After 22 days of stalemate, the House of Representatives elected Mike Johnson as speaker. Johnson has been serving his fourth term since 2017, representing Louisiana’s 4th congressional district. He has made history as the first speaker from Louisiana and the first from the South since Newt Gingrich in the 1990s. Previously unknown by a majority of Americans and other congressmen, the new speaker has already begun making an impression after winning by secret ballot.
Mike Johnson’s positions are notably conservative, particularly when it comes to contentious issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ+ rights. His past affiliation as a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that opposes privacy rights, abortion, and contraception, has made headlines recently. The ADF is credited with legal arguments in the case of 303 Creative v Elenis, which resulted in a Supreme Court ruling that allowed a wedding website designer to decline service to same-sex couples. In 2020, Johnson led a Texas lawsuit against President Biden’s win in four battle ground states; Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Though the lawsuit never gained any momentum, it gained Johnson President Trump’s attention.
Speaker Johnson’s first full week featured a bill providing $14.3 billion in aid to Israel after Ukraine and Israel requested aid; However, President Biden vowed to veto the bill should it reach his desk. Prior to assuming the role of Speaker, Johnson had voted against Ukraine aid packages alongside his conservative House colleagues. However, in a meeting with senators, Johnson reassured them of his ability to provide aid to Ukraine, specifically highlighting a pairing of aid and border security policies.
In addition to foreign aid, Johnson must avoid a government shutdown. This week, the House approved two appropriations bills that provide funding to the legislative branch, the Department of the Interior, the Department of the Environment, and other necessary agencies. Both bills were overwhelmingly approved across party lines, paving the way for a spending battle with the Democratic-led Senate before the deadline of November 17.
Two weeks before federal funding expires, the House has passed seven appropriations bills overall, surpassing the halfway point toward passing all 12 of its annual spending legislation. The House has yet to announce a plan for preventing a government shutdown, despite Johnson’s announcement that he intends to move forward with some sort of temporary funding bill to give legislators more time for discussions with the Senate on its appropriations bills. Johnson has stated that he would prefer a quick fix that would last until mid-January, but it is unknown what that plan would look like.
