Republican Mike Johnson was elected “Speaker” of the House of Representatives after weeks of confusion

After three weeks of chaos and violent infighting, Republicans finally managed to elect a speaker to the House of Representatives. Mike Johnson, an obscure 51-year-old elected official from Louisiana, won unanimously. The former ultra-conservative lawyer is best known so far for his active role in manipulating the 2020 election results. Not only does he promote President Trump, but “Stay strong and keep fighting» To retain power after Joe Biden’s victory. But he “Very important Architect“, according to The New York Times, a legal battle to reverse the election result and prevent the transfer of power. And even after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal, he challenged the January 6 certificate of examination results.

The state’s third lieutenant, Mike Johnson, declined to answer reporters’ questions on the matter in recent days. Not surprisingly, Donald Trump received congratulations for his victory. He will be”A great speaker», the former president has promised on his social media. The father of four is an evangelical Christian activist who opposes same-sex marriage, LGBT rights and abortion, which he wants to ban federally. With his wife, he hosts a religious podcast. In his post-victory speech, he made great reference to God and attributed the promotion to him.

Default speaker

He was far from the Republicans’ first choice. After a small group of conservatives angry at Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s co-authorship of fiscal legislation with Democrats ousted him, several candidates ran for the post, but none could garner enough votes because they were too moderate for Trumpists, or too radical for moderates. If it’s so easy for a faction to block a candidate, it’s because the Republican Party has such a small majority in the House. Only four votes are needed to block a nomination. So Mike Johnson is quite the talker by nature. He owes his nomination to the fact that he has fewer opponents than his better-known rivals and is more consensual. Although he is very right-wing, he is a calm and composed character. “This is Not an arsonist“, summed up Representative Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota.

His nomination would end weeks of a dark scene of infighting among Republicans at a time when they were willing to do anything to find a solution. In his speech, the new speaker promised to work with Democrats and praised the work of Kevin McCarthy. His task will not be easy. Elected to the Lok Sabha in 2016, he did not have much experience when it came to his rivals
The stage usually takes several years to prepare. He’s never held a leadership position in the House, has no personal relationship with Senate leaders or Joe Biden, and the party’s No. 2 and No. 3 in the House, where he ran for speaker before being ousted by the Trumpist faction, won’t help him much. After all, he didn’t have McCarthy’s contacts or address book to organize massive fund-raising from donors, the speaker’s main function. Finally, he must lead a deeply divided Republican Party after his final weeks.

Read moreThe impeachment of Kevin McCarthy was a major upheaval in American politics

The speech on Israel was immediately voted on

The election did not put an end to the dysfunction of the assembly, which was almost ungovernable due to various factions. All it takes is one elected official to trigger a referendum to oust the Speaker. Johnson’s advantage is that he is an ally of the Trumpist coalition, which should give him more latitude to govern when his predecessor, McCarthy, was constantly forced to negotiate with him. He has a tough deadline ahead of him. In a speech after the election, he promised that the first speech he would deliver would be in Israel, which he did just hours after the election. “Our nation’s greatest ally in the Middle East is under attack. The first bill I will present in this House in a little while will be in support of our dear friend Israel. He declared. He must urgently vote on the budget before November 17. Aid to Ukraine… However, Mike Johnson joined fifty Conservatives in May in opposing an allocation of almost 40 billion to Ukraine and said he was opposed to any new aid.

His election, however, signals an even more right-wing shift in the House. “If you don’t believe in passing From Kevin McCarthy to MAGA (Make America Great Again, Trump’s slogan, editor’s note) is enough to show Mike Johnson’s rise Where lies the real power of this movement and party Republican Party, you don’t noticesaid Matt Gaetz, the Florida representative who led McCarthy’s impeachment.