After weeks of chaos, internal division, threats, pressure and endless votes, this Wednesday the House of Representatives elected Mike Johnson, a 51-year-old congressman from Louisiana, as the new president. Johnson is an ultra-conservative evangelical Christian who led the Republican group’s legal effort to overturn Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. His election represents a clear shift to the right for the Republicans and makes it more difficult for Congress to govern. Democrats have a majority in the Senate and Republicans in the House of Representatives, and any legislation requires approval from both chambers and the president’s signature.
This time there was not a single desertion. Johnson managed to overcome the fateful hurdle of 217 votes for the election. Johnson managed to get his party’s congressmen to unite 22 days after Kevin McCarthy was fired following a no-confidence motion from Matt Gaetz, a member of his caucus. He was elected in the first vote in which he stood. The attrition of more than three weeks without an agreement and the failure of the three previous Republican nominees has paved the way for Johnson to assume the presidency of the House of Representatives and become the third authority in the United States, the second in line of the House of Representatives Presidential succession. Only behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
The election of a new speaker frees up legislative activity at a time of external and internal emergencies. Joe Biden has sought approval of a $105 billion package aimed primarily at aid for Ukraine and Israel. At the same time, half of the term of the budget extension, which made it possible to avoid the partial closure of the administration on October 1st, has passed in complete paralysis.
Since the meeting began on Wednesday, the mood among Republicans has been one of barely restrained euphoria. Finally they saw a way out of the dead end in which they seemed to be stuck. The leader of the parliamentary group, Elise Stefanik, was responsible for presenting Johnson’s candidacy in the plenary session this Wednesday. “Today is the day that House Republicans will humbly look into our hearts and elect Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House,” he began his confident intervention. He defined Johnson as “a man of deep faith,” “friend of all and enemy of none,” “strong, tough and fair.” The candidate also had the support of former President Donald Trump, who was responsible for torpedoing Tom Emmer’s candidacy.
Democrat Pete Aguilar, who introduced his group’s candidate, Hakeem Jeffries, said that the entire Republican process “was about one thing: Who can appease Donald Trump?” In his opinion, Republicans didn’t stop until “they got the person have found who can pass their litmus test of extremism to oppose marriage equality and promote a nationwide ban on abortion with no exceptions, cut Social Security and Medicare, and support repealing free abortion. “fair election.” Johnson voted against the law protecting same-sex marriage and supported nationwide restrictions on abortion.
Johnson was the fourth candidate selected for the office in internal Republican caucus voting. In a first internal vote, Steve Scalise emerged as the winner, but numerous congressmen in his group made it clear that they would not bow to the majority decision and block his appointment, which is why he resigned immediately. Then the extremist Jim Jordan was appointed, with the simultaneous support of Donald Trump and McCarthy himself. Despite the pressure and threats, it was the moderate Republicans who rose up. After losing their third vote on the floor, Republicans decided on Friday to withdraw their nomination and return to first place.
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Over the weekend, nine members of Congress expressed interest in running for office. The chosen one was Tom Emmer, who received 117 votes among the 221 members of his group, compared to 97 for the ultra-conservative Mike Johnson. Like Scalise, he noted that there was no way to persuade members of the radical wing of the congressional group to support him, while Trump disqualified him and said that voting for him was “a tragic mistake.” Emmer threw in the towel just hours after his nomination.
On a hectic day, the Republican group met again. There were five candidates, all of whom this time liked Trump, who asked for support for Johnson this Wednesday: “I COULD NEVER AGAINST ONE OF THESE FABULOUS AND VERY TALENTED MEN, who have all supported me, both in spirit and within. “ Spirit, from the beginning of our GREAT VICTORY in 2016. In 2024 we will achieve an even bigger and more important victory! My urgent SUGGESTION is to contact the main candidate Mike Johnson and do it, he wrote on his social network Truth.
In Wednesday’s vote, Republicans particularly applauded the ousted candidates (Scalise, Jordan and Emmer), all of whom supported Johnson.
[Noticia de última hora. Habrá ampliación en breve]
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