US House approves $61bn in military aid for Ukraine after months of stalling House of Representatives

speaker of the house of representatives

The speaker may also designate, with approval of the House, a speaker pro tempore for special purposes, such as designating a representative whose district is near Washington, D.C. In 1997, several Republican congressional leaders tried to force Speaker Newt Gingrich to resign. However, Gingrich refused since that would have required a new election for speaker, which could have led to Democrats along with dissenting Republicans voting for Democrat Dick Gephardt (then minority leader) as speaker. After the 1998 midterm elections where the Republicans lost seats, Gingrich did not stand for re-election. The next two figures in the House Republican leadership hierarchy, Majority Leader Richard Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay chose not to run for the office. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Bob Livingston, declared his bid for the speakership, which was unopposed, making him speaker-designate.

December 1876

Shortly after 1 p.m., the House began voting for speaker, with Johnson as the Republican nominee and Jeffries as the Democratic nominee. He was the first candidate since McCarthy's ouster to face no opposition from his own party. The comment was a reference to Johnson's work to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Democratic leader then took his place at the dais and delivered a speech cheering the work of House Democrats so far this Congress, while decrying the dysfunction that gripped the House over the last three weeks.

Checks and Balances in Congress

The allocation of seats is based on the population within the states, and membership is reapportioned every 10 years, following the decennial census. House members are elected for two-year terms from single-member districts of approximately equal population. Today, the role of the speaker is influenced especially by changes instituted by Speaker Newt Gingrich, who took the gavel after the 1994 elections.

House voting now to pass resolution in support of Israel in war against Hamas

speaker of the house of representatives

Mr. Johnson came to Congress in 2017 with support from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, though he has never joined the group. Over a year later, on “Truth Be Told,” the Christian podcast he hosts with his wife, Kelly, Mr. Johnson continued to argue that he and his colleagues had been right to object to the election results. Elected to Congress in 2016, Mr. Johnson is the most junior lawmaker in decades to become speaker. Evoking his evangelical Christian faith, Mr. Johnson repeatedly referred to scripture in his speech from the House floor. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Federal government of the United States. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Elections Division

The Speaker has always been a member of the majority party (the party with the most members) but does not have to be an elected member of the House (this has not happened yet). The job of the Speaker is to keep the House in order and to assign committee memberships and chairmanships. The longest-serving and perhaps most influential Speaker in history was Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn, who served as Speaker from 1940 to 1947, 1949 to 1953, and 1955 to 1961. Working closely with House committees and members from both parties, Speaker Rayburn ensured the passage of several controversial domestic policies and foreign aid bills backed by Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Typically, both the Democrats and the Republicans nominate their own candidates for Speaker. Roll call votes to select the Speaker are held repeatedly until one candidate receives a majority of all votes cast.

Johnson won the speaker's gavel in a single round of voting, with the support of all Republicans in attendance. Before the vote in the House, Johnson said he had not spoken to the president, but said he assumed he would soon. Asked if he was worried Johnson might attempt to overturn the results of the 2024 election, Mr. Biden said he wasn't.

House speaker chaos: What is going on? Will it affect you? - CNN

House speaker chaos: What is going on? Will it affect you?.

Posted: Thu, 05 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

It marked a victory for the far right that has become a dominant force in the Republican Party, which rose up this month to effectively dictate the removal of an establishment speaker and the installation of an arch-conservative replacement. In the 2006 midterm elections, the Democratic Party regained control of the House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Albert's successor, Democrat Tip O'Neill, was a prominent speaker because of his public opposition to the policies of President Ronald Reagan. Republicans made O'Neill the target of their election campaigns in 1980 and 1982 but Democrats managed to retain their majorities in both years. California has two senators in the United States Senate and 52 representatives in the United States House of Representatives.

Mike Johnson elected House speaker with unanimous GOP support, ending weeks of chaos

Still, in a separate vote afterward, only a few Republicans indicated they would not back Mr. Johnson on the floor, while about 20 Republicans were absent. A social conservative, Mr. Johnson is a lawyer and the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee. The Republicans came out of the 2000 elections with a further reduced majority but made small gains in 2002 and 2004.

Mike Johnson met with boos amid Columbia visit over student protests - The Washington Post

Mike Johnson met with boos amid Columbia visit over student protests.

Posted: Wed, 24 Apr 2024 19:32:00 GMT [source]

January 1949

“This affirms the path that we took,” Representative Bob Good of Virginia, one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tells reporters. “We went through a lot to get here, but we are ready to govern and that will begin right away,” Johnson says in his first news conference as speaker. Johnson said Republicans would "dispense with all of the usual ceremonies and celebrations” and get to work. “You’re going to see an aggressive schedule in the days and weeks ahead,” he said. Mr. Johnson immediately faces a host of challenges that dogged his predecessor, Mr. McCarthy. He is confronting a mid-November deadline to pass a measure to fund the government to avert a shutdown. And he will need to lead a conference deeply divided over foreign policy as Congress considers the Biden administration’s $105 billion funding request for Israel, Ukraine and the southern border.

speaker of the house of representatives

As Johnson made his way from his House office to the floor, he told CBS News that he "feels very good" about the vote and believes he can secure the necessary 217 votes on the first round. "Today is the day that House Republicans will humbly look in our hearts and elect Mike Johnson as speaker of the People's House," she said. He accused GOP lawmakers of working to find a candidate for speaker who can pass their "extreme litmus test" opposing marriage equality, cutting Social Security and Medicare, and enacting nationwide restrictions on abortion. In a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House, President Biden welcomed news of Johnson's election.

In his letter to colleagues, Johnson set out an aggressive time table for passing the bills, but the issue will be finding a way to pass the legislation in just a narrow GOP majority. Emmer voted to certify the 2020 election results after Jan. 6, 2021, but signed onto an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn the presidential election results. As House Republicans gathered earlier in the week to select their third nominee for speaker, Trump vowed to remain on the sidelines of the race. But hours after Emmer won the nod in a closed-door vote by the conference Tuesday morning, the former president lambasted the Minnesota Republican, writing on Truth Social that "voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake." Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise on each of the three ballots during House voting last week, said he plans to back Johnson when the lower chamber convenes to elect a new speaker. Speaking after the vote, Johnson vowed to hit the ground running and get the House back to work.

Finally, it was agreed to exclude both delegations from the election and a speaker was finally chosen on December 17. John Boehner was elected speaker when the 112th Congress convened on January 5, 2011, and was subsequently re-elected twice, at the start of the 113th and 114th Congresses. Rayburn's successor, Democrat John W. McCormack (served 1962–1971), was a somewhat less influential speaker, particularly because of dissent from younger members of the Democratic Party. During the mid-1970s, the power of the speakership once again grew under Democrat Carl Albert.

In Congress, Mr. Johnson has voted for a national abortion ban and co-sponsored a 20-week abortion ban, earning him an A-plus rating from the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. After the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in June last year, he celebrated. But even more than his election denialism, Mr. Johnson’s political career has been defined by his religious views. “Experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic,” he wrote in one such article in 2004.

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