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edschweppeI'm not at all sure this qualifies as "moving past chaos", as the Associated Press headline claims. Still, we do have a Speaker of the House of Representatives, three weeks after the House Bombthrower Freedom Caucus deposed Kevin McCarthy:
Representative Johnson is, from what I understand, not just extremely conservative. He's a full-fledged denier that Joeseph Biden won the 2020 Presidential election, as evidenced by his being the author of an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court when the state of Texas claimed that the presidential election was fradulent because ... Pennsylvania gave out too many absentee ballots due to COVID. (The Supremes shot that case down in flames, noting that "Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections.") Johnson is also apparently in favor of a national ban on abortion, along with massive cuts of Social Security, Medicare, and other "entitlements." He also has a ... poor, shall we say? ... record as a fundraiser, which is one of those things the Speaker of the House is expected to do for his party.
So, we've now got a not-yet-well-known Republican backbencher, who presumably will do whatever the Freedom Caucus demands of him. Yay?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans unanimously elected Rep. Mike Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, eagerly elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the major seat of U.S. power and ending for now the weeks of political chaos in their majority.
Johnson, 51, of Louisiana, swept through on the first ballot with support from all Republicans anxious to put the past weeks of tumult behind and get on with the business of governing. He was quickly sworn into office, second in line to the presidency.
"The people’s House is back in business," Johnson declared after taking the gavel.
A lower-ranked member of the House GOP leadership team, Johnson emerged as the fourth Republican nominee in what had become an almost absurd cycle of political infighting since Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as GOP factions jockeyed for power. While not the party’s top choice for the gavel, the deeply religious and even-keeled Johnson has few foes and an important GOP backer: Donald Trump.
[ ... ]
Anxious and exhausted, Republican lawmakers are desperately trying to move on.
Johnson’s rise comes after a tumultuous month, capped by a head-spinning Tuesday that within a span of a few hours saw one candidate, Rep. Tom Emmer, the GOP Whip, nominated and then quickly withdraw when it became clear he would be the third candidate unable to secure enough support from GOP colleagues after Trump bashed his nomination.
"He wasn’t MAGA," said Trump, referring to his Make America Great Again campaign slogan.
Representative Johnson is, from what I understand, not just extremely conservative. He's a full-fledged denier that Joeseph Biden won the 2020 Presidential election, as evidenced by his being the author of an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court when the state of Texas claimed that the presidential election was fradulent because ... Pennsylvania gave out too many absentee ballots due to COVID. (The Supremes shot that case down in flames, noting that "Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections.") Johnson is also apparently in favor of a national ban on abortion, along with massive cuts of Social Security, Medicare, and other "entitlements." He also has a ... poor, shall we say? ... record as a fundraiser, which is one of those things the Speaker of the House is expected to do for his party.
So, we've now got a not-yet-well-known Republican backbencher, who presumably will do whatever the Freedom Caucus demands of him. Yay?