After three weeks without a speaker, the House voted Wednesday afternoon to elect Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Johnson secured the gavel without losing any GOP votes with a final tally of 220 votes for Johnson and 209 for House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York). The little-known congressman was first elected in 2016, representing a solidly Republican part of north and western Louisiana. In his short seven years in the House, he has moved through the ranks, chairing the conservative Republican Study Committee and holding the position of House Republican Conference vice chair. He sits on the Judiciary Committee (and chairs a subcommittee on the Constitution), the Armed Services Committee and the newly created select committee on “Weaponization of the Federal Government.” Johnson is a constitutional lawyer who has crafted creative — and controversial — theories. The most notable is his role in devising an argument aimed at keeping Donald Trump in power even though he lost the 2020 election. Johnson’s voting record has earned him a lifetime rating of 92% from the American Conservative Union and 90% from Heritage Action. In President Joe Biden’s first two years, Johnson voted against a slew of bipartisan bills — including one to establish the January 6th independent commission, the infrastructure law, reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a modest new gun law and the CHIPS and Science Act. He voted against the stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown on October 1st.
For today, the House met at 10:00 A.M. and is continuing working through 18 amendments on H.R. 4394 – Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024. GOP leadership announced that after today, the chamber will recess until next Wednesday, November 1st.
The Senate also convened today at 10:00 A.M. to consider Minibus Appropriations (H.R. 4366), legislation to remove U.S. Armed Forces from Niger (S.J. Res. 44), and a joint resolution to nullify policy updates issued by the Food and Nutrition Service related to discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation (S.J. Res. 42).
