After nearly a month of bickering and internal strife, Republicans in the House of Representatives unanimously elected Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the 56th speaker of the chamber in a floor vote Wednesday afternoon.
The little-known Johnson filled the position after a 22-day vacancy and allowed the House to resume operations following Rep. Kevin McCarthy's, R-Calif., ouster three weeks ago. All 220 Republicans present cast their vote for Johnson, who needed a 215-vote majority to secure the speaker's gavel, marking the first time the GOP has unanimously elected a speaker since elevating John Boehner in 2011.
The Louisiana Republican earned the nomination and became the conference's fourth pick for the role Tuesday evening, beating out four other Republicans seeking out the nomination with 128 votes compared to 29 for Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. and 44 for others — 43 of which went to McCarthy, Axios reports. The former House GOP vice chairman initially finished second to Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn. in an earlier vote but met success in a nighttime vote after Emmer abruptly dropped out of the race due to a lack of party support approximately four hours later. Johnson's win also follows Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Steve Scalise's, R-La., failed bids for the position in the last two weeks.
"This group is ready to govern," Johnson said Tuesday when he announced plans to advance a full House floor vote on Wednesday. He told reporters that the conference is "united" and ready for the ballot.
Having only served three full terms as a representative, Johnson's success means he has had the shortest congressional tenure of any speaker in modern times prior to their election by far. While the lawyer and former state legislator is much lesser known to the public than his nominee predecessors, he boasts — and projects — a similar right-wing ideology to many of his culture-warrior colleagues.
"Some people are called to pastoral ministry and others to music ministry, etc. I was 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," Johnson told the Louisiana Baptist Message, a religious newspaper in the state, as he campaigned for federal office in 2016.
Johnson's widespread support among the GOP conference — marked by the unanimous applause he received from the Republican side as the vote began Wednesday, per Punchbowl News — rings as foreboding. It demonstrates congressional Republicans' overwhelming willingness to elevate a far-right congressman — particularly one reminiscent of failed nominee Jordan — with less legislative experience and less reputational baggage to the third highest position in the nation despite weeks of in-fighting belaboring the process.
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A staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, Johnson is best known for spearheading the Supreme Court amicus brief, signed by 126 House Republicans, backing a Texas lawsuit aiming to overturn the 2020 election results in four swing states. House Jan. 6 committee proponent and vocal Trump critic Rep. Liz Cheney's, R-Wyo., team released old videos discussing Johnson's involvement and spotlighted a New York Times quote calling the Louisiana Republican "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections," according to NBC News.
Johnson is also a longtime opponent of Roe v. Wade, which secured a federal right to abortion care for decades until it was overturned by the conservative majority of the Supreme Court last year.
"Look, I’d love it if the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade," Johnson told Mother Jones in 2001. "That would be the greatest day of my life. But until we can do that, I accept the fact that they can perform abortions legally, and I just want them to do it under the same health and safety standards that any other medical professional has to adhere to.”
"Look, I’d love it if the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade," Johnson told Mother Jones in 2001. "That would be the greatest day of my life"
Johnson, then an attorney in Louisiana, the outlet notes, helped draft Louisiana's anti-abortion legislation, which like other targeted regulation of abortion providers laws would apply specific licensing requirements on abortion clinics that would not apply to other facilities that perform similar or riskier procedures.
"MAGA Mike Johnson’s ascension to the speakership cements the extreme MAGA takeover of the House Republican Conference," Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. "Now, Donald Trump has his loyal foot soldier 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."
Ahead of his election Wednesday, the House Judiciary Dems' account on X, formerly Twitter, shared a clip of Johnson amplifying his anti-abortion rhetoric during a committee hearing and dubbing Roe v. Wade a "terrible corruption of American jurisprudence."
"Roe v. Wade gave constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn children in America, period," Johnson began in the clip. "You think about the implications of that on the economy. We're all struggling here to cover the bases of social security, Medicare and Medicaid, and all the rest," he added. "If we had all those able-bodied workers in the economy, we wouldn't be going upside down and toppling over like this."
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With Johnson minted as the speaker, the House sputtered back into action Wednesday afternoon. The lower chamber has moved directly to passing a resolution defending and supporting Israel, Punchbowl News reports.
As the renewed deadline to pass funding legislation to prevent a government shutdown also draws nearer, Johnson has put forward a possible plan, according to CNN's Annie Grayer: passing a short-term spending bill that will extend until Jan. 15 or April 15 and then using the time in the interim to pass the remaining single subject spending bills. His proposed schedule also eliminates the chamber's August recess unless all 12 Appropriations bills are passed.
"Johnson was one of the 91 members to vote against the short-term spending bill that extended government funding from September 30 to November 17," CNN's Annie Grayer noted online.
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