Following weeks of Republican infighting, the House of Representatives elected Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., as House speaker on Wednesday.
In a 220-209 vote, the Republican-controlled chamber elected Johnson as speaker following weeks of intra-party debates on who would replace Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as head of the lower chamber. McCarthy, who experienced a drawn-out fight to win his speakership in January, was ousted earlier this month when eight House Republicans voted with House Democrats to remove him from the speakership.
Johnson received more votes on Wednesday than McCarthy did in January. While Johnson received 220 “yea” votes, McCarthy received 216, with six House Republicans voting “present.” Meanwhile, 209 and 212 House Democrats voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in each vote, respectively.
Other GOP candidates considered for the speakership position over the past several weeks include Reps. Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, and Tom Emmer, among others.
Prominent American restorationists appear to be generally satisfied with Johnson’s speakership. While not as conservative as Jordan, the newly appointed House speaker boasts a better voting record than McCarthy and Scalise.
During a March House hearing, Johnson highlighted how then-Twitter (now X) acted as an “FBI subsidiary” prior to Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform. The Louisiana congressman specifically pointed to coordination between the FBI and Twitter regarding the censorship of “election-related tweets.” As heavily documented, the FBI orchestrated a pressure campaign against social media platforms ahead of the 2020 election to censor reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop, which included details about the Bidens’ influence-peddling scheme.
Johnson has also been vocal in highlighting the Biden family corruption scandal.
On Democrats’ abuse of government power, Johnson routinely criticizes the Department of Justice’s targeting of conservatives, such as the agency’s classification of parents at school board meetings as domestic terrorists. He’s also hammered FBI Director Christopher Wray for dodging House Republicans’ questions on the agency’s destructive behavior.
On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Johnson voted against a roughly $40 billion aid package to Kyiv in May, saying the U.S. “should not be sending another $40 billion abroad when our own border is in chaos, American mothers are struggling to find baby formula, gas prices are at record highs, and American families are struggling to make ends meet, without sufficient oversight over where the money will go.” He’s also called for additional oversight of U.S. aid already sent to Ukraine.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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