Republicans have at long last elected a House speaker: Representative Mike Johnson, a fundamentalist Christian who was also once called a key ā€œarchitectā€ in Congressā€™s efforts to overthrow the 2020 election.

Johnson finally secured the speakerā€™s gavel after Republican infighting left the House without a speaker for 22 days. He secured 220 votes.

Johnson is a four-term congressman representing Louisiana. His win also represents the rise of the MAGA front in the Republican Party. Earlier Wednesday morning, Donald Trump endorsed Johnson as House speakerā€”after quickly killing Mike Emmerā€™s nomination the day before.

  • Countess425@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Iā€™m betting on this guy not lasting until November 2024 (not sure what the over/under is on November 17, 2023).

    • orclev@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      How do you think heā€™ll get removed? It took them this long to agree on someone to elect, it seems unlikely enough of them would agree to remove him. They could maybe get the Democrats along with a small subset of Republicans to vote him out like the last time, but Iā€™m not sure the Democrats would be up for that. Maybe if they wait until right before the election, but I canā€™t imagine the GOP being dumb enough to oust the speaker right before elections happen (although that does raise the question of who certifies the election if thereā€™s no speaker. Iā€™m assuming the speaker pro tem?).

        • candybrie@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          They can oust any and every speaker at will, keeping Congress at a standstill and the government in chaos as long as they can get a simple GOP majority vote.

          They donā€™t need a GOP majority vote. They need a house majority vote. And unless dems have some compelling reason to keep the republican speaker (unlikely), it only takes a handful from the GOP to oust the speaker. I think McCarthy only lost 8 republican votes.