After 21 days without a leader, the House of Representatives has elected a new speaker — Louisiana’s own Mike Johnson.
The three-week period was the longest gap the House has had without a speaker since 1962.
On Oct. 11, the House GOP nominated Steve Scalise (R-La.), the house majority leader. Scalise immediately faced pressure from within his own party and dropped out before any votes the next day.
Two days later, the Republicans nominated Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to be their nominee. Jordan lost a floor vote three times, and on the third, he received 194 votes, which is the lowest total for a majority party nominee since 1923.
After three failed votes, the GOP voted to rescind Jordan’s candidacy.
The next candidate to be nominated was Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the house majority whip. Emmer faced immediate pushback, including from former President Trump. Politico reports that on a phone call, Trump stated, “He’s done. It’s over. I killed him.”
After being the nominee for around four hours, Emmer dropped out.
Finally, after multiple candidates who couldn’t get the votes, the Republican conference nominated Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Rep. Johnson is from Shreveport, Louisiana and represents Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District, which includes Shreveport, Minden and Natchitoches. He has only been in his seat since 2017, making him the least experienced speaker in 140 years.
Even though he hasn’t held any national leadership positions, Johnson was able to rally every Republican vote and win the speakership over Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) 220-209. Some suggest that his obscurity won him the vote since he hasn’t made any enemies within his party.
The new speaker comes into leadership at a critical time, with a stopgap funding measure keeping the government open expiring in a little over two weeks. Now that the House is back in business, negotiations can start, and work can finally be done.
