Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson Elected House Speaker

Facts

• Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected as the 56th House speaker on Wednesday with the unanimous support of House Republicans, the first show of unity from the GOP since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) three weeks ago.¹
• Johnson defeated Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in the first House floor ballot held on the day, 220-209, securing the simple majority threshold required to win the gavel after three other Republican nominees — Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) — failed to do so.²
• Johnson was selected on Tuesday as Emmer dropped out of the speaker's race quickly after receiving the nomination amid resistance from several conservatives. On Wednesday, former Pres. Donald Trump claimed that Johnson would be a 'fantastic speaker.'³
• A Trump ally, Johnson defended the former president during the Democrat-led House impeachment hearings and filed an amicus brief to support Texas litigation to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. At the time, he was the Republican Study Committee chairman.⁴
• The relatively little-known four-term social conservative has been a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Last year, he was unanimously re-elected for a second term as vice-chair of the House Republican Conference.⁵
• Before the vote on the floor, Johnson laid out his policy priorities — including a vote on a resolution to condemn Hamas, and an expedited appropriations schedule to avoid a government shutdown as federal funding is set to run out in three weeks.⁶

Sources: ¹NBC, ²Daily Wire, ³Associated Press, ⁴FOX News, ⁵Axios and ⁶Washington Examiner.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Newsmax. A hard-working principled conservative who is admired across the Republican Party, Mike Johnson will certainly do a great job for the nation as House speaker — as he has already done on the Judiciary Committee and on the House Republican Conference. His leadership and honesty will help get the country back on track for the benefit of American families.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by The New York Times. The newly elected Speaker Johnson is a leading election denier who, as chairman of the House Republican Conference, played a key role in congressional efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election as well as one of the most hardline conservatives in the House. That the GOP has only been able to rally around such a figure is worrisome, yet not surprising.

Predictions