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Well folks, we have a Speaker — 35 Comments

1. Cautiously hopeful, which is not the same as optimistic.
   I would not have been surprised if Jeffries had won.
   Johnson is a relative new comer, so his ability to game the congressional system is unknown.
   Maybe he could study Pelosi on the subject.

   One profile lists Johnson as an ally of Trump. Hopefully he can become an ally of DeSantis.

2. I have no informed opinion on the guy, but I wish him well. It seems to me that being Republican House Speaker is largely a thankless job to begin with even in the best of times, of which these clearly aren’t. No matter what you do, a large number of people within your own party will likely despise you and blame everything that goes wrong on you. You’re either globablist cuck-RINO or a hateful, racist rightwing “MAGA extremist” (lol). That the mainstream media will outright demonize you is par for the course, but Republican voters are so angry these days and demand so much that probably isn’t realistic (until both houses and the presidency is controlled anyway) that it seems like it’s an impossible task from the outside. But it’s really only for a little more than a year.

3. So it seems he’s plenty conservative and probably not vulnerable to another Gaetz alliance with the Democrats to torch him

   What unexpected good news! However he may perform, it could have been far worse.

4. Johnson’s ACU rating is 91% for 2022, was 92% in 2021. He was first elected to the House in 2016. Byron Donalds, for instance, is 94% for 2022, his second year in the House. For comparison, McCarthy and Scalise both came in at about 81%. The lowest ranked Republican was at 24%; the highest ranked Democrat was at 12%.

5. I actually prefer Jim Jordan in his current pit bull position investigating Dem corruption. Johnson will have to do a lot of administrative stuff which would be a waste of Jordan’s talents.

6. To paraphrase Franklin, you have a speaker if you can keep him. Here is some background from a supporter that I posted here yesterday. I donate to ADF and they do great work.

   “The amiable Johnson, representing northwest Louisiana (Shreveport) in the House, was elected in 2016. He’s best known for serving as a senior attorney and spokesman for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). This conservative non-profit group defends religious freedom and has a sterling record of success in the courts. He served on Trump’s defense team during both impeachment trials in the US Senate. Johnson was once touted by the execrable Gaetz for Speaker but declined. Johnson seems well-liked by his colleagues with a hard-working yet calm, intellectual demeanor and the smarts and skill to forge behind-the-scenes coalitions. His election as vice chair of the GOP Conference was unanimous.

7. Johnson’s remarks after winning. Strikes the right tone. Handles the questions from the media well.

   https://youtu.be/pccWz4WsBJw?si=1Nh8KfF6-jbwPVML

8. My Wife was very impressed with his speech. I reserve judgement. But, he represents a younger generation than mine. That is good, new blood. So many in both party leadership are just plain OLD (as I am). Doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t listen to them though. The Oldsters can have good advice, learned the hard way. I wish him well, and American too.

9. Didn’t hold public office f/t until age 45 (good), long history promoting causes considered outre in the professional-managerial class (good), working lawyer (mixed), married (good), four children (good), son of a firefighter (good), business degree from a state school (good). Best wishes, Mr. Johnson.

10. Interesting tidbit from NBC news.

    McCarthy was floating the idea of him being speaker and Jordan assistant speaker. “We’re desperate”, one lawmaker said about the proposal.

    From NBC news:“Two GOP lawmakers described McCarthy as having melted down in conference meetings today because, they said, he is losing his ability to handpick a new speaker. He had two “outbursts” behind closed doors today, the sources say, that were about his objections to quickly moving to a nominating vote for Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the runner-up to Emmer, the lawmakers said.

    “This isn’t how you elect a speaker!” McCarthy said in the room, a lawmaker said.”

    Did McCarthy think he could regain the position? If Johnson can succeed in moving back to regular order, imposing discipline and adhering to the schedule to pass the appropriations bills on time, will be a monumental success.

    McCarthy proved himself unworthy of the position– by caving and passing a Democrat cr. This will have no lasting damage to the conference– if Republicans can show they will stand up and reign in spending. First, though, they have to make the case why $2 trillion deficits and why government consuming 24% of the nation’s GDP isn’t either sustainable or in the country’s best interests.

    We will be spending $1 trillion annually in interest payments on the debt, which will result in a vicious cycle unless adjustments are made. To fund basic programs either higher taxes or higher debt will eventually lead to default.

    I wonder how much the corrosive effect of the rancid Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has permeated the universities? It puts lipstick on the pig of socialism.
    It’s laughably unworkable– yet it seems to be considered a serious theory by some economists.

11. Byron Donalds is a very good speaker and seems to be the real deal. I think he has a very bright future in politics. If DeSantis does somehow get nominated and wins the Presidency I bet he’d give Donalds some position in his administration.

    Jim Jordan also seems like the real deal. Not as inspiring a speaker as Donalds, but he does good work interrogating people in committee hearings.

    Hopefully McCarthy and his supporters will not try to seek any revenge going forward and put the good of the country ahead of any personal anger.

12. Brain E seems to have an animus about McCarthy, even to the point of citing NBC. Is Brain E to be peeved until McCarthy leaves the House?

    Mike Johnson is the speaker now. Is Brain E resentful that he was elected by all the Republicans (220)?

13. Mr. Johnson is already being denounced in The Bought and Paid For The Bulwark.

14. Good, but it would take a lot to make the circus worthwhile.

15. Great that they got a Speaker, great that Speaker seems to be a conservative, seems to have the right enemies at any rate. I’ll be interested to see if he helps the Dems set more of our money on fire and how quickly, largely because a chunk of my income will be demanded to pay for it.

16. The best proof that Speaker Johnson is the right choice, is that the left is melting down over his nomination and calling him an “extremist”.

17. Might wind up eating these words, but: Excellent choice. Unexpectedly positive outcome. And yes, he has the right enemies.

    I saw Johnson speak in interviews during and after the election in 2020-2021. I remember thinking he was a sharp, well-spoken guy–but with the necessary grit–and wondering why he wasn’t better known. Well, now he is.

    Still think we’ll have to look beyond D.C. for solutions, however.

18. “Brain E seems to have an animus about McCarthy…” – um

    I try and ignore you, but you keep mischaracterizing my comments. I suggest rather than attack me as a tool to ignore/justify McCarthy’s actions, just defend why McCarthy proposed a cr that had all the spending the Democrats wanted and exceeded the spending limits in the FRA act just passed in May.

    I didn’t give much thought about McCarthy, one way or the other, until I read the details of the deal he struck– which was a betrayal of any attempt to reduce spending, even marginally reduce spending.

    The fact that 130 Republicans voted for it indicates to me the country is doomed. If we’re unwilling to defend and fight for marginal spending restraint during an off year, what hope is there during an election year.

19. Gaetz is not the bad guy in this drama that he is routinely made out to be. He did us all a favor by getting the RINO turncoat McCarthy out. All the candidates that failed prior to Johnson did so because McCarthy, and his buddies like Scalise, was trying to weasel his way back into the Speaker seat. Welcome to Johnson, best of luck and hope for positive conservative leadership. Good riddance to McCarthy.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/must-see-matt-gaetz-gives-dirty-details-behind/

20. “denounced by the Bulwark”

    Another big plus for Johnson. Maybe just wishful thinking but I have a good feeling about him. The mere fact he could keep the fractious Republicans together is notable.

21. Not knowing anything about Johnson, I did a bit of research… While not dispositive, Johnson accepting major donations from both Big Pharma and the Military / Industrial sector is of concern.
    https://nationalfile.com/gop-speaker-nominee-mike-johnson-owned-by-war-machine/
    https://nationalfile.com/newest-gop-savior-louisianas-mike-johnson-heavily-funded-by-pharma/
    Hopefully the new boss won’t turn out to be the same as the old boss. His stand on spending will reveal his actual core.

22. james sisco (5:17 pm) said, “The best proof that Speaker Johnson is the right choice, is that the left is melting down over his nomination and calling him an ‘extremist’.”

    In fact, I’d be mighty concerned if the left were *not* already firing away with their frantic name-calling stupidities. So far, so good.

23. I’ve seen it said elsewhere that this battle over the position of Speaker, including the 15-round match with Kevin McCarthy’s election, is the representative battle of the modern Populist Republicans against the Establishment Republicans (or GOPe, or RINOs). I don’t disagree with this, I think it’s pretty apropos. And today’s astonishingly-quick unanimous vote, made clear with the discussion by Matt Gaetz on how they got there (Gateway Pundit link), makes perfect sense. Political maneuvering behind closed doors.

    I didn’t like McCarthy’s voting record, or the way he moved – and I was giving him the benefit of the doubt from Day 1. He gave pretty good press conferences and was a smooth talker. It does appear that the Populists have won the day and captured the flag. I have high hopes for the new Speaker, and am looking forward to seeing actual opposition in the House. We shall see.

24. @ Oldflyer > “I would not have been surprised if Jeffries had won.”

    I never believed that was a possibility. The Republicans might put up with in-house fighting over which faction controlled the choice of speaker, but any Rep voting for Jeffries or any other Democrat might as well have made a formal change in party affiliation.
    This is borne out by the decline in McCarthyites to zero once they had to put their names on their votes.

25. @ Kate > “Johnson will have to do a lot of administrative stuff which would be a waste of Jordan’s talents.”

    Agreed.
    Keep people where their strengths are best utilized.
    And get rid of those who have none.

26. @ Rufus > “Hopefully McCarthy and his supporters will not try to seek any revenge going forward and put the good of the country ahead of any personal anger.”

    Sadly, Congress has far more precedents the other way. However, if his faction does go that route, I hope his opponents won’t follow them down that dead-end road, but just work-around or side-line them, which I believe is something the Speaker can control to some extent.

27. My favorite Speaker report:
    https://babylonbee.com/news/mike-johnsons-family-and-friends-stunned-to-learn-hes-a-congressman

28. I think I’m really going to like the new Speaker.
    How come we haven’t heard about him before?
    And why did it take so long to get him into the race?
    Just one example –
    https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-house-speaker-has-history-of-bluntly-confronting-democrats
    “In July, Johnson lacerated DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his agency deciding what is true and false, pointing out that a court had found that DHS made no distinction between domestic speech and foreign speech when attempting to quash discourse.
    “I’m not sure exactly what you do at the Department of Homeland Security other than great harm,” he declared.”

29. Just The News reports on Speaker Johnson’s priorities for the House, summed up in the title: debt, inflation, and borders. “ Johnson might move forward with a temporary funding bill that would expire in January but the funding levels are not yet clear, a GOP congressman revealed.”

    MORE directly from the Speaker:

    “The greatest threat to our national security is our nation’s debt and while we’ve been sitting in this room – that’s right – the debt has crossed almost $33.6 trillion and in time it’s going to take me to deliver this speech, we will go up $20 million in debt. It’s unsustainable,” Johnson said on the House floor to a standing ovation from Republicans and a handful of Democrats seated in the chamber.

    “We have to get the country back on track. We know this isn’t going to be an easy task and tough decisions will have to be made but the consequences if we don’t act now are unbearable. We have a duty to the American people to explain this to them so they understand it well and we’re going to establish a bipartisan debt commission to begin working on this crisis immediately,” he added after formally taking the gavel.

    https://justthenews.com/government/congress/johnson-begins-house-speakership-focus-debt-inflation-and-border-catastrophe

    Debt, inflation, and borders? All sorely neglected by McCarthy and Ryan, and problems overdue for serious, protracted attention.

30. Powerline linked this with approval. It includes info on Johnson that may explain why all the factions finally coalesced to vote for him (does not mention Gaetz’s claim about McCarthy’s gambits).

    https://nypost.com/2023/10/25/opinion/mike-johnson-lucked-into-speaker-job-but-he-has-talent-to-pull-it-off/

    There are famously Five Families warring inside the House Republican tent: the Tea Party-influenced House Freedom Caucus, the conservative Republican Study Committee, business-oriented Chamber of Commerce types, the moderate Republican Governance Group and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.

    So how did Johnson get them temporarily to agree on electing him?

    He belongs to the Freedom Caucus and used to chair the Republican Study Committee, nailing down his right flank.
    His leadership position as House Republican Conference vice chairman meant he had personal relationships with many moderate members, who liked his low-key style and his willingness to listen to them. And he has demonstrated an interest in the details of legislation, impressing other members expert in tax, budget and defense issues.

    It also didn’t escape the notice of MAGA members that he had served on the defense team in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2020.

    New York House Republicans, several of whom blocked Jim Jordan’s speaker bid, all voted for Johnson so we can “get back to work.”

    Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican, told Newsmax that Johnson “works well with all segments of our conference. I never heard a bad word about him.”

    Other members called him a “Happy Warrior” out of the same mold as the late Jack Kemp, who could disagree with someone without being disagreeable.
    Finally, Johnson has formidable communication skills. A constitutional lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom, he has years of experience arguing cases in federal court. He was also a college professor and conservative talk-show host.

    That’s quite a skill stack, to use the words of Scott Adams.

    Johnson embraced the same five commonsense principles to reform the budget process he touted when running for speaker. They are:

    1. Fund the government on time with all single subject appropriations bills passing the House by June 30 — or no recess til it’s done.

    2. Pass real spending cuts, NOT budget gimmicks.

    3. No short term, stop-gap funding of the government.

    4. Enforce a true 72-hour rule allowing members and voters time to review legislation.

    5. Make sure power is decentralized enough that almost all members feel they have a stake in bills passing on the House floor.

    Good luck with that; IIRC McCarthy promised much the same.
    However, Johnson may actually mean it.

    One lesson of politics is that everyone who gets to the top has usually traveled there by one of two roads — one labeled talent and one labeled luck. The secret to success, the late Rep. Edward Pattison of New York told me, is: “Never let anyone know which one of those roads you took to where you are now.”

    The truth is, of course, most successful politicians combine real talent with great luck. Speaker Mike Johnson is no exception. Fewer than nine years ago, he was a mere lawyer in Shreveport, La., when his local state legislator resigned to become a judge.

    Johnson filed for the seat, and to his astonishment, he drew no opponents and was automatically elected.

    When his local congressman gave up his seat in 2016, Johnson was perfectly positioned to run and wound up beating a Democrat with 65% of the vote, four points higher than Donald Trump’s showing. He shrewdly stayed out of the speaker battle until his low-key, Happy Warrior approach was exactly what desperate members were looking for.

    Mike Johnson, at 51 the youngest House speaker save for Paul Ryan in 150 years, has demonstrated both talent and luck are on his side.

    Luck favors the prepared.

31. I’m not claiming that Johnson is the equivalent of Lincoln, but this parallel struck me immediately.
    https://americanhistory.si.edu/lincoln/candidate-lincoln

    As this print illustrated, Abraham Lincoln was just one candidate among many. Lincoln had been active in Illinois politics for much of his life. He had served many years in the state legislature and one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the 1850s he helped establish the Republican Party. He gained national attention for his well-publicized debates with Stephen Douglas in the 1858 Illinois senate campaign and for his 1860 speech at New York City’s Cooper Union.

    Senator William H. Seward of New York was the front-runner among Republicans, but his supporters could not put together a majority of delegates. On the third ballot, Lincoln emerged as the convention’s compromise candidate.

32. Haven’t been following this. Turned off a lot of news since the October 7th murders.

    Spent a lot of time watching Man With a Plan, starring Matt LeBlanc. Get it? Does the GOP get it?

33. Added (built-in) advantage: His first name isn’t Andrew.

34. AesopFan – I had the same thoughts as you have. People standing up and filling leadership vacuums is a persistent theme in the American Pageant. With Lincoln still the best remembered such example.

    Harry Truman could fit this mold. As does Reagan and many military leaders from Andrew Jackson to today.

35. Fast forward a few days, and Speaker Johnson is looking very good indeed.

    Dispute over Israel, Ukraine Aid Puts Speaker Johnson at Odds with Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell

    The perfect two to be at odds with.

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