Johnson to return.
Shreveport
native Celeste Gauthier, 45, went away to Middlebury College in Vermont but
returned to help her family run Strawn’s three restaurants, including its
flagship in the city’s Highland Historic District and another in Bossier Parish.
That’s become harder with pandemic lockdowns, rising costs and labor
challenges, the mother of three said.
Over the
summer, a pallet of strawberries to make the restaurant’s signature ice box pie
more than doubled in price, she said. Gas and grocery prices rose, too.
“Politics
here is personal. People really do look at the funding we’re sending to Israel
and Ukraine and say, ‘I can’t afford to go to Kroger,’” Gauthier said as she
sat amid the lunchtime crowd, some of whom she said had stopped buying
beverages because of the cost.
“A lot
of these customers know Mike Johnson and think we often get overlooked and
maybe we won’t anymore,” she said.
Customer
Beth Hayes, a retired registered nurse from Shreveport, said she was proud of
Johnson and had high hopes for him as speaker.
A
registered Democrat, Hayes, 83, said she has become more independent in
recent years. She’s a Methodist who respects LGBTQ+ rights even though her
church doesn’t allow same-sex marriage or ministers, feels conflicted about
abortion and voted for Trump twice. She said she appreciated Johnson’s support
for Trump’s fight to overturn the 2020 election, but believes Biden ultimately
won. She called the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol “the worst thing I have ever
seen in my life” and said she isn’t sure who she will vote for in 2024.
“We need
to stand up for our rights, but we can do it in a more civilized manner” than
Trump does, Hayes said. She hopes Johnson will be able to do that,
by working with Democrats.
State
Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R), who served with Johnson and
flew to Washington to celebrate with him this week, described Johnson as a
consensus builder.
“He’s
not going to compromise his values, but he will try to find common ground and
work it out without it being personal,” Seabaugh
said, just as he has at home.
At a
town hall over the summer in Natchitoches, La., Seabaugh
said, a man grew upset with Johnson and appeared to be “trying to incite him,”
agitated enough that sheriff’s deputies offered to intervene.
“Mike
just waved them off and said, ‘I got this,’” Seabaugh
recalled. “By the time it was over, the guy was completely mollified and walked
up and shook Mike’s hand. Mike just does that.”
Johnson
began leading as a child, his mother said. Jeanne Johnson recalled when
her husband, a firefighter, was disabled after fighting an industrial fire that
killed a colleague. She said Mike, the eldest of her four children, stepped up
to help with chores. He was 12 years old.
“He took
on the leadership of the family,” she said.
At the
nearby high school Johnson attended — Captain Shreve, named for the steamboat
captain who inspired the city’s name — a video screen at the entrance flashed a
tribute to Johnson, class of 1990, as the 1,800 students prepared for a pep
rally.
Counselor
Rosemary Day, whose children Johnson’s mother used to babysit, said his success
was encouraging for young people growing up in this often
overlooked region of a small state.
“Leadership
can be developed — that’s the mind-set in this area,” she said as students flowed
around her toting paper gators, the school mascot.
To the
east in Bossier Parish, several sheriff’s deputies
guarded the Johnson family’s stucco and brick two-story home. It’s the kind of
neighborhood where neighbors left garage doors open last week even when
they were not home.
Republican
Tina Hickey, 68, a retired nurse, lives up the street from Johnson in a house
with flags out front — U.S. and LSU, Johnson’s alma mater. She said she has met
Johnson at a few political events and was thrilled to see such an “honest,
transparent, Christian man” elected speaker. Hickey worries about crime,
particularly across the bridge in Shreveport, where she doesn’t venture at
night anymore.
Hickey
attends St. Jude Catholic Church across the street from Johnson’s church,
Cypress Baptist. She said she believes the speaker can be trusted because of
his humble roots.
“I don’t
feel he’s part of the good ol’ boy network,” she said, noting she also voted
for Landry. “I’m hoping with the combination of the two, Louisiana politics are
going to improve. Historically, Louisiana politics have been kind of crooked.”
Others
here have their doubts, particularly in Shreveport’s mostly Black and
low-income Mooretown neighborhood.
“He was
a part of that exodus from Shreveport; he didn’t stay and make the community
better and as a congressman, he has done little to make the community better,”
said the Rev. Theron Jackson, the Black pastor of
94-year-old Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church.
A former
Shreveport city council member, Jackson, 54, was once a Democrat but said he
now considers himself an independent. He’s working to counter homelessness and
what he calls “trans-generational poverty” that dates to segregation.
While
Black leaders scored victories in Shreveport during the Civil Rights era,
hosting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for seminars on nonviolent protest, he
said, “The fact that you have to fight for folks to be civil, that says
something. If that’s our only accomplishment, we have to say ‘Is that all?’ Because that’s not all that life’s about. The best cities in
the world give opportunities for people to thrive, not just survive.”
Earlier
this year, Jackson traveled to Baton Rouge to lobby for changes to Louisiana’s
congressional districts — only one of six is a majority Black district despite
a state population that is more than 30% Black. Last month, the U.S. Supreme
Court rejected a request to speed up redrawing the districts after a federal
judge found the latest map still dilutes the strength of Black voters.
“When
you become speaker of the house, that’s supposed to mean a lot more for your
district and your state. The question is, what is that going to mean for
us?” Jackson said. “It may mean more for those who have already benefited from
his presence, but certainly not all of us.”
Orlandeaux’s Café,
run by the same family since 1921, has been a mainstay of Shreveport’s Black
community, a popular spot for Democrats to declare their candidacy.
As
security guard Jesse Lee, 72, lined up for takeout stuffed shrimp Friday at the
bar overlooking Cross Lake, he said his top concerns were the economy, crime,
and “looking out for the needy.”
Lee, a
Democrat and U.S. Air Force veteran who is Black, agreed with Jackson that more
needs to be done to help “the welfare of the city.” He’s been following
Johnson’s career and is waiting to see whether he takes action as speaker to
help all of those back home.
“I think
he will. Our state of Louisiana has been so divided for so long, it’s about
time we come together,” Lee said. “Because we all serve the
same God.”
Attachment A – Three October 25th Timelines
A From Fox red
B From the NY Times blue
C From CNN green
Chronology from Sources is corrected to reflect real
time.
0800
o9 hour(s)
ago 0800
Republicans exude optimism as
fourth speaker candidate heads to the House floor
House Republicans were jubilant when they coalesced
around a new speaker nominee after a day of
marathon-closed door meetings on Tuesday.
GOP Conference Vice Chair
Mike Johnson, R-La., became speaker-designate on Tuesday evening, the fourth
Republican nominee in three weeks.
But House GOP lawmakers insisted that their
conference is finally on the same page and ready to unite under Johnson’s
leadership — teeing up a House-wide vote Wednesday just after noon.
"My wife…and I were talking, and I said, if we
can get somebody like a Mike Johnson, we would be very fortunate," Rep.
Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told reporters after the vote.
Burchett was one of eight House Republicans who
voted to oust ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., three weeks
ago Tuesday. He said Johnson "brings something
to the table that's lacking in Washington."
Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, one of the original 20
lawmakers to oppose McCarthy's speakership bid in January, called Johnson a
"capable" and "good man."
p9 hour(s)
ago 0800
GOP lawmakers float joint
McCarthy-Jordan speakership:
Ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.,
could still get back into the race for House speaker, but this time with Rep.
Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, serving as assistant speaker, according to sources.
Two sources confirmed to Fox News Digital Tuesday
evening that a plan was being floated to reinstate McCarthy as speaker and
elevate Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to an assistant speaker
role.
Jordan was the House GOP’s second speaker-designate,
but he was forced out of the race after failing three chamber-wide votes and
then being voted out of the position via anonymous ballot in a Republican
conference meeting.
When asked about the idea, McCarthy simply told
reporters, “Some members are talking."
Jordan ignored a question by Fox News Digital about
whether the plan was actively being discussed.
NBC News reported that McCarthy himself was floating
getting back in the race. It comes as Republicans have failed to fill the
speaker's chair for nearly a month, with three consecutive nominees being
struck down by in-fighting.
It is unclear whether the latest nominee, Rep. Mike
Johnson, R-La., stands a better chance than those
who came before him. The first nominee, Rep. Steve Scalise, was brought down by
allies of Jordan. Scalise and McCarthy's allies then crippled Jordan's
nomination in turn. Finally, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., faced an all-out assault
by former President Donald Trump, who opposed his nomination.
The House is expected to reconvene at noon Wednesday
for a full floor vote on Johnson's speakership bid.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom, Chad Pergram and Houston
Keene contributed to this report.
n9 hour(s)
ago 0800
House could hold speaker vote
at 1pm as Republicans put hope in Johnson
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks after he was chosen
as the Republicans latest nominee for House speaker at a Republican caucus
meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose
Luis Magana)
The House will likely hold a Speaker vote around 1pm
ET today as Republicans
hope that Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., Tuesday's second
nominee of the day will be able to get over the finish line.
Johnson defeated Rep. Byron Donalds last night on a
secret ballot.
The GOP’s “matinee” nominee on Tuesday, House
Majority Whip Tom Emmer beat both Johnson and Donalds earlier in the day, but
Emmer was done within four hours. Even House Majority Leader Steve Scalise
lasted 30 hours as nominee and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH)
was the nominee for about a week.
The House floor opens
at noon ET. After a quorum call to take attendance, there will be nominating
speeches for Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The House then
moves to its 4th overall Speaker vote this month.
House reading clerks will go through the roll
alphabetically. Each member will respond verbally.
The winner needs an outright majority of all members
voting for someone by name. Therefore it is not clear what that number will be
until the end of the vote. But if all 433 members vote for someone by name, the
magic number is 217 for Johnson. He can only lose 4 votes on his side and still
prevail.
Only 204 Republicans voted in the GOP conference
last night, so this is not a fait accompli.
If the House stumbles again, Rep. David Joyce will
likely demand the House immediately debate his resolution to empower acting
Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry as ELECTED Speaker Pro Tempore. That would
enable the House to function again.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
0900
1000
m7 hour(s)
ago 1000
Is the House running normally
with no speaker?
The House of
Representatives has been without a speaker since Oct. 3,
when Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted by all Democrats and eight Republicans — a
first in United States history.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., has been serving as
speaker pro tempore, also known as the interim speaker of the House.
The House of Representatives is facing uncharted
waters in the absence of a speaker, and little precedent in terms of the powers
the interim speaker holds.
The scope of McHenry’s powers as
interim speaker are limited. A speaker pro tempore can only hold a vote
on the floor of the House of Representatives if it is a vote for the next
speaker of the House.
A source familiar also told Fox News Digital that as
interim speaker, McHenry has administrative oversight and power, such as power
on office space. That was evidenced on his first day on the job.
McHenry issued an order to evict former Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., from her private Capitol office — his first move as
speaker pro tempore.
l7 hour(s)
ago 1000
Gaetz weighs in on Republicans
selecting Mike Johnson as newest House speaker
Rep. Matt
Gaetz, R-Fla., who led the effort to oust former House
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has joined in a chorus of Republicans
supporting the new House speaker nominee, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.
After Republicans spent most of Tuesday behind
closed doors selecting Johnson as the new GOP speaker candidate, Gaetz praised
him as a "good godly man who's going to advance Republicans."
The Florida Republican also told a group of
reporters that his colleague is the "best possible candidate" as the
GOP looks to finally elect a speaker after McCarthy was voted out of the
position three weeks ago.
One issue in particular that attracted conference
members to Johnson was his support for single subject appropriations bills, or
spending bills that fund one department or initiative at a time rather than a
spending package that can force members to support some spending levels they
would be uncomfortable with otherwise supporting, Gaetz said.
"He talks about single subject spending bills
being the organizing principle in the House of Representatives. That
is what I've been fighting for since January," Gaetz said of Johnson.
"It is the reason Kevin McCarthy was vacated and despite the swamps, best
efforts, we got a good godly man who's going to advance Republicans."
A majority of Republicans backed Johnson, who
received 128 votes in the final round of votes, with Rep. Byron
Donalds, R-Fla., getting 29, sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Other candidates, including McCarthy, received
votes.Johnson said he was "honored" to have the support of his
colleagues and exhibit "servant leadership" in Congress.
"We're going to serve the people of this
country. We're going to restore their faith in this Congress, in this
institution of government," Johnson said.
k7 hour(s)
ago 1000
Trump backs Johnson for
speaker's gavel: 'Get it done, fast!'
Former President Donald
Trump is posting his support for GOP speaker nominee
Mike Johnson, urging Republicans to "get it done, fast" ahead of a
potential House speaker vote later today.
“He’s respected by all and that’s what we need. It
looks like it's going to happen," Trump told reporters on Wednesday
morning. "I put out a truth today on him, and last night, you saw that.
He’s spectacular and maybe for many years to come, he’ll be very good. So,
we’re very happy about that."
He later said
that Johnson is "popular, smart, sharp. He’s
going to be fantastic."
Trump had posted on Truth Social earlier, the
morning after Republicans selected Johnson as their second speaker nominee of
the day late Tuesday.
"Congratulations to Congressional Republicans!
Yesterday was a big and very important day. It gave us a quick and easy way
forward with 5 candidates who are beyond reproach, and represent the absolute
best there is in the Republican Party," he said.
"Even the Fake News Media is impressed with
what took place yesterday and, more importantly, with the Candidates
themselves. Congratulations to Reps. Byron Donalds (Florida), Charles J.
“Chuck” Fleischmann (Tennessee), Mark Green (Tennessee), & Roger Williams
(Texas), & the ultimate winner of yesterday’s
vote, by a significant margin, Mike Johnson (Louisiana)," he said.
"I am not going to make an Endorsement in this
race, because I COULD NEVER GO AGAINST ANY OF THESE FINE AND VERY TALENTED MEN,
all of whom have supported me, in both mind and spirit, from the very beginning
of our GREAT 2016 Victory. In 2024, we will have an even bigger, & more
important, WIN! My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike
Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST! LOVE, DJT"
Fox News' Lawrence Richard contributed to this
report.
1100
Oct. 25, 2023, 11:53 a.m. ET6 hours ago
6 hours ago
Michael Gold
Trump also congratulated others who had competed
with Johnson for the nomination: Representatives Byron Donalds of Florida,
Chuck Fleischmann and Mark E. Green of Tennessee and Roger Williams of Texas.
Oct. 25, 2023, 11:53 a.m. ET6 hours ago
6 hours ago
Michael Gold
Former President Donald J. Trump threw his support
behind Representative Mike Johnson in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday
morning. Trump said that he would not make an outright endorsement in the
speaker’s race, but his “strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate,
Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST! LOVE, DJT”
1200
j5 hour(s)
ago 1200
Speaker
Designate Mike Johnson has issued a letter to his colleagues layout out his plan to fund the government if
elected.
He says he would support a stop gap bill past Nov 17
that expires on either Jan 15 or April 15 based on the consensus of a member
working group that will look at the need for a continuing resolution.
The letter also lays out Johnson's ambitious plan to
pass the remaining appropriations bill by the week of Nov. 13.
It would see appropriations bills considered for
FY25 in May and June, no break for district work period in August unless all
appropriations bill have passed the House, and negotiations wrapped up by the
National Defense Authorization Act by September.
As he ticks off the items for the year ahead, the
Oct-Dec section includes a pledge to "EXPAND OUR MAJORITY"
Fox News' Kelly Phares contributed to this report.
i5 hour(s)
ago 1200
Mike Johnson could pull off
House speaker bid as support coalesces around him
House GOP
speaker nominee Mike Johnson of Louisiana may pull
off his bid for the speaker's gavel as his party's support coalesces around
him.
Cohesion has been a driving concern among the House
GOP as they search for a new speaker after the ousting of former House
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Johnson scored his party's nomination late Tuesday,
with several members absent and three voting present.
In just the hours from Tuesday, though, Johnson has
shored up support from the three Republicans who voted present in Tuesday's
late nomination vote — Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada, Thomas Massie of Kentucky,
and French Hill of Arkansas.
Additionally, Wisconsin GOP
Rep. Derrick Van Orden is still overseas in Israel on a
fact-finding mission, meaning Johnson's margin of loss is smaller.
Johnson also got support from former President
Trump, who gave his support for the GOP nominee, urging Republicans to
"get it done, fast" ahead of a potential House speaker vote
Wednesday."He’s respected by all and that’s what we need. It looks like
it's going to happen," Trump told reporters on Wednesday morning.
"I put out a truth today on him, and last
night, you saw that. He’s spectacular and maybe for many years to come, he’ll
be very good. So, we’re very happy about that."
Fox News' Liz Elkind contributed to this report.
Posted by Houston Keene
Oct. 25, 2023, 12:35 p.m. ET5 hours ago
5 hours ago
Catie Edmondson
How good are Republicans feeling about finally
getting a speaker on this vote? Several are doing a selfie line with Mike
Johnson on the House floor.
Oct. 25, 2023, 12:38 p.m. ET5 hours ago
5 hours ago
Kayla Guo
Representative Ken Buck of Colorado, who opposed Jim
Jordan’s bid for the speakership in part because he refused to acknowledge that
the 2020 election had not been stolen, said he would support Mike Johnson today
on the floor. Johnson was a lead architect of the legal objections to
certifying the election results.
Highlighting the deep personal and ideological
fissures within the House G.O.P. that foiled the conference’s three prior
nominees, Buck said Johnson emerged as a unifier because he “has the least
enemies in this conference.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 12:39 p.m. ET5 hours ago
5 hours ago
Kayla Guo
Buck added that he hoped Johnson would “come to the
right conclusion” as Trump’s former lawyers increasingly acknowledge their
roles in propagating the lie that the election was stolen.
Oct. 25, 2023, 12:53 p.m. ET5 hours ago
5 hours ago
Catie Edmondson
As Representative Elise Stefanik of New York
formally nominates Johnson on the House floor, every Republican rises to their
feet and cheers.
Oct. 25, 2023, 12:53 p.m. ET5 hours ago
5 hours ago
Annie Karni
Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the
Republican chair, is set to give the nominating speech for Johnson, who serves
as her deputy. Stefanik is the only member of leadership who didn’t throw her
hat in the ring for speaker over the past three weeks, steadfastly refusing to
do so despite some pressure from members and figures close to former President
Donald J. Trump, who encouraged her to make her own bid for the gavel.
Oct. 25, 2023, 12:59 p.m. ET5 hours ago
5 hours ago 1259
Catie Edmondson
Stefanik has geared the tenor of each of her
nominating speeches to match the personality of the candidate. For Jim Jordan,
she delivered a fierce address invoking what conservatives say is the
weaponization of government against him. For Mike Johnson, who proudly touts
himself as an evangelical leader, she is leaning heavily into religious tones.
1300
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:00 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1300
Robert Jimison
Moving on from praise for Johnson, Stefanik has
turned to what she calls the most troubling issues facing the United States,
eliciting boos and groans of disapproval from Democrats in the chamber as she
lists concerns ranging from crime to the weaponization of government.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:00 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1300
Catie Edmondson
“Today is the day we get this done,” Stefanik
declares. It’s been three weeks without a House speaker.
h4 hour(s)
ago 1300
House begins debate on
nomination of Mike Johnson to be speaker
The House is now beginning the debate on the
nomination of Mike Johnson to
be the next speaker of the House.
Johnson won the GOP nomination last night, and now
the House is voting as a whole on who will be the next
speaker.
Johnson needs a majority in the chamber and so can
only afford a handful of Republican defections.
In just the hours from Tuesday, though, Johnson has
shored up support from the three Republicans who voted present in Tuesday's
late nomination vote — Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada, Thomas Massie of Kentucky,
and French Hill of Arkansas.
Fox News' Liz Elkind and Houston Keene contributed
to this report.
Posted by Adam Shaw
4 hours ago 1303
Annie Karni
Representative Pete Aguilar of California, the no. 3
Democrat, once again nominates Hakeem Jeffries for speaker. He jokes that
Patrick McHenry, the reluctant interim speaker, seems happier than he has in
the past, and the entire chamber gives McHenry a round of applause.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:04 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1304
Catie Edmondson
“All of this disarray, just to end up where we were
a few weeks ago,” Aguilar says.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:06 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1306
Mr. Johnson, a lawyer and former chairman of the
conservative Republican Study Committee, played a pivotal role in congressional
efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
An evangelical Christian, he has voted for a
national abortion ban and co-sponsored a 20-week abortion ban, earning him an
A-plus rating from the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
On the day the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, he celebrated,
calling it “an extraordinary day in American history that took us almost a
half-century to get to.” He hosts a religious podcast with his wife and
considers Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of the founders of the
ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, a mentor.
Last year, Mr. Johnson introduced a bill that
prohibited the use of federal funds for providing sex education to children
under 10 that included any L.G.B.T.Q. topics — a proposal that critics called a
national version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. Mr. Johnson called the
legislation “common sense.”
He also opposed legislation to mandate federal
recognition for same-sex marriages — a bill that passed with strong bipartisan
support in both the House and the Senate. And he has long opposed sending aid
to Ukraine.
His rise in the depressed and divided Republican
conference comes after three weeks when Republicans have been unable to elect a
speaker, and underscores the rightward shift of the G.O.P.
Mr. Johnson, who has no experience in top-tier
leadership and has never served as a powerful committee chairman, was only able
to emerge after three other G.O.P. nominees before him were unable to rally
enough support from the conference to win the gavel. And it is unlikely to have
happened in any other scenario.
Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2
House Republican, the first speaker designate, was ultimately seen as
insufficiently pro-Trump, and had the added baggage of having spent the year
working to bring legislation to the floor that was unpopular with some members
of the conference.
Mr. Jordan, the next speaker designate, had Mr.
Trump and the hard-right in his corner. But he ultimately failed to win over
more centrist members of his party, who steadfastly refused to support him.
Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the majority
whip and the third candidate for the job, had the biggest problems of any of
the speaker-designates that preceded him: the hard-right wing of the party did
not support him and former President Donald J. Trump branded him a “globalist
RINO.”
Mr. Johnson’s hallmark in Congress has been
combining his hard-line views with a gentle style. He emerged at a moment when
members of the conference were worn down and ready to accept someone who they
did not view as an obvious choice. Instead, he passed a lowered bar: They view
him as someone sufficiently conservative and who they do not personally
despise.
Some of the hard-right members of Congress hailed
his rise as a sign that their wing of the party was winning.
“If you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy
to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement and where the power
in the Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention,”
Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, said in an interview on Steve
Bannon’s “War Room” podcast.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:07 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1307
Annie Karni
Aguilar highlights Johnson’s record on social issues
— his support for a nationwide abortion ban and his vote against mandating
federal recognition for same-sex marriages. He also highlights the role Johnson
played in trying to overturn the 2020 election. He says this speaker election
process has been about “who can appease Donald Trump.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:07 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1307
Luke Broadwater
Based on the quorum call, Johnson will need 215
votes to become speaker if everyone in the chamber casts a vote.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:07 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1307
Annie Karni
Here we go. The roll call has begun. Republicans
expect this to be settled on the first ballot.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:09 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1309
Carl Hulse
Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, the first to
cast a vote against Jim Jordan last week, is on board with Johnson.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:13 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1313
Annie Karni
We are in the Cs and there has yet to be a
Republican defection to a candidate other than Johnson. That’s something we are
not used to seeing in these ballots.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:14 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1314
Catie Edmondson
Unlike in previous ballots, there are no real blocs
of lawmakers to watch who have signaled their opposition in advance. Any
Republican defectors now would be a big surprise.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:21 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1321
Catie Edmondson
Angie Craig, Democrat of Minnesota, below in black,
wished her wife a happy anniversary as she voted. Same-sex marriage has been a
hot-button issue for House Republicans in the last few days: Some lawmakers
refused to support Tom Emmer’s candidacy for speaker because the Minnesota
Republican voted for a bill codifying federal protections for same-sex
marriage. Democrats cheered for Craig and all Republicans stayed in their
seats, except for Matt Gaetz of Florida, who rose and applauded.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:21 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1321
Kayla Guo
Republicans give Tom Emmer a standing ovation after
he votes for Johnson. Emmer was the speaker nominee yesterday for just a few
hours before right-wing backlash forced him to drop out.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:25 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1325
Catie Edmondson
Johnson opposed that bill and has sponsored
legislation that would effectively bar the discussion of sexual orientation or
gender identity at any institution that receives federal funds and serves
children younger than 10.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:28 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1328
Annie Karni
Johnson is making this look easy. This is happening
only because Republicans have been worn down over the past three weeks,
rejecting three speaker designates, and have finally decided to rally around
someone without a big profile, who they view as sufficiently conservative and
who they don’t personally despise.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:30 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1330
Luke Broadwater
Johnson started yesterday with only 34 supporters,
just 15% of the conference. Now he’s headed toward being the unanimous choice
of House Republicans.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:30 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1330
Luke Broadwater and Steve Eder
Johnson played a
leading role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
If Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio was the most
prominent public face of the congressional effort to fight the results of the
2020 election, his mentee, the newly elected Speaker
Mike Johnson of Louisiana, was a silent but pivotal partner.
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.
A social conservative,
Mr. Johnson played a leading role in recruiting House Republicans to sign a
legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the results.
In December 2020, Mr. Johnson collected signatures
for a legal brief in support of a Texas lawsuit, rooted in
baseless claims of widespread election irregularities, that
tried to throw out the results in four battleground states won by Joseph R.
Biden Jr.
The Supreme Court ultimately rejected the suit,
but not before Mr. Johnson persuaded more than 60 percent of House Republicans
to sign onto the effort. He did so by telling them that the initiative had been
personally blessed by Mr. Trump, and that the former president was “anxiously
awaiting” to see who in Congress would defend him.
A constitutional lawyer, Mr. Johnson was also a key
architect of Republicans’ objections to certifying Mr. Biden’s victory on Jan.
6, 2021. Many Republicans in Congress relied on his arguments.
In 2020, Mr. Johnson embraced Mr. Trump’s wild and
false claims of fraud. In a radio interview, he asserted that a software system
used for voting was “suspect because it came from Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela.”
Mr. Johnson also falsely claimed the election was
“rigged.”
“You know the allegations about these voting
machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion, there’s a
lot of merit to that,” Mr. Johnson said.
No credible evidence has ever emerged to support the
conspiracy theories about Dominion and another voting machine firm having
helped to ensure Mr. Trump’s defeat. 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.
On the eve of the Jan. 6 votes, Mr. Johnson had
honed his arguments undermining the election to be more palatable. He presented
colleagues with arguments they could use to oppose the will of the voters
without embracing conspiracy theories and the lies of widespread fraud pushed
by Mr. Trump. Mr. Johnson instead faulted the way some states had changed
voting procedures during the pandemic, saying it was unconstitutional.
After a mob of Mr. Trump’s supporters, believing the
election was rigged, stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and injured about 150 police
officers, Mr. Johnson condemned the violence. But he defended the actions of
congressional Republicans in objecting to Mr. Biden’s victory.
He wrote a two-page memo of talking points meant to
buck up Republicans, and lamented that the violence had almost eclipsed his
careful arguments. “Most of the country has also never heard the principled
reason,” he wrote.
Over a year later, on “Truth Be Told,”
the Christian podcast he hosts with his wife, Kelly, Mr. Johnson continued to
argue that he and his colleagues had been right to object to the election
results.
“The slates of electors were produced by a clearly
unconstitutional process, period,” he said.
Mr. Johnson came to Congress in 2017 with support
from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, though he has never joined the
group.
In an interview this year, he referred to Mr.
Jordan, a co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, as a “very close friend” who “has
been a mentor to me since I got here.”
Mr. Johnson said Mr. Jordan called him when he was
running for office, because “he knew I was a conservative,” contributed money
to his campaign and invited him to Washington for a meeting with him and other
Freedom Caucus members.
“He started providing advice to me,” Mr. Johnson
said. “So now we’ve become very close.”
In 2020, the two men and their wives traveled to
Israel together and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr. Johnson has also made a close ally of Mr. Trump, and he served on Mr. Trump’s impeachment
defense team.
On Nov. 8, 2020, Mr. Johnson was onstage at a
northwest Louisiana church speaking about Christianity in America when Mr.
Trump called. Mr. Johnson had been in touch with the president’s team on his
myriad legal challenges seeking to overturn the results, “to restore the
integrity of our election process,” according to a Facebook
post by Mr. Johnson recounting the exchange.
“We have to keep fighting for that, Mike,” he said
Mr. Trump told him.
“Indeed we do, sir!” Mr. Johnson said he replied.
Karoun Demirjian contributed reporting.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:31 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1331
Kayla Guo
“Bye-bye!” some Democrats say to Mike Lawler of New
York, heckling the Biden-district Republican after he votes for Johnson.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:32 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1332
Catie Edmondson
Democrats are engaging in a bit of heckling of more
mainstream Republicans voting for Johnson. Expect the House Democratic Campaign
Committee to ask every politically vulnerable Republican to answer for
Johnson’s voting record, which is profoundly conservative.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:33 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1333
Catie Edmondson
This is the way speaker votes are supposed to work,
by the way — or at least the way they used to work before this year. They have
with few exceptions been unanimous, pro forma affairs.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:34 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1334
Catie Edmondson
Notable exceptions include 1923 and around the time
of the Civil War.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:38 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1338
Robert Jimison
“As one who knows and respects the role of speaker,
Hakeem Jeffries,” former Speaker Nancy Pelosi says of voting for the Democrat.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:41 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1341
Catie Edmondson
It is very unusual to have several spurned speaker
candidates on the House floor getting ovations for supporting the nominee.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:47 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1347
Kayla Guo
Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman calls Jeffries the
only candidate who “respects the integrity of the House,” earning her boos from
Republicans and a standing ovation from Democrats.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:53 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1353
Carl Hulse
For years, Republicans worked to make Speaker Nancy
Pelosi a political albatross for swing seat Democrats with varying degrees of
success. Now Democrats are going to try to turn the tables and make Johnson and
his record an anchor for Repubicans (sic) in tough districts.
w3 hr 22
min ago 1354
Key things to know about Rep. Mike Johnson, the new
House speaker
From CNN's Piper Hudspeth Blackburn and Shania Shelton
Rep. Mike Johnson, who was elected
as the new House speaker moments ago, has been a vocal supporter
of former President Donald Trump and was a key congressional figure in the
failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
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. During Trump’s
first impeachment trial in January 2020, Johnson, along with a group of other
GOP lawmakers, served a largely ceremonial role in Trump’s Senate impeachment
team.
Johnson also sent an
email from a personal email account in 2020 to every
House Republican soliciting signatures for an amicus brief in the longshot
Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate electoral college
votes from multiple states.
After the election was called in favor of Joe Biden on November 7, 2020,
Johnson posted on X,
then known as Twitter, “I have just called President Trump to say this: ‘Stay
strong and keep fighting, sir! The nation is depending upon your resolve. We
must exhaust every available legal remedy to restore Americans’ trust in the
fairness of our election system.’”
Although Trump said he won’t endorse anyone in the speaker’s race Wednesday,
he leant support to Johnson in a
post on Truth Social.
“In 2024, we will have an even bigger, & more important, WIN! My
strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET
IT DONE, FAST!” Trump posted.
Johnson serves on the Judiciary Committee and the Armed Services
Committee. He is also a former chair of the Republican Study Committee.
After receiving a degree in business administration from Louisiana State
University and a Juris Doctorate from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Johnson
took on roles as a college professor and conservative talk radio host. He began
his political career in the Louisiana legislature, where he served from 2015 to
2017, before being elected to Congress in Louisiana’s Fourth District.
Read more
about Johnson's career.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:55 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1355
Catie Edmondson
After three weeks, Patrick McHenry, the interim
speaker, says Johnson is the “duly elected Speaker of the House of
Representatives.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:55 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1355
Catie Edmondson
Republicans give Johnson a raucous standing ovation
as Patrick McHenry, the interim speaker, announces he has won 220 votes.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:56 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1356
Catie Edmondson
Several Republicans who ran for speaker only to fail
or be rejected by the conference will now walk Speaker Johnson up to the dais.
Oct. 25, 2023, 1:57 p.m. ET4 hours ago
4 hours ago 1357
Carl Hulse
Among other unusual aspects of this entire episode,
it is just odd to have a new speaker installed midway through a Congress with
the old speaker standing on the floor.
v3 hr 18
min ago 1358
Lawmakers push to pass anti-Hamas resolution in the
House today, sources say
From CNN's Melanie Zanona
Some lawmakers are pushing to pass a bipartisan resolution Wednesday condemning
Hamas and expressing support for Israel, sources say.
The sponsors of the bill were told it would be the first vote brought to
the floor after a new House speaker is elected, the sources told CNN. They said
it could get a vote later today.
Rep. Mike Johnson was elected speaker of the House Wednesday afternoon,
securing 220 votes.
A vote on the Israel resolution is not set in stone on the schedule yet,
but 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.
If it does come to the floor on Wednesday, it would have to come up under
suspension — an expedited process that requires a two-thirds majority for
passage.
u3 hr 18
min ago 1358
Here's what happens next in the House now that a
speaker has been elected
From CNN's Kristin Wilson
Rep. Mike Johnson has been
elected House speaker, setting off procedures to swear the
Louisiana Republican in. Here's what happens next:
·
A committee will be named to escort the
speaker-elect into the chamber
·
The speaker-elect will be escorted in by the
committee and Johnson will be introduced by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
·
Johnson will address the House
·
Dean of the House Hal Rogers will swear the
speaker-elect in
1400
g3 hour(s)
ago 1400
Johnson says being House
speaker is 'honor of a lifetime'
Speaker-elect
Mike Johnson says that becoming the next speaker of the
House is the "honor of a lifetime."
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Johnson
thanked his family, friends, colleagues and staff after the chamber elected him
to replace Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
It comes after days of grueling voting and
infighting from Republicans, who have taken weeks in which they picked multiple
nominees who stood down after being unable to keep their party united behind
them.
Johnson, however, saw no defections from his fellow
Republicans.
"It has been an arduous few weeks, and a
reminder that the House is as complicated and diverse as the people we
represent," he said. "The urgency of this moment demands bold,
decisive action to restore trust, advance our legislative priorities, and
demonstrate good governance. Our House Republican Conference is united, and
eager to work."
He promised to "ensure the House delivers
results and inspires change for the American people."
"We will restore trust in this body. We will
advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies
of the Biden Administration, and support our allies abroad. And we will restore
sanity to a government desperately in need of it," he said. "Let’s
get back to work."
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:02 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1402
Karoun Demirjian
Mike Johnson is holed up in a small room just across
the hall from the House floor, with a photographer and a handful of aides.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:03 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1403
Catie Edmondson
In a statement released just minutes ago, Speaker
Johnson acknowledges “an arduous few weeks,” calling them “a reminder that the
House is as complicated and diverse as the people we represent.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:03 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1403
Catie Edmondson
Johnson: “We will restore trust in this body. We
will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful
policies of the Biden administration, and support our allies abroad.”
t3 hr 13
min ago 1403
Trump congratulates new House Speaker Mike Johnson
and takes credit for helping him win
From CNN's Kate Sullivan and Laura Dolan
Former President Donald Trump congratulated new House Speaker Mike
Johnson, taking credit for helping him win.
“I just want to congratulate Mike Johnson. He will be a great
Speaker of the House and we were very happy to help,” Trump said outside the
courtroom for his
civil fraud trial moments after his win.
The Republican lawmaker from Louisiana was elected Wednesday afternoon,
three weeks after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.
“At this time yesterday, no one was thinking of Mike — and then we put
out the word and now he’s the speaker of the House,” Trump said.
Trump called him a “tremendous man” and said he’s “going to make us all
proud.”
Trump previously backed Rep. Jim Jordan for speaker but Jordan failed to
reach the necessary number of votes.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:04 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1404
Karoun Demirjian
Several Democratic and Republican members are
standing in line outside the chamber, queuing up for a formal procession to
lead the new speaker to the House floor.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:07 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1407
Kayla Guo
Johnson said before the vote that the first piece of
legislation he’d bring to the floor is a resolution standing with Israel. He
has a tall order of business ahead: government funding runs out Nov. 17 unless
Congress passes another stopgap measure or all 12 appropriations bills, and
Israel and Ukraine are urgently awaiting additional aid. Neither of those
issues face a smooth road, with the Republican
conference still deeply divided over them.
r3 hr 7
min ago 1409
NOW: GOP Rep. Mike Johnson delivers remarks after
being elected House speaker
From CNN staff
Rep. Mike Johnson is delivering remarks now in the House chamber after being
elected speaker.
There were 220 votes for Johnson and 209 votes for Democrat Hakeem
Jeffries. There was unanimous GOP support behind Johnson. One Republican – Rep.
Derrick Van Orden – was absent from the vote.
s3 hr 5
min ago 1411
Biden says he wouldn’t be worried House Speaker
Johnson would overturn the election in 2024
From CNN's Donald Judd
President Joe Biden told reporters “no” he’s not concerned that
Speaker-elect Mike Johnson of Louisiana would overturn the presidential election
results in 2024 if Biden wins reelection.
In 2020, Johnson sent an
email from a personal email account in 2020 to every
House Republican soliciting signatures for an amicus brief in the longshot
Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate electoral college
votes from multiple states.
After the election was called in favor of Biden on November 7, 2020,
Johnson posted on X,
then known as Twitter, “I have just called President Trump to say this: ‘Stay
strong and keep fighting, sir! The nation is depending upon your resolve. We
must exhaust every available legal remedy to restore Americans’ trust in the
fairness of our election system.’”
Pressed Wednesday on why he wasn’t worried Johnson might attempt to
overturn a free and fair election, as he did in 2020, Biden said, “Because he
can't — look, just like I was not worried that the last guy would be able to
overturn the election.”
“They had about 60 lawsuits, and it went all the way to the Supreme Court
— every time they lost,” the president added. “I understand the Constitution.”
Earlier in the news conference where Biden was speaking with Australian
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a reporter informed the two leaders of the
news Johnson had secured the votes to become speaker.
Biden responded, “I hope that's true because we have to get moving, we
have to get moving.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:12 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1412
Carl Hulse
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, will make
remarks and present the gavel to Johnson, giving the Democrat a rare moment in
the speaker’s chair.
s3 hr 2
min ago 1414
The new House speaker sign is up
A new sign bearing speaker-elect Mike Johnson's name is now up outside
the speaker's office.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:23 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1423
Catie Edmondson
Republicans groaning and heckling as Jeffries
references the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:23 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1423
Catie Edmondson
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is doing quite a
bit of heckling as Jeffries speaks, including yelling out: “Secure the border!”
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:25 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1425
Catie Edmondson
Johnson begins his remarks saying he looks forward
to working with Jeffries, and that he knows the Democratic leader “in his
heart” loves and cares about the country.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:26 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1426
Carl Hulse
Doubtful that Johnson could have imagined this
moment just a day or so ago as those higher on the
leadership ladder were competing for the speaker’s post.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:26 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1426
Annie Karni
Johnson is known for combining his hard-line views
with a gentle style. We’re seeing a little bit of that here, with his gracious
words toward Jeffries, promising to work together and find common ground.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:27 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1427
Carl Hulse
Johnson praises former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, unceremoniously deposed three weeks ago. Says “he
is the reason we are in this majority today,” a nod to his political skills.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:29 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1429
Carl Hulse
Johnson notes that his wife, Kelly, is not in
Washington for the celebration given the short notice and the fact that she
couldn’t get a flight.
p2 hr 42
min ago 1434
Rep. Mike Johnson officially sworn in as House
speaker
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana has been sworn in as speaker of the House.
The Dean of the House, Hal Rogers, read the oath of office.
o2 hr 40
min ago 1436
Johnson says House will begin taking up the debt
crisis "immediately"
From CNN's Kristin Wilson
House Speaker Mike Johnson said during his first remarks following his
election that the chamber would begin taking up the debt crisis
"immediately" as Congress looks to avert a government shutdown.
“We know this is not going to be an easy task, and tough decisions will
have to be made," Johnson said. "But the consequences, if we don't
act now, are unbearable.”
He added that he will establish a debt commission to address the issue.
Remember: Congress has until November 17 to pass a government
spending bill to avoid a shutdown that would have impacts ranging from how
federal agencies function to the salaries of federal employees.
Earlier Wednesday, Johnson proposed a
short-term spending bill that would expire January 15 or April 15 — depending
on what the House Republican conference decides — if Congress gets to the
funding deadline without its single subject spending bills passed, according to
a copy of his appropriations proposal provided to CNN.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:37 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1437
Annie Karni
Johnson’s speech is light on policy and heavy on
personal history. He has talked about his own history — first in his family to
graduate from college, lost his father to cancer three days before he was first
elected to Congress — but said little about what he plans to do in the new job.
It’s also heavy on God: he is an Evangelical Christian, and he says that he
doesn’t think anything is a coincidence and hints that God has put him where he
is today.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:39 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1439
Annie Karni
Johnson says that he will bring to the floor “in
just a little while” a resolution in support of Israel. “We’re going to show
not only Israel but the entire world that the barbarism of Hamas" is
"wretched and wrong,” he said.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:40 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1440
Annie Karni
After Israel, Johnson says addressing the “broken
border” will be the second priority of House Republicans.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:41 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1441
Michael D. Shear
After a reporter told President Biden at a news
conference that a new speaker had been chosen, he said: “I hope that’s true. Because we have to get moving. We have to get moving.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:42 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1442
Annie Karni
Don’t hold me to it, he’s still talking, but so far
no mention of the Biden impeachment.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:44 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1444
Robert Jimison
“Congratulations to Rep. Mike Johnson” former
President Donald J. Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that Johnson
will be a "GREAT 'SPEAKER.'"
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:44 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1444
Johnson and his wife
host a podcast on faith and politics.
For about 18 months, Speaker Mike Johnson, along
with his wife, Kelly Johnson, have hosted a podcast that
explores their faith and current events, touching on a wide range of subjects
including the congressional effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election
results, the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the right to abortion and
former President Donald J. Trump’s legal woes.
The podcasts, spanning 69 episodes, offer an
extended window into Mr. Johnson's views and politics, as he co-hosts the
program with his wife, a licensed pastoral counselor. In it, the man who has
just been elected speaker, an evangelical Christian, talks at length about his
vehement opposition to abortion rights, calls the Democratic agenda socialist,
and rails against the prosecution of Mr. Trump for his efforts to interfere in
the 2020 election.
“You have a Democrat county prosecutor there who is
engaging in, just, stagecraft,” Mr. Johnson said on the podcast in
August, after Mr. Trump was criminally charged in Fulton
County, Ga., with attempting to overturn his election loss in the state. In the
episode, Mr. Johnson said it was an “outrageous development” and complained
that Mr. Trump had to surrender to the county jail on “completely bogus
charges.”
The first episode of the program, published in March
2022, was titled, “Can America be Saved?”
“We call this show ‘Truth Be Told’
because that’s what we are going to do on this program,” Mr. Johnson said in
the opening episode. “We are going to get right to the heart of all these
pressing issues and questions. And we will review current events through the
lens of eternal truth.”
The podcast has featured numerous guests
including Representative
Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mr. Johnson’s mentor; Judge Kyle
Duncan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,
and some of the Johnsons’ children
After the leak of the Supreme Court’s decision on
abortion in May of last year, the Johnsons hosted an episode that explored the “future of
life in America,” while also sharing their personal
jubilation about the news of the pending decision.
“This is the one that we have felt for some time may
be finally the chance we have to overturn the atrocity of Roe v. Wade,” Mr.
Johnson said. He said his phone had been ringing constantly because of his
career in constitutional law working on abortion cases for conservative groups.
He said Roe had given “constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn
children in America.”
About a year ago, after Republicans underperformed
expectations in the midterm elections, Mr. Johnson discussed how some of his
allies were feeling “dejected and depressed about what’s happened.” But he
spoke optimistically about Republicans regaining control of the House, and the
ramifications.
“We will stop the socialist agenda, we will control
the purse strings, and you will see some pretty vigorous investigations and
oversight because that is a really important responsibility of the Congress in
our constitutional system,” he said.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:47 p.m. ET3 hours ago
n2 hr 31
min ago 1445
Schumer calls on Johnson to work with Senate in
"bipartisan way" as possible shutdown looms
From CNN's Morgan Rimmer
Shortly after Speaker Mike Johnson was sworn in, Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer told reporters that he plans to speak with Johnson about how to
avoid a possible government shutdown next month.
“Look, I look forward to sitting down with Speaker Johnson to discuss a
path forward to avoid a government shutdown," said Schumer.
He also encouraged Johnson to work with Democrats in the weeks ahead.
"I will tell him, as I say over and over again, the only way to
avoid a shutdown, to pass the supplemental, and do things for the American
people is bipartisan, and I hope and look forward to working with him in a
bipartisan way. I hope he will," he said.
3 hours ago 1447
Annie Karni
Johnson says he has a message to American allies
abroad watching the chaos of the speaker fight in the past few weeks:
“Adversity makes you stronger.” That’s similar to what former Speaker Kevin McCarthy
said after winning the gavel following 15 rounds and five days of votes.
From CNN
x2 hr 25
min ago 1451
JUST IN: Rep. Mike Johnson voted new House speaker
From CNN's Clare Foran, Haley Talbot and Kristin
House Republicans have elected Rep. Mike Johnson as the new speaker – a
major moment that comes three weeks after Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster.
There were 220 votes for Johnson and 209 votes for Democrat Hakeem
Jeffries. There was unanimous GOP support behind Johnson. One Republican – Van
Orden – was absent from the vote.
Johnson has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump and
was a key congressional figure in the failed efforts to overturn the 2020
election. Johnson 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. During Trump’s first impeachment trial in January 2020,
Johnson, along with a group of other GOP lawmakers, served a largely ceremonial
role in Trump’s Senate impeachment team.
CNN's Piper Hudspeth Blackburn and Shania Shelton contributed reporting
to this post.
q2 hr 21
min ago 1455
Johnson thanks Jeffries and McCarthy in first
address to House after speaker's vote
In his first address to the House after winning the
speaker's gavel, newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson
thanked Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and former speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Johnson told Jeffries that he looks forward to working with him.
"I know we see things from different points of view, but
I know in your heart you want to do what's right — so we'll
find common ground there," Johnson said.
On McCarthy, Johnson said, "Kevin has dedicated over
two decades of his life to selfless public service, 16 of those years
in this House."
"And you would be hard-pressed to find anybody who loves
this institution more or has contributed more to it. He is the
reason we're in this majority today. His impact can never
be overstated," he added.
He also thanked the "overworked" and "beleaguered"
staff of the House.
Johnson said his wife couldn’t be with him for his election to speaker,
saying “we couldn't get a flight in time. This happened sort of suddenly” but
pledged that “the People’s House is back in business.”
The sudden rise of the Louisiana congressman to the speaker’s office
capped a 22-day vacancy for the second in line to the presidency, and just over
20 hours after he threw his name into nomination following the House failing to
elect a speaker three different times after the ouster of Kevin McCarthy. But
he made a promise to the chamber: “I will not let you down.”
He said that the first bill he will bring to the floor later Wednesday
will be a resolution in support of Israel, an announcement that drew cheers in
the chamber.
Johnson also said the House would begin taking up the debt crisis
“immediately.”
Johnson promised that his speakership would be known for “trust and
transparency and accountability, for good stewardship of the people's treasure,
for the honesty, integrity that is incumbent upon us, all of us, in the
people’s house.”
CNN's Kristin Wilson contributed reporting to this post.
Oct. 25, 2023, 2:57 p.m. ET3 hours ago
3 hours ago 1457
Robert Jimison
“This affirms the path that we took,” Representative
Bob Good of Virginia, one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust former
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tells reporters.
m2 hr 17
min ago 1459
Scalise says Rep. Mike Johnson is "ready to
go"
From CNN's Annie Grayer
Majority Leader Steve Scalise offered words of support for House
Speaker Mike Johnson following his election.
The pair are both from Louisiana and have known
each other for years.
“I've known Mike since I was in the state house. He's an incredibly hard
worker, very passionate about this country. And we have a very similar approach
to getting our country back on track and we've talked about some of those
policies and some of the bills that are ready to move," Scalise
said.
"We got to get our country back on track. And Mike's ready to
go."
1500
f2 hour(s)
ago 1500
Republicans tee up Johnson's
first vote, with resolution on Israel
House Republicans are teeing up newly-minted
Speaker Mike Johnson’s first vote on the chamber floor
just hours after he was unanimously elected to the role.
The House of Representatives is back in business
after three weeks in a state of paralysis without an elected leader.
Less than three hours after electing Johnson, R-La.,
lawmakers are expected to vote on a resolution called,
“Standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by
Hamas and other terrorists.”
It’s likely to garner strong bipartisan support – an
easy first victory for the Louisiana Republican.
Meanwhile, it’s not yet clear if he will allow the
House to consider a hefty $106 billion supplemental funding request from
President Biden that includes aid for Israel, as well as Ukraine, Taiwan and
the southern border.
Following that, the House is expected to begin
debate on one of eight appropriations bills they have left to pass before
extended government funding runs out on Nov. 17.
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:00 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago 1500
Kayla Guo
Democrat Jamie Raskin, who serves on the Judiciary
Committee alongside Speaker Johnson, is brutal in his evaluation of Johnson and
Republicans more broadly, saying the new speaker has “much better manners” than
G.O.P. firebrands but “is a MAGA extremist in substance.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:01 p.m. ET2 hours ago
e2 hour(s)
ago 1500
Biden says he isn't worried new
Speaker Johnson would try to overturn 2024 election
President Biden was
just asked by a reporter if he is worried that new Speaker-elect Mike Johnson
would try and overturn the 2024 election.
"No," Biden said. "Just
like I was not worried that the last guy's people would overturn the
election."
"I understand the Constitution," he said.
The reporter had alleged that Johnson had
"advocated conspiracy theories about voting machines and a rigged
election."
Johnson became speaker after winning the House vote
earlier Wednesday. He had secured the GOP nomination late Tuesday.
It has been three weeks since Republicans ousted
former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Posted by Adam Shaw
2 hours ago 1501
Kayla Guo
The dominating religious tenor of Johnson’s remarks,
Raskin added, “demonstrates that there are no public policy values that unify
the Republican caucus anymore. They don’t have a secular program. And so they
have fallen back on theocracy as the final binding mechanism of their cause.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 1505 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago
Kayla Guo
“We are unified and so proud to have elected Mike
Johnson as speaker of the People’s House,” Elise Stefanik says to kick off a
news conference on the Capitol steps.
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:08 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago 1508
Catie Edmondson
Schumer continued: “When I meet with him, I will
convey that bipartisanship is the only way we can deliver results for the
American people. The only way to avoid a government shutdown,
pass critical supplemental funding, and deliver common-sense investments
to the American people is bipartisanship.” Remember that McCarthy came to the
same conclusion on his own earlier this fall — that the only way to avoid a
shutdown was to work with Democrats — and that Republicans ousted him for it.
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:08 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago 1508
Catie Edmondson
While Republicans are celebrating finally electing a
speaker, across the Capitol, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority
leader, chimes in with a reminder of the impending mid-November government shutdown
looming unless Congress can pass legislation to keep it funded. “I look forward
to meeting with Speaker Johnson soon to discuss the path forward to avoid a
government shutdown,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement.
l2 hr 5
min ago 1511
Biden congratulates Johnson and urges Congress
"to move swiftly" to address pressing issues
From CNN's DJ Judd
President Joe Biden responded Wednesday to the news Louisiana Republican
Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected House speaker, congratulating him while
calling on Congress “to move swiftly to address our national security needs and
to avoid a shutdown in 22 days.”
“While House Republicans spent the last 22 days determining who would
lead their conference, I have worked on those pressing issues, proposing a
historic supplemental funding package that advances our bipartisan national
security interests in Israel and Ukraine, secures our border, and invests in
the American people,” Biden said in a statement. “These priorities have been
endorsed by leaders in both parties.”
In his statement, Biden acknowledged “real disagreements about important
issues,” but noted “there should be mutual effort to find common ground
wherever we can.”
“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,” he added.
Earlier Wednesday, Biden told reporters he wasn’t concerned that Johnson,
who solicited signatures for an amicus brief in 2020 in the longshot Texas
lawsuit seeking to invalidate electoral college votes from multiple states,
would seek to overturn a 2024 Biden victory.
“Because he can't — look, just like I was not worried that the last guy
would be able to overturn the election,” Biden said during a Rose Garden news
conference. "They had about 60 lawsuits, and it went all the way to the
Supreme Court — every time they lost. I understand the Constitution.”
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:13 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago 1513
Kayla Guo
“We went through a lot to get here, but we are ready
to govern and that will begin right away,” Johnson says in his first news
conference as speaker.
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:15 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago 1515
Robert Jimison
Johnson said Republicans would "dispense with
all of the usual ceremonies and celebrations” and get to work. “You’re going to
see an aggressive schedule in the days and weeks ahead,” he said.
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:15 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago 1515
Kayla Guo
Johnson does not take questions from the press. He
is, however, now taking many selfies with Republicans.
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:18 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago 1518
Erica L. Green
President Biden, when asked about Johnson’s history
of rejecting the 2020 election results, said he was not worried about Johnson
attempting to overturn the results of the next presidential election. “Just
like I was not worried the last campaign would overturn the election,” Biden
said. “They got 60 lawsuits, and all the way to Supreme Court and every time
they lost. I understand the Constitution.”
j1 hr 57
min ago 1519
Johnson says speakership battle has made House
Republicans stronger
In a news conference following
his election, House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed the
speakership fight within the Republican party that
left the seat vacant for more than three weeks, arguing that it has made the
conference stronger.
"We're in the majority right now. We've gone through a little bit of
suffering," Johnson said with a smile, earning a few laughs from his GOP
colleagues.
"We've gone through a little bit of character building and you know
what it's produced? More strength, more perseverance and a
lot of hope. And that's what we're about to deliver for the American
people," he added.
i1 hr 55
min ago 1521
Biden campaign says Johnson’s election "cements
the extreme MAGA takeover" of House GOP conference
From CNN's Donald Judd
President Joe Biden’s campaign warned Wednesday that the
election of House Speaker Mike Johnson “cements the
extreme MAGA takeover of the House Republican Conference.”
In a statement, Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa criticized
Johnson as a “loyal foot soldier” of former President Donald Trump, warning
Johnson will seek “to ban abortion nationwide, lead efforts to deny free and
fair election results, gut Social Security and Medicare, and advance the
extreme MAGA agenda at the expense of middle-class families.”
“22 days before Congress must act to avoid a government shutdown and
while our allies overseas at war depend on our help, extreme MAGA House
Republicans elevated a man to second-in-line to the presidency who still won’t
admit President Biden won the 2020 election,” Moussa wrote. “The American
people have rejected the extreme MAGA ideology at the ballot box because they
understand what’s at stake. And so to every MAGA Republican who supported this
choice: We’ll see you in November.”
Biden has issued his own statement congratulating Johnson and urging
Congress "to move swiftly" to address pressing issues.
h1 hr 53
min ago 1523
Johnson does not answer questions about looming
shutdown as he takes victory lap
From CNN's Manu Raju, Sam Fossum and Haley Talbot
House Speaker Mike Johnson, fresh of
his victory on the House floor, said he will pursue an
“aggressive schedule” in the weeks ahead, pointing to the bipartisan support
for an Israel resolution expected on the House floor shortly, but not taking
questions on his plans to avoid a shutdown.
“You're going to see an aggressive schedule in the days and weeks ahead,
you're gonna see Congress working as hard as it's ever worked and we are going
to deliver for the American people,” he said.
Johnson alluded to the chaos that paralyzed the House and distracted from
the GOP agenda. “We're in the majority right now. We've gone through a little
bit of suffering. We've gone through a little bit of character building, and
you know what has produced more strength, more perseverance and a lot of hope,
and that's what we're about to deliver to the American people,” Johnson
said.
Johnson said they will “govern well” and that the American people will be
“very pleased with those results.”
He added that they will get right to work and “dispense with all the
usual ceremonies and deliberations that traditionally follow a new
speakership.”
“We have no time for either one, the American people's businesses to
urgent in this moment,” he added.
He did not take questions.
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:24 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago 1524
Erica L. Green
In a statement, President Biden congratulated
Speaker Johnson, and said they needed to “move swiftly to address our national
security needs and to avoid a shutdown in 22 days.” He added: “Even though we
have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort
to find common ground wherever we can."
Oct. 25, 2023, 3:29 p.m. ET2 hours ago 1529
By Kayla Guo
While introducing Speaker Johnson at the news
conference, Representative Tom Emmer, who was dumped from his speakership bid
by the hard right on Tuesday, called the bitter process Republicans just went
through over the past three weeks “open, honest, transparent and a true display
of what democracy looks like in action.”
“From an outside point of view these last few weeks
probably look like total chaos, confusion, no end in sight," he said.
"But from my perspective, this is one of the greatest experiences of the
recent history of our republic."
g1 hr 46
min ago 1530
GOP lawmaker says he will propose rule change to
motion to vacate rule
From CNN's Annie Grayer
Now that Speaker Mike Johnson was elected and the House reopened, one of
the questions looming is whether Republicans will try to punish their eight
colleagues who voted to oust former
Speaker Kevin McCarthy — and whether there will be
changes to the rules around how a motion to vacate the speaker chair is
handled.
GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw told CNN he plans to propose a rule change to how a
motion to vacate works so that the chair is not vacated until a new speaker is
elected.
"I think one that everybody would agree on is that if there is a vacate that the current speaker does not step down until a
new speaker is elected," Crenshaw said.
GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa told CNN the threshold needs to be raised to at
least 25 members so it's not just one member bringing forward a motion to oust
the speaker like GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz did with McCarthy.
But it remains an open question on if the eight Republicans who started
all of this will be punished.
f1 hr 32
min ago 1544
House expected to vote on resolution in support of
Israel Wednesday afternoon
From CNN's Clare Foran and Haley Talbot
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.
The timing of the vote has been pushed, and it is now expect
this around 4:45 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. ET.
It will need to come up as a suspension vote — an expedited
process that requires a two-thirds majority for passage.
Sources told CNN
earlier Wednesday that there was a "big push"
to bring the bill to the floor once the House elected a new speaker. Rep. Mike
Johnson secured the speakership with 220 votes.
"The first bill that I'll bring to this floor in just a
little while will be in support of our dear friend Israel,"
Johnson said during his first remarks after being elected House Speaker.
"We're overdue in getting that done."
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.
"We're going to show not only Israel but the entire world
that the barbarism of Hamas that we have all seen play out on
our television screens is wretched and wrong and we're going
to stand for the good in that conflict," Johnson said.
b1 hour(s)
ago 1559
Republicans celebrated the election of House
Speaker Mike Johnson,
R-La., after he ascended to the gavel on Wednesday.
Johnson was elected speaker via a vote of
220-209, taking over the gavel from Speaker pro-tempore Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.
Republicans were ecstatic about the election of
Johnson, with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer — who secured the GOP's speaker
nomination on Tuesday before bowing out — writing his congratulations to the
new speaker.
"Congratulations to my friend and colleague,
[Johnson], on being elected Speaker of the House!" Emmer posted.
"His strong convictions and commitment to
conservatism will serve this body and the American people well," Emmer
added.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who also ran for House
speaker, wrote "servant leadership," with a picture of the new
speaker's nameplate
"God bless America," Donalds wrote.
Read more in the link above.
e1 hr 17
min ago 1559
Johnson enters speaker’s office for first time since
being sworn in
From CNN's Morgan Rimmer
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.
He did not answer shouted questions from the press.
1600
d1 hour(s)
ago 1600
Newly elected Speaker Mike
Johnson declares House 'back in business'
Newly elected Speaker
Mike Johnson, R-La., declared Wednesday that the House of
Representatives was "back in business," and vowed his first
legislative action would be in support of Israel as it faces multiple threats.
"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," he told his Republican colleagues in his first
address to the House after winning the race for speaker.
Johnson became the first House speaker elected from
the state of Louisiana after winning a 220-209 vote with the support of the
entire Republican conference (minus one absence) while Democrats unanimously
supported House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as expected.
Johnson was the fourth GOP nominee vying for the
role after numerous failed attempts to unite Republicans following former
Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ouster earlier this month.
"I want to say to the American people on behalf
of all of us here: We hear you. We know the challenges you're facing. We know
that there's alot going on in our country domestically and abroad, and we're
ready to get to work again to solve those problems, and we will," Johnson said. "Our
mission here is to serve you well, to restore the people’s faith in this house,
in this great and essential institution," he added.
c1 hour(s)
ago 1600
New Mike Johnson nameplate
installed over House speaker's office entrance
A nameplate for newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson,
R-La., has already been installed over the entrance to the speaker's office at
the U.S. Capitol, a photo taken by Fox News Digital shows.
The change comes less than two hours after the House
voted 220-209 for Johnson to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.,
who was ousted earlier this month.
Johnson wasn't considered the likely choice to
replace McCarthy until late Tuesday evening after numerous closed-door GOP
Conference votes that whittled down the number of candidates vying for the job.
Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this
report.
d1 hr 9
min ago 1607
House conservatives signal they'll give Johnson more
runway on spending bills
From CNN's Lauren Fox and Lauren Koenig
House conservatives are signaling they’ll give the newly minted House
Speaker Mike Johnson some runway and flexibility as the House barrels toward a
November 17 spending deadline to fund the government.
This marks a clear departure from how those same members viewed former
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision earlier this month to put a short-term
spending bill on the floor, which ultimately led to his ouster.
“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.
Pressed on whether conservatives might give Johnson some leeway when it
comes to keeping the government open, Crane said: “You know it is very possible
that there will be Democrat and Republican votes working together. That being
said, I think that just how he is going to lead, it is going to make it easier
for everyone to follow his lead.”
In a letter to colleagues earlier Wednesday, Johnson outlined
his first priority will be trying to pass the remaining
spending bills that have so far languished in the House one by one. But Johnson
indicated that given the time constraints, if those bills can’t pass quickly, he’d
look to fund to government using what is known as a short-term spending bill or
continuing resolution that would run either through January 15 or April
15, whichever the conference supports.
Conservatives are largely still calling for spending cuts and may even
demand them in a short-term spending bill. Asked if he would back a short-term
spending bill through January, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry told
CNN only “if it cuts spending.”
“We don’t support a clean CR, I don’t support a clean CR,” he said.
But the same members are warning they do believe Johnson starts in a more
solid place with conservatives than McCarthy did.
“There is a new level of trust with Speaker Johnson that did not exist
previously,” Rep. Bob Good told CNN. “That’s why we have a new speaker.”
The reality for Johnson is that the same dynamics that befell McCarthy
will exist for him.
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. 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.
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.
The challenge for House Republicans is they still have eight more spending
bills to pass including two that have been stuck in committee because of
disagreements within GOP ranks. In his letter to colleagues, Johnson set out an
aggressive time table for passing the bills, but the issue will be finding a
way to pass the legislation in just a narrow GOP majority.
Conservatives are signaling that they feel more optimistic that Johnson
will be able to unify the conference.
“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.
The members who ousted McCarthy also told reporters that they have no
regrets now about ousting McCarthy.
c1 hr 6
min ago 1610
Biden spoke with newly minted Speaker Mike Johnson
From CNN's Donald Judd
President Joe Biden spoke with newly minted Speaker Mike
Johnson to congratulate him on his win, the White House said.
“This afternoon, President Biden called Speaker of the House Mike Johnson
to congratulate him on his election, and expressed that he looks forward to
working together to find common ground on behalf of the American people,” the
White House said in a statement to pool.
a37 min(s)
ago 1622
DNC says House GOP will 'have
to answer' for electing 'MAGA' Mike Johnson as speaker
The Democratic National
Committee (DNC) took aim at newly-elected House Speaker
Mike Johnson, R-La., Wednesday just before he won a House-wide vote to replace
former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., saying Republicans would "have to
answer" to voters in 2024 for supporting him.
“Many Americans are waking up this morning wondering
— who is Mike Johnson? We’re here to help: MAGA Republicans’ new
speaker-designate supports extreme nationwide abortion bans," DNC National
Press Secretary Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.
"He led the charge for Donald Trump denying
President Biden’s legitimate election win and tried to overthrow the votes of
81 million Americans. He’s a leading proponent of slashing Social Security and
Medicare," she said.
Chitika called Johnson a "carbon-copy" of
"MAGA extremism," and predicted House Republicans would have to
answer for supporting him when voters head to the polls in 2024.
"Make no mistake: The American people will hold
them accountable for this choice," she added.
b51 min
ago 1625
GOP Rep. Bice considering running for Johnson's
former leadership role
From CNN's Haley Talbot
GOP Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma is considering a run for conference
vice chair – the leadership role previously occupied by now-Speaker Mike
Johnson, according to her spokesperson.
She is having conversations with her colleagues, her spokesperson said.
a36 min
ago 1640
House voting now to pass resolution in support of
Israel in war against Hamas
From CNN's Clare Foran, Kristin Wilson and Haley Talbot
The House is now voting to pass a resolution in support of Israel in the
war against Hamas – the first measure to come to the floor to be passed after
Speaker Mike Johnson was elected this morning following three weeks of a
speakerless-House.
This is expected to pass with overwhelming bipartisan support.
October 25, 2023 04:59pm ET 1659
House
elects Johnson as speaker as Republicans rally
The House elected Mike Johnson as the next speaker
of the House on Wednesday as Republicans rallied behind his nomination after
weeks of infighting.
Covered by: Elizabeth Elkind, Adam Shaw, Brandon Gillespie, Houston Keene, Anders Hagstrom, Brooke Singman and Lawrence Richard
FAST FACTS
·
The House elected Rep. Mike
Johnson, R-La., along party lines as speaker Wednesday
·
Johnson was elected as the
House GOP's fourth nominee behind closed doors Tuesday night
·
The House is back in business
and expected to vote on resolution supporting Israel
Johnson secures speaker's gavel
as Republicans rally behind nominee
Rep. Mike
Johnson was elected by the House to become the next
speaker as Republicans rallied behind their fourth nominee to replace former
Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Johnson could afford only a handful of defections
from his fellow Republicans in the chamber-wide vote, but unlike prior
candidates, there were no defections to his candidacy from his party.
He won 220 votes, needing around 217 to become
speaker.
Democrats meanwhile continued to vote for Minority
Leader Hakeem Jeffries. He picked up 209 votes from his fellow Democrats.
Johnson scored his party's nomination late Tuesday,
with several members absent and three voting present. In just the hours from
Tuesday, though, Johnson has shored up support from the three Republicans who
voted present in Tuesday's late nomination vote.
Johnson also got support from
former President Trump, who gave his support for the GOP nominee, urging
Republicans to "get it done, fast" ahead of a potential House speaker
vote.
Last Update October 25, 2023 04:59pm ET 1659
1700
From the New York Times Oct. 25, 2023, 5:14 p.m.
ET16 minutes ago 1714
\
Republicans
Elect Mike Johnson as House Speaker, Ending Party Chaos
After
weeks of infighting that saw Republicans reject three nominees, Representative
Mike Johnson of Louisiana secured enough party support to become speaker of the
House.
“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.” “First, a few words of gratitude. I want to thank Leader
Jeffries. I do look forward to working with you on behalf of the American
people. I know we see things from very different points of view, but 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, all right. I want
to express my great thanks for our speaker emeritus, Kevin McCarthy. He is the
reason we’re in this majority today. [applause] Last
thing I’m going to say is a message to the rest of the world: They have been
watching this drama play out for a few weeks. We’ve learned a lot of lessons.
But you know what? Through adversity, it makes you stronger. And — yeah, and 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.”
After weeks of infighting that saw Republicans
reject three nominees, Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana secured enough
party support to become speaker of the House.
Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana won
election on Wednesday as the 56th speaker of the House of Representatives,
putting an end to three weeks of chaos that left the chamber without a leader
and put Republican divisions on display.
Republicans elevated Mr. Johnson, 51, a little-known
and deeply conservative lawmaker, after a tumultuous fight. It began after the
hard right ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and raged on as the divided House
G.O.P. nominated and then quickly discarded three other candidates to succeed
him.
Worn down by a brutal stretch of infighting that
unleashed a barrage of recriminations and violent threats against lawmakers,
both the hard-right flank of the party and mainstream Republicans united to
elect Mr. Johnson in a 220-to-209 vote.
Republicans jumped to their feet and applauded after
Representative Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, the interim speaker,
declared that Mr. Johnson was the “duly elected speaker of the House of
Representatives.”
A socially conservative lawyer who opposes abortion
rights and same-sex marriage, Mr. Johnson also played a leading role in
congressional efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The vote on Wednesday put him in second in line to
the presidency, capping an extraordinary period of twists and turns on Capitol
Hill. The far right that has become a dominant force in the Republican Party
rose up and effectively dictated the removal of an establishment speaker and
the installation of an arch-conservative replacement.
In a speech that traced his ascent up the political
ladder in Louisiana to Congress, Mr. 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,” Mr. Johnson said shortly after he was elected. “And I will not
let you down.”
Evoking his evangelical Christian faith, Mr. Johnson
repeatedly referenced scripture. “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 time.”
In a nod to the simmering frustrations among the
hard-right flank of the party that ultimately deposed Mr. McCarthy, the
California Republican, Mr. Johnson pledged that his office “is going to be
known for decentralizing power.”
Elected to Congress in 2016, Mr. Johnson is the most
junior lawmaker in decades to become speaker.
He may also be the most conservative. Mr. Johnson is
the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee and sponsored legislation
to effectively bar the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity at
any institution serving children younger than 10 that receives federal funds.
He served on former President Donald J.
Trump’s impeachment
defense team, played a leading role in recruiting House
Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the
2020 election results and was an architect of Mr. Trump’s bid to object to
certifying them in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
Democrats were scathing in their assessment of Mr.
Johnson’s ascent to the speakership. Representative Pete Aguilar of California,
the Democratic conference chairman, 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.
They heckled mainstream Republicans facing tough
re-election contests next year in swing districts as they rose to vote for Mr.
Johnson. After Representatives Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro, both of New York,
each voted for the Louisiana Republican, a Democrat could be heard yelling out:
“Bye-bye!”
Mr.
Johnson immediately faces a host of challenges that dogged his predecessor, Mr.
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.
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.
After President Biden was told during a White House
news conference that a new speaker had been elected, Mr. 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,
Mr. Biden answered flatly: “No. Just like I was not worried the last campaign
would overturn the election.”
Mr. Johnson was able to bring together both the
party’s hard-right and mainstream flanks that had taken turns sinking speaker
candidates. But it was also clear that Republicans were eager to put an end to
the weekslong spectacle of mass dysfunction and paralysis that many said had
left their constituents distraught.
“From an
outside point of view these last few weeks probably look like total chaos,
confusion, no end in sight,” said Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the
No. 3 Republican who within hours of being nominated for speaker 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 Mr. Johnson said
they were eager to pull the House out of its paralysis.
“While there are issues where we differ, we must get
back to governing for the good of the country,” Mr. Lawler wrote on social
media, posting a photo of himself and Mr. Johnson shaking hands.
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. But some said they did not have the same concerns about
Mr. Johnson.
Representative Ken Buck of Colorado said that Mr.
Johnson was not involved in postelection efforts to invalidate the results,
even though Mr. Johnson was a critical player in those activities. “People can
make mistakes and still be really good speakers,” Mr. Buck said.
And the hard-right Republicans who voted to oust Mr.
McCarthy, setting into motion the three-week stretch of chaos that left the
House without a leader, said Mr. Johnson’s ascension to the top job made their
decision to depose the California Republican worth it.
“This affirms the path that we took,” Representative
Bob Good of Virginia said.
Reporting was contributed by Luke
Broadwater, Robert Jimison, Kayla Guo, Michael D.
Shear and Erica L. Green.
Posted by Brandon Gillespie
From CNN 1716
Rep. Mike Johnson voted new
House speaker
By Mike Hayes, Kaanita Iyer, Elise Hammond and Shania Shelton, CNN
Updated 5:16 PM ET, Wed October 25, 2023
What we're covering here
·
New speaker: Rep.
Mike Johnson secured the
speaker's gavel without losing any GOP votes Wednesday
after weeks of party infighting left the House in chaos. The Louisiana lawmaker
has been a vocal
supporter of former President Donald Trump and was a key
congressional figure in the failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
·
About the vote: There were 220 votes for Johnson
and 209 votes for Democrat Hakeem Jeffries. There was unanimous GOP support
behind Johnson. One Republican – Rep. Derrick Van Orden – was absent from the
vote.
·
What’s at stake: House Republicans faced
intensifying pressure to elect a new speaker after
former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted more than three
weeks ago. The House has remained effectively frozen since then — a dire situation
as Congress faces a November funding deadline and as crisis unfolds abroad in
Ukraine and with
Israel’s war against Hamas.
Trump ally Mike Johnson
elected House speaker three weeks after McCarthy ouster
By Clare Foran, Haley Talbot, Sam Fossum, Morgan Rimmer and Kristin
Wilson, CNN
Who is Rep. Mike
Johnson, the new House speaker?
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn and Shania Shelton, CNN
Mike Johnson picked as
new GOP speaker nominee just hours after Tom Emmer drops bid
By Clare Foran, Melanie Zanona, Lauren Fox, Manu Raju, Haley Talbot,
Kristin Wilson and Annie Grayer, CNN
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
The House speaker
crisis is part of the GOP's identity crisis
Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN
Trump ally Mike Johnson
elected House speaker three weeks after McCarthy ouster
By Clare Foran, Haley Talbot, Sam Fossum, Morgan Rimmer and Kristin
Wilson, CNN
Who is Rep. Mike
Johnson, the new House speaker?
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn and Shania Shelton, CNN
Mike Johnson picked as
new GOP speaker nominee just hours after Tom Emmer drops bid
By Clare Foran, Melanie Zanona, Lauren Fox, Manu Raju, Haley Talbot,
Kristin Wilson and Annie Grayer, CNN
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
The House speaker
crisis is part of the GOP's identity crisis
Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN