After the “Red Wave” of 2022 disappointingly manifested into the “Red Trickle” for the Republicans, their control over Congress has been unstable, to say the least. Democrats gained one seat in the Senate, and Republicans crawled to a House majority with a four-seat margin after the midterms. The person who will be Speaker of the House has been a widely debated topic for Republicans, as one would need to please such a contradicting set of values to please all of the voters, a near impossible task.
After 15 rounds of voting, the most since the Civil War - signifying the incoherency of the current party - Kevin McCarthy was finally elected as Speaker. But in less than nine months, he was removed from the Speaker position leaving the seat empty for three weeks. A short while later, Republican Rep. Mike Johnson, a more right-wing, Trump-aligned Republican was elected as the Speaker of the House.
Mike Johnson after being elected as Speaker
In terms of Congressional experience, Rep. Mike Johnson has only been serving as a House representative for seven years, a lot shorter than McCarthy’s 16 years served before becoming Speaker or Pelosi’s 20 years in Congress before becoming Speaker. This may hurt Republicans in Congress as many members said that they knew very little about Johnson, with some Republican Senators saying that they never even met him. With fewer connections in Congress, it is usually harder to get the votes needed to pass vital legislation.
However, in contrast to McCarthy, Johnson was able to create the much-needed Republican unity within the House by providing a voice for everyone's concerns. Being able to secure all Republican votes in the Speaker election, Johnson stated that he’s going for an “aggressive schedule” to swiftly pass legislation while the Republican unity still lasts. In the first vote under John’s leadership, a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel was passed with a tally of 412 to 10.
Congress passing the resolution supporting Israel
Concerningly though, as a more right-wing Republican, Mike Johnson’s first few years in politics had him as an opponent of both abortion and legal equality for LGBTQIA+ people, which aligned with the views of Donald Trump and endeared Johnson. Johnson also emailed House Republicans in an effort to obtain signatures for a Texan lawsuit, which looked to invalidate electoral college votes from the 2020 election. Johnson also agrees with Trump on the issue of illegal immigration, stating that the immigration crisis “is the true existential threat to the country”. This has raised concern for the long term stability for the longevity of the party.
With all of that in mind, it is hard to guess how the Republican House will go under this new leadership. With a looming government shutdown still on the horizon and the 2024 presidential election not that far away, it is vital for Trump or any other Republican presidential nominee that unity lasts between the moderate and right-wing members of the party. While Johnson has provided an authoritative voice for the party, his personal ideologies could jeopardise stability.