After weeks of chaos, internal division, threats, pressure and endless votes, the House of Representatives elected Mike Johnson, a 51-year-old congressman from Louisiana, as the new president this Wednesday. Johnson is an ultra-conservative evangelical Christian who led the legal efforts of the Republican group to try to annul Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. His election represents a clear shift to the right for the Republicans and complicates the governability of the Congress. Democrats have the majority in the Senate and Republicans in the House of Representatives and any law needs the approval of both chambers and the presidential signature.
This time there has not been a single desertion. Johnson has managed to overcome the fateful bar of 217 votes to be elected. Johnson has managed to get congressmen from his party to close ranks 22 days after the impeachment of Kevin McCarthy following a motion of no confidence presented by Matt Gaetz, one of the members of his group. In the first vote in which he stood, he was elected. The wear and tear of more than three weeks without an agreement and the failure of the three previous candidates nominated by the Republicans has paved the way for Johnson to preside over the House of Representatives and become the third authority in the United States, second in the line of presidential succession. only behind the vice president, Kamala Harris.
Choosing a new speaker unblocks legislative activity at a time of external and internal emergencies. Joe Biden has requested approval of a $105 billion package aimed primarily at aid to Ukraine and Israel. At the same time, half of the term of the budget extension with which the partial closure of the Administration was avoided on October 1 has been consumed in complete paralysis.
The atmosphere among the Republicans was one of barely contained euphoria since the beginning of this Wednesday’s session. They finally saw an escape from the dead end in which they seemed to be stuck. The president of the parliamentary group, Elise Stefanik, was in charge of presenting Johnson’s candidacy in plenary this Wednesday. “Today is the day that House Republicans will humbly look into our hearts and elect Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House,” she began her confident intervention. She has defined Johnson as “a man of deep faith,” a “friend to all and enemy to none,” “strong, tough and fair.” The candidate also had the support of former President Donald Trump, who had been in charge of torpedoing Tom Emmer’s candidacy.
Democrat Pete Aguilar, who was introducing his group’s candidate, Hakeem Jeffries, has said that the entire Republican process “has been about one thing: who can appease Donald Trump.” In his opinion, Republicans have not stopped until “they find the person who can pass their litmus test of extremism to oppose marriage equality and promote a nationwide ban on abortion, without exceptions, cut Social Security and Medicare and support the annulment of a free and fair election.” Johnson voted against the law protecting same-sex marriages and is in favor of restricting abortion nationwide.
Johnson has been the fourth candidate chosen in the internal votes of the Republican parliamentary group for the position. In a first internal vote, the winner had been Steve Scalise, but numerous congressmen in his group made it clear that they would not bow to the majority’s decision and would block his appointment, so he immediately resigned. Then the appointee was the extremist Jim Jordan, with the simultaneous support of Donald Trump and McCarthy himself. Despite the pressures and threats, it was then the moderate Republicans who stood up. After the third lost vote in the plenary session, the Republicans decided on Friday to withdraw his nomination and return to square one.
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During the weekend, nine congressmen expressed their interest in running for the position. The chosen one was Tom Emmer, who obtained 117 votes among the 221 members of his group, compared to the 97 of the ultra-conservative Mike Johnson. Like Scalise, he found there was no way to convince members of the radical wing of the caucus to support him, while Trump disqualified him and said that electing him would be “a tragic mistake.” Emmer threw in the towel just hours after being nominated.
In a frenetic day, the Republican group met again. There were five candidates, this time all of them liked by Trump, who this Wednesday asked for support for Johnson: “I COULD NEVER GO AGAINST ANY OF THESE FABULOUS AND VERY TALENTED MEN, all of whom have supported me, both in mind and in spirit, from the beginning of our GREAT VICTORY of 2016. In 2024, we will have an even bigger and more important victory! My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the frontrunner, Mike Johnson, and DO IT, he has written on his social network, Truth.”
During this Wednesday’s vote, Republicans especially applauded the ousted candidates (Scalise, Jordan and Emmer), all of whom supported Johnson.
[Noticia de última hora. Habrá ampliación en breve]
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