Four Thoughts on New House Speaker Mike Johnson

Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson was tabbed to be the new Speaker of the House of Representatives. Johnson succeeds Kevin McCarthy who was unceremoniously booted from the position three weeks ago. 

The House Republican Conference had nominated three others to succeed McCarthy before settling upon Johnson - House Majority Leader and fellow Louisianan Steve Scalise, Ohio's Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer of Minnesota. The MAGA extremists liked neither Scalise nor Emmer while Republican moderates thought Jordan was a bridge too far. Johnson is essentially Jim Jordan without all the gym baggage. 

Here are four thoughts I have concerning Jordan's ascendancy.

First, if President Biden is re-elected next year and if Johnson is still House Speaker then Biden's re-election will not be certified. Johnson is an election denier who played a critical role in trying to get Biden's victory in 2020 nullified.

Second, we can expect a government shutdown. Let's keep in mind that McCarthy was ousted after Democrats helped him pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open for 45 days. If Johnson makes a deal with Democrats next month, then he will be gone faster than you can say Anthony Scaramucci. Republicans want to shut down the government to cause a recession and to say that government doesn't work unless you elect Donald Trump.

Third, Johnson's first act in the Speaker's Chair was passing a resolution in support of Israel following the attacks by Hamas earlier this month. The resolution passed by a wide margin 412-10-6. Somehow, I suspect President Biden's proposal for $106 billion military aid to Israel and Ukraine won't be passed by such a wide margin, if at all, despite his call upon Speaker Johnson to see to it that it gets passed swiftly. While a majority of Republicans are sympathetic to Israel's plight, too many Republicans are Russia apologists in which case the bill could be dead on arrival.

Which brings me to my fourth point. I have a feeling that Johnson will move quickly on Marjorie Taylor Greene's resolution to censure Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib for her anti-Semitic comments and lying about Israel bombing a hospital in Gaza. At least one Democrat, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, has indicated he would support such a resolution. However, I think most Democrats will not be eager to censure Tlaib which is precisely why Johnson would want to push this forward so as to force Democrats to side with Tlaib so Republicans can say, "Democrats tolerate anti-Semitism amongst their ranks." While I believe Tlaib deserves to be censured, I also think military aid to Israel is more important. Censuring Tlaib could also have the effect of increasing her standing as it did with Greene when Democrats censured her in 2021.

I'm sure Johnson has other things up his sleeve such as a national abortion ban, a resolution against gay marriage and resuming impeachment proceedings against President Biden. I can only hope his tenure as Speaker and, for that matter, Republican control of the House is short-lived.