Republican Johnson re-elected Speaker of US House

by IANS |

Washington, Jan 4 (IANS) Mike Johnson, a lawmaker from Louisiana, was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives. The Republican party closed ranks to avert a repeat of the days-long leadership crisis that had led to his elevation to the chair in 2023.

Johnson won 218-215, with two of the nine holdouts finally dropping their opposition.

“After four years of high inflation, we have a big agenda. We have a lot to do,” Johnson said in a victory speech. “And we can do it in a bipartisan fashion. We can fight high inflation, and we must. We’ll give relief to Americans and will extend the Trump tax cuts. We’re going to protect our industries from one-sided trade deals, and we’re going to bring overseas investments back to America’s shores.”

The 113th Congress took oath Friday, with Republicans in charge of both chambers — Johnson will lead them in the House and John Thune in the US Senate. Once President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office on January 20, Republicans will be all three — the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

President-elect Trump, who had endorsed Johnson earlier in the week and reportedly weighed in during the Friday vote to hear the holdouts to back the speaker, said, “Mike will be a Great Speaker, and our Country will be the beneficiary. The People of America have waited four years for Common Sense, Strength, and Leadership. They’ll get it now, and America will be greater than ever before.”

The speaker was nominated for re-election unanimously last November by his Republican colleagues. But a handful of them had turned against him over a bipartisan deal he had worked with Democrats to keep the federal government funded until mid-March, which had imperiled his re-election.

Johnson’s position grew more perilous after Elon Musk, the billionaire who has emerged as a key adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, had out in opposition. Several influential voices in the MAGA world — it’s called so because of its diehard believers in Trump’s promise to Make America Great Again — such as Steve Bannon had also called for him to be voted out.

Johnson is safe for now but will draw little comfort from the history of the ouster of his Republican predecessors by fellow Republicans — John Boehner, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy.

All three were brought down in internal revolts. For Republicans, the speakership comes with a cloak with a target painted on the back. No wonder, therefore, there were no challengers to Johnson this time, even when he looked vulnerable.