On Tuesday, after two days of behind-doors wrangling, the Republican House Representatives finally managed to alight on a pick for Speaker able to unite their fractured conference. I wrote in this blog about the full array of nine candidates who threw their collective hats into the ring at the end of last week. And this blog examines Jim Jordan's doomed run at the job. So now, following the vote on the floor of the House which he won 220-209, let's take a look at the new Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson.
Mike Johnson has also been in the House since 2017, representing Louisiana District 4. He is the vice-chair of the House Republican Conference and from 2019 to 2021, he chaired the conservative Republican Study Committee. He serves on the Combat Mexican Drug Cartels Task Force, the House Armed Services Committee and two of its subcommittees - Readiness and Seapower and Projection Forces. He is also on the the House Judiciary Committee and three of its subcommittees; he is the chair of the Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee and serves on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust Subcommittee and the Select Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee.
An analysis of BillTrack50 voting data shows that He has sponsored a mere 676 bills since 2017 and was main sponsor on 53 of those. Three of those have passed, which are: Save the Liberty Theatre Act of 2021, the Red River National Wildlife Refuge Boundary Modification Act in 2022 and a post office naming bill in 2019. While this seems a modest accomplishment, in these times of legislative logjam there are many legislators without an enacted bill to their name.
Johnson served in former president Trump's legal defense team during his two impeachment trials in the Senate and also contested the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Our data shows that there is only one occasion during his time in office where he has voted against the party consensus (which we've defined as voting differently on votes where 160 Republicans or more agreed and that then went on to pass) - he voted against the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 back in December 2022. This huge $1.7 trillion omnibus Act passed with broad bipartisan support and was designed to keep the government funded through September 2023. It was opposed in the House by only 10 representatives, all Republican, including Johnson. The other nine were: Jodey Arrington, Andy Biggs, Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Harris, Clay Higgins, Thomas Massie, and Chip Roy.
As the provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act came to an end in September, Congress scrambled to pass a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown, effectively kicking the can down the road to allow time for both chambers to agree on and pass the 12 main appropriations bills that will fund the government into the future. You'll recall that the then House Speaker Kevin McCarthy only managed to pass the bill with Democrat support as there were a number of Republican dissenters to the bill. And yes, you guessed it, Johnson opposed that bill too. Working with the Democrats to agree the bill did, of course, lead to McCarty's ousting.
Next Steps
The main task ahead of the new Speaker will be passing the appropriations bills to avoid a shutdown when the continuing resolution runs out on November 17 - a little over three weeks from now. The House has already wasted three weeks trying to choose another Speaker and so faces an uphill task agreeing all 12 bills, or another continuing resolution to extend the deadline. Given Johnson's opposition to previous appropriations bills, will he be the person to bring the Republicans together in record quick time to avert a shutdown? And can he do it without reaching across the aisle?
With thanks to the Washington Post for this great article summarising the contest which served as source material.
Photo courtesy of congress.gov
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