The American House of Representatives has finally found its speaker: Conservative Mike Johnson was elected president on Wednesday, October 25th, after weeks of chaos and fratricidal arguments. A fierce ally of Donald Trump – he supported legal attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election – Mr Johnson won an internal Republican vote on Tuesday night. On Wednesday he received 220 votes in the poll.
His election was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation by members of his majority party in the House of Representatives, the Republican Party, who were visibly relieved to see the end of the tunnel. “Friend of all, enemy of none” – in the words of Republican Elise Stefanik, who introduced him to the chamber, he will immediately have to tackle difficult tasks. Mr Johnson is the least experienced speaker in more than a century and has never chaired a committee.
He needs to hold talks to avoid a government shutdown, not just with experienced negotiators like Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, but also with members of his own party. He will also have to navigate the different positions of his Republican colleagues, who have shown deep disagreements for weeks, particularly over President Joe Biden’s funding requests for Ukraine and Israel.
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“Sign of the rise of power” of Trumpism?
The election of this Louisiana Republican ends a three-week impasse that paralyzed Congress and prevented the institution from resuming negotiations to prevent a federal government shutdown and respond to President Joe Biden’s request for aid to Ukraine and Israel . Mike Johnson became the fourth Republican chosen by his party in twenty-one days to replace Kevin McCarthy, who was impeached in a historic vote.
Mr. Johnson was notably supported by House Republican majority leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, both of whom failed to be elected to office. He could also count on the support of Matt Gaetz, the ardent Trumpist and instigator of Kevin McCarthy’s downfall. Mike Johnson is “an honorable man” who will “do great things for the country,” he said before the vote, assuring that the trend toward Mr. Trump is gaining momentum.
“If you think that Kevin McCarthy’s move to Trumpist Mike Johnson isn’t a sign of the rise of this movement and the real position of power within the Republican Party, then you haven’t been following what’s happening.”, he said. A trend that has not gone unnoticed by the Democrats. “Who can appease Donald Trump, that’s what it’s all about,” elected official Pete Aguilar said, referring to unrest within the rival party.
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Mike Johnson entered the House of Representatives in 2017 after causing controversy with legislation that was seen as hostile to LGBT+ people in Louisiana. The father of four also voted against codifying federal protections for same-sex marriage last year. He was also the leader of more than a hundred Republicans who signed a legal memo supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election in four states won by President Joe Biden. ABC News asked him Tuesday night about the appeal, which the Supreme Court declined to rule on, but he simply responded with “next question” while his colleagues booed the journalist.