On Wednesday, Republicans in the House of Representative chose a new Speaker after three weeks of debate.
On Oct. 25 Mike Johnson (R-LA) was voted into the top position, second in line for the presidency, unanimously.
“I want to say to the American people on behalf of all of us here: We hear you.” Johnson said after being elected Speaker of the House. “We know the challenges you’re facing. We know that there’s a lot going on in our country domestically and abroad, and we’re ready to get to work again to solve those problems, and we will.”
Former Speaker Kevin McCarty (R-Calif) was voted out after working with Democrats to keep the government from shutting down on Oct. 3, and Republicans struggled to replace him. Without a Speaker, congress could not provide aid to Ukraine or Israel or pass any legislation.
Representatives Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) initially competed against each other for the position. After their first round of voting, Steve Scalise stepped away from the race when did not have enough Republican votes to become Speaker.
On Oct. 18, Jordan found 199 total Republican votes, but not enough to become the next Speaker of the House. He bowed out after three days of voting.
“My message to fellow Republicans is people elect us to lead, and they are not leading right now,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who called McCarthy’s removal and the resulting infighting an “embarrassment,” according to the article from The Hill.
Democrats are not happy that Johnson, a Trump supporter and pro-life advocate who tried to undermine the 2020 election, was voted in as Speaker of the House.
Don Beyer (D-Va.) posted on X that Johnson is “one of the biggest anti-choice extremists in Congress” and “wants to ban all abortions without exception — to the point of criminalization with prison sentences.”
Some organizations have warned against Johnson’s views. Human Rights Campaign Government Affairs Director David Stacy said in a statement, “Extremist House Republicans like Mike Johnson are continuing their assault on LGBTQ+ Americans’ ability to live their lives openly and honestly.”
