House Republicans Elect Mike Johnson As Speaker After Weeks of Disarray

House Republicans unanimously voted to elect Rep. Mike Johnson as speaker on Wednesday in a stunning turnaround that came more than three weeks into a standoff that descended the chamber into a crisis of its own creation.

In a 220-209 vote, the Louisiana Republican clinched the gavel, bringing an end to the latest chapter of chaos in the GOP conference and returning the chamber to functionality.

The moment finally arrived after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s gavel was revoked, after Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s bid was denied, after Rep. Jim Jordan’s three speaker ballots came up short and after Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s nomination flamed out. The chamber’s fifth choice sailed to victory on Wednesday – whether by merit or by exhaustion.

Johnson, an unlikely candidate for speaker just weeks ago, was elected in 2016 and serves as the vice chairman of the House GOP conference. He made a pitch over the weekend as a “consensus candidate” for speaker. And although he came in second to Emmer for the nomination on Tuesday morning, by day’s end he had the support of a majority of the conference, becoming the new nominee.

Throughout the day on Tuesday, energy seemed to build around a Johnson speakership, as some lawmakers heralded Johnson as the only person who could get the number of votes needed to win the gavel in a chamber-wide vote after weeks of decrying that no one could reach the threshold. And by the evening, lawmakers spoke of a Johnson speakership as if it were all-but guaranteed.

“This House Republican majority is united,” Johnson touted Tuesday night after becoming the nominee for speaker, flanked by a conference of smiling, tired faces.

Indeed, Johnson wasn’t the conference’s top choice – and likely wouldn’t have prevailed earlier this month. But run down by weeks of infighting and lengthy closed-door meetings with hardly anything to show for it, the conference united behind their seemingly non-controversial candidate.

Johnson’s strength in the speaker race may come from his low profile, after three of his higher-profile colleagues were pushed out of the speaker’s race for personal grievances, among other issues, in recent days. The four-term lawmaker, who has largely focused on the more quiet side of legislating, simply doesn’t appear to have a lot of enemies.

Still, he’s by no means middle of the road. Though he’s not an outspoken conservative flamethrower like Jordan, who fell short last week across three ballots, a Johnson speakership would mark a dramatic shift toward the conference’s right flank.

Johnson, 51, previously served as the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee and as a member of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team. He also had a hand in the effort to challenge the 2020 election result, organizing an amicus brief in support of the state-led request for Supreme Court intervention in swing state vote counting.

In reality, Johnson is likely exactly what McCarthy’s detractors – who pummeled him over the course of his nine months speakership and eventually facilitated his ouster – were looking for. He’s a staunch conservative who is unlikely to cede anything at all to Democrats.

Democratic Conference Chairman Pete Aguilar blasted House Republicans ahead of the vote Wednesday, saying the speaker race has come down to “who can appease Donald Trump.”

The former president seemed to play a key role in Emmer’s demise on Tuesday when he suggested in a social media post that voting for Emmer “would be a tragic mistake.” But he didn’t officially endorse Johnson for the speakership, though he suggested that House Republicans should “go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson,” and “get it done.” Trump’s backing alone hasn’t proved to be enough to propel a candidate to victory, as Jordan failed to secure the gavel last week, with opposition from a group largely made up of moderates.

Still, the moderate Republicans so often known for bowing under pressure that surprised onlookers by standing up against Jordan seemed to welcome Johnson with open arms.

House Republicans sprung to their feet as House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik nominated Johnson for the speakership ahead of the vote on Wednesday, delivering a standing ovation as chants of “Mike” rang out.

“Today is the day that House Republicans will humbly look in our hearts and elect Mike Johnson as speaker of the people’s House,” Stefanik said. “A friend to all and an enemy to none, Mike is strong, tough and fair and – above all – Mike is kind.”

Johnson becomes the most inexperienced speaker in recent memory. He’s never served in a senior leadership role and, though he has few enemies, he also doesn’t have relationships with leaders in the Senate or with President Joe Biden. He’ll face massive fundraising expectations,– an area on which he hasn’t previously had to focus.

Add to that a slew of major issues that the House will need to address in the weeks ahead, and gaining the gavel may not seem like much of a win. After weeks of stalemate, the House will be expected to address support for Israel and a supplemental funding package from the White House that would provide aid for the country, along with Ukraine and funding for border security as well as humanitarian assistance in Gaza. And a government funding fight that got House Republicans into the speaker mess is slated to again rear its head with a Nov. 17 deadline to pass spending bills or kick the can down the road.

Johnson outlined an ambitious schedule in a letter to colleagues even before he secured the speakership to address the spending deadline, eyeing votes on the remaining appropriations bills in the weeks ahead.

“This is an ambitious schedule, but if our Speaker can work across the Conference to unify our membership and build consensus, we can achieve our necessary objectives,” Johnson wrote.