The US House of Representatives has elected Republican Mike Johnson as its speaker after a turbulent three weeks that left the rudderless chamber unable to carry out its basic duties.
The 220 to 209 vote on Wednesday elevated third-term congressman Johnson, 51, to a speaker’s chair that has been vacant since Kevin McCarthy was removed on October 3 by a small group of hardline Republicans in response to a deal with Democrats that averted a partial government shutdown.
In the weeks that followed, Republicans who narrowly control the House considered and rejected three possible replacements before settling on Johnson, a Louisiana lawyer backed by former President Donald Trump who spent years advancing conservative policies, such as school prayer.
“I think he’s gonna be a fantastic speaker,” Trump said Wednesday at the New York court where the former president, who is now the Republican frontrunner for president in 2024, is on trial over a lawsuit alleging business fraud.
Trump said he hadn’t heard “one negative comment about him. Everybody likes him.”
First elected in 2016, Johnson will be the least experienced House speaker in decades. A conservative with little leadership experience, he is best known as the author of an unsuccessful appeal by 126 House Republicans after the 2020 presidential election to get the Supreme Court to overturn election results in states that Trump had lost.
Johnson declined to answer a question about that effort shortly after his nomination on Tuesday night.
In a letter to colleagues, Johnson has pledged to advance overdue spending legislation and ensure that the US government does not shut down when current funding expires on November 17.
He will also have to respond to Democratic President Joe Biden’s $106bn spending request for aid to Israel, Ukraine and US border security. While the Republicans broadly support funding for Israel and the US border, they are divided over further support for Ukraine.
While House leaders typically focus on fundraising and vote counting, Johnson is better known as an advocate for conservative social positions.
He has supported legislation that bars gender-related surgery and hormone treatment for transgender teens, prohibits mask mandates on aeroplanes, and tightens immigration and abortion restrictions.