(National Review) Representative Mike Johnson (R., La.), the fourth House Republican to be nominated for the speakership this month, secured the necessary 217 votes to be elected to the post on Wednesday afternoon, ending weeks of uncertainty within the caucus.
After fracturing in successive floor votes for Johnson’s three predecessors as speaker nominee, House Republicans lined up behind Johnson, who secured 220 votes, while the entire Democratic caucus once again gave their support to Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.).
The Republican speaker nominee became the fourth contestant in the running against Jeffries hours after Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R., Minn.) dropped his bid Tuesday afternoon. House Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.), the two previous nominees for the role, also failed to secure enough support from their party to clear the 217-vote threshold.
Since Representative Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) was removed from the speakership over three weeks ago, the GOP conference repeatedly struggled to unite behind a candidate. There are only 221 Republicans in the lower chamber, meaning each candidate couldn’t afford to lose more than four votes with Democrats voting in unison. Johnson only lost one.
Before turning the floor over to the Wednesday vote, Representative Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Republican conference, said Johnson was the best candidate to become the next speaker as “we live in perilous times and the American people are hurting.”
While rising to nominate Jeffries as the Democratic candidate once again, Representative Pete Aguilar (D., Calif.) criticized the Republican nominee for being an ally to former president Donald Trump, calling Johnson “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” to the 2020 presidential-election results.
In an effort to challenge President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, Johnson collected more than 100 House Republican signatures on an amicus briefin support of a Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the election results in four key states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The lawsuit asked the Supreme Court to delay the electoral votes in the four states until investigations into allegedly unconstitutional voting-rule changes could be made. The High Court ultimately rejected the legal effort.
The House has been paralyzed throughout the month of October as war broke out in Israel. The inaction came at a time of crisis when the White House called on Congress to approve over $100 billion in U.S. aid to Israel and Ukraine, a legislative package that the House couldn’t vote on until a permanent speaker was elected. Representative Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.) formerly served as speaker pro tempore, which gave him the authority to preside over the recent elections.
