For the second time in one day, House Republicans have named a speaker-designate.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) is the latest Republican to be nominated for House speaker in an increasingly tumultuous race that has seen the previous pick drop out just four hours after reaching agreement.
The 51-year-old dismissed Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) on the third ballot of the closed conference vote on Tuesday night, with 128 members pledging their support for the Republican House conference vice chairman.
Representative Mike Johnson is surrounded by fellow members as he speaks to reporters after securing the nomination for Speaker of the House from the Republican conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 24. 2023. Reuters
The Louisiana Republican, who serves on the House Judiciary and Armed Services committee, received 85 votes on the first ballot and 97 votes on the second ballot, according to reports.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reportedly received 43 votes for “other” during the third round of voting and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who dropped out of the race last week, received one vote.
Ahead of Tuesday night’s vote, Johnson was competing with the Donalds, Reps. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Roger Williams (R-Texas) and Kevin Hern (R-Okla.).
Representative Mike Johnson speaks after being nominated as the Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC on Oct. 24. 2023. AFP via Getty Images Members of the media wait outside a House conference meeting in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Oct. 24. 2023 in Washington, DC. Getty Images
Fleischmann was eliminated on the first ballot, and Williams was defeated on the second ballot, where Green dropped out of the race. Johnson topped Donalds on the third ballot by a vote of 128-29.
Hern had dropped out shortly before the caucus vote.
The Oklahoma Republican, rated one of the most pro-government lawmakers in Congress by the conservative nonprofit Institute for Legislative Analysis, briefly rejoined the race after dropping out early Tuesday to support Johnson in the race against House Majority Whip Tom Emmer ( R- Minn.)
Although he ultimately lost to Emmer, Johnson won the support of 97 members after four rounds of early voting, beating Austin Scott of Georgia, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Pete Sessions of Texas, Hern and Donalds.
House Republicans have gone three weeks without a leader since McCarthy was ousted on Oct. 3 by eight of their own members, plunging the caucus into chaos.
Johnson is the fourth Republican congressman to be nominated for speaker.
Emmer’s nomination earlier Tuesday sparked sharp opposition from dozens of arrests and criticism from former President Donald Trump.
The 62-year-old Minnesota Republican withdrew his candidacy just four hours after ousting Johnson on the fifth ballot of a closed conference vote, with 117 members pledging their support for the second-tier House Republican.
Twenty-six people holding “Never Emmer” appeared on the next roll call vote to oppose acceleration in a vote to measure support on the House floor.
“I will vote conservative,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who was one of the holdouts, told reporters after leaving the GOP meeting. “Tom Emmer is not a conservative.”
Banks further accused the “left wing of our conference” of “holding our conference hostage” for their support of Emmer and “pushing Republicans to betray our voters and abandon our promises to the American people.”
Former President Donald Trump chimed in, blasting Emmer as a “Global RINO” and claiming that choosing him as speaker “would be a tragic mistake!”
Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) received a nomination vote for House speaker on Oct. 11, but never went up for a floor vote.
Jordan won the support of a majority of conference Republicans before failing in three consecutive rounds of voting on the House floor last week, with at least 20 GOP members casting votes against the Judiciary Committee chairman on each vote.
Emmer, Jordan and Scalise need at least 217 votes to win the gavel, giving each a narrow margin of error, four votes.
“It’s amazing to me that we’re in a position where you have some people who think that the candidate for speaker has to agree with them on every major issue and most of the minor issues today,” Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) said Tuesday.
“It will be difficult to get anyone elected.”
The House needs a permanent speaker to move any legislation, including President Biden’s urgent funding request for billions of dollars in aid for Israel and Ukraine.
The lower house also faces a November 17 deadline to fund the government to keep it open.
Johnson spoke to reporters after his victory, flanked by dozens of his GOP colleagues, including House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Scalise.
“Democracy is messy sometimes, but it’s our system. This conference you see, the majority of this Republican House, united,” he said.
“You’re going to see a new form of government and we’re going to move this quickly,” Johnson added, noting that he expected a vote by the full House on his nomination Wednesday at noon.
If elected, Johnson would be the first speaker of the House from the Bayou State in US history.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
