After three weeks of chaotic intra-party bidding that exposed their deep divisions, The Republicans finally elected this Wednesday Mike Johnson, from Louisiana, as the new president or speaker of the House of Representatives.
Johnson’s election put an end to a dispute that began on October 3 when a faction from the most extreme wing of the party forced the dismissal of Kevin McCarthy the previous leader, in retaliation for a deal reached with Democrats to avoid a federal government shutdown.
The dismissal, the first in the modern history of the Lower House, unleashed bitter disputes among the members of this community. Three other candidates – Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, and Tom Emmer – were nominated for the position but then they withdrew from the race or were defeated in the plenary session where they could not obtain the minimum majority of 217 votes that was required to retain the position.
Johnson, who emerged at the last minute as an alternative to settle the differences, obtained 220 votes, 3 more than necessary and all of them Republicans.
51 years old, Johnson is considered an ultraconservative for his extreme positions on various issues on the domestic and international agenda. His victory is interpreted as a partial victory for former President Donald Trump, since Johnson is one of his staunchest defenders.
(Also read: What is at stake in the United States House of Representatives after the departure of Kevin McCarthy?)
The newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, surrounded by other Republican legislators.
The former president, however, could not impose Jordan, who was his favorite and for whom he asked to vote repeatedly.
His choice, it is worth noting, was quite unusual and could well be temporary. The congressman, at the outset, he becomes the most inexperienced speaker of the House of Representatives in at least a century.
The legislator was elected for the first time in 2017 and has only represented the state for three consecutive terms. Before that, he spent two years in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Since then, He has never headed a Committee nor been the author of the text of legislation that has been approved.
Rather poor credentials in an institution where seniority is the most precious.
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![Michael Johnson](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/files/crop/uploads/2023/10/25/65397b4a41bff.r_1698266383120.0-0-3000-1682.jpeg)
Newly elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson.
As a Republican Party legislator told EL TIEMPO, “We came to Johnson because there was no one else we could agree on.” and we had to put an end to this bloodshed that was killing us.”
There are also many doubts about Johnson’s abilities to command such a dissimilar community. and with the same sword on his neck that cost McCarthy his job: given an agreement reached in January of this year, any legislator can call for an impeachment vote against the president.
Given the pyrrhic majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives (221 vs. 212), It only takes four legislators to decide to turn around to face the same fate as McCarthy.
And what awaits him is a pitched battle. In just over two weeks, funds to keep the federal government open will expire again and many in his community do not want any arrangement with Democrats that does not include a deep spending cut, more funds to reinforce the southern border and reduce or eliminate aid to Ukraine.
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![Kevin McCarthy](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_vertical_content_new/uploads/2023/10/04/651d6755dfd8b.jpeg)
The now former president of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy.
In addition, the emergency supplement for more than $100 billion that President Joe Biden requested for Israel is pending. and Ukraine, as well as the 12 spending budgets for fiscal year 2024 that are still pending approval.
“I wonder how long he will be Speaker. I hope for a long time, but if they don’t remove the clause that allows him to be removed with one person’s vote, this is ungovernable,” said skeptical Republican Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.).
51 years old, Johnson is considered an extreme conservative and furious Trumpist who was part of the defense team for the impeachment trial against the former president for the violent takeover of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and led the group of Republicans who filed a lawsuit before the Supreme Court of Justice to request that it annul the results of the 2020 elections.
Something that the Court, with a conservative majority, emphatically rejected due to lack of arguments.
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He was also one of the architects of the Republicans’ legislative strategy to try to prevent Congress from certifying the results. of those elections.
And he has said, on multiple occasions, that Biden’s election was fraudulent despite the fact that more than 40 courts in the country, mostly headed by conservative judges, rejected dozens of lawsuits given the lack of evidence.
![trump](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2023/10/04/651d693ce5976.jpeg)
Johnson is considered an extreme conservative and furious Trumpist.
Although it is one thing to be a legislator and another to be the president of the House, Johnson was one of only 57 members of Congress who voted against giving more aid to kyiv. to confront the war with Russia and is not expected to change its position now.
A constitutional lawyer by profession, the legislator defines himself as a “Christian evangelical” who opposes abortion and the constitutional rights that existed in the US against the practice until the Court struck them down in the middle of last year.
In the past, it has supported laws or initiatives such as those recently approved in the state of Florida that prohibit discussing sexuality and gender issues in schools.
His profile indicates, in any case, that if relations between Democrats and Republicans were hostile during McCarthy’s mandate now with Johnson they could be even worse.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
EL TIEMPO correspondent
Washington
On Twitter @sergom68
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