Heres what the speaker of the House actually does PBS NewsHour

Table Of Content

• Johnson says he's never voted against Ukraine aid. That's not what his record says.
• How to Watch CNN’s ‘Call Me Country: Beyoncé and Nashville’s Renaissance’ Documentary Online
• House passes resolution in support of Israel in war against Hamas
• Rep. Don Bacon confident there will be a speaker tomorrow night
• Swing-district Republican attacks Democrats who heckled him over his support for Johnson
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler Says the ‘Sopranos’ Set Physician Told Her Not to Disclose MS Diagnosis
• Must-Visit Los Angeles Design Shops

They enlarged the party leadership structure, creating wider networks of loyalty among members of the majority party while strengthening support for their priorities. The Republicans came out of the 2000 elections with a further reduced majority but made small gains in 2002 and 2004. One of the most influential speakers in history was Democrat Sam Rayburn.[48] Rayburn had the most cumulative time as speaker in history, holding office from 1940 to 1947, 1949 to 1953, and 1955 to 1961. He helped shape many bills, working quietly in the background with House committees. He also helped ensure the passage of several domestic measures and foreign assistance programs advocated by Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

Johnson says he's never voted against Ukraine aid. That's not what his record says.

Mike Johnson could be among shortest-tenured House speakers if ousted - Axios

Mike Johnson could be among shortest-tenured House speakers if ousted.

Posted: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

“We are unified and so proud to have elected Mike Johnson as speaker of the People’s House,” Elise Stefanik says to kick off a news conference on the Capitol steps. “From an outside point of view these last few weeks probably look like total chaos, confusion, no end in sight," he said. "But from my perspective, this is one of the greatest experiences of the recent history of our republic." And the hard-right Republicans who voted to oust Mr. McCarthy, setting into motion the three-week stretch of chaos that left the House without a leader, said Mr. Johnson’s ascension to the top job made their decision to depose the California Republican worth it. A bloc of Republicans had objected to the speaker bid of Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the hard-right co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, because of his role in helping lead Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. Exhausted from the feuding, which unleashed a barrage of recriminations and violent threats against lawmakers, both the right wing and mainstream Republicans finally united to elect Mr. Johnson, 51, in a 220-to-209 vote. The elevation of Mr. Johnson, 51, an architect of the effort to overturn the 2020 election and a religious conservative opposed to abortion rights, homosexuality and gay marriage, further cemented the Republican Party’s lurch to the right.

How to Watch CNN’s ‘Call Me Country: Beyoncé and Nashville’s Renaissance’ Documentary Online

Johnson has a spotless history of voting against legal abortion, earning an "A+" rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Abortion rights proponents have noted his work from 2010 as a senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, citing a letter in which he fought to shut down an abortion clinic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the Trump presidency, Johnson argued that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's move to rip up a copy of his State of the Union speech was a crime. “A lot of people have been talking about this the last 48 hours, and I did a little legal memo to point out to my colleagues that she actually committed a felony,” Johnson said on Fox News at the time. He said “it’s going to be tough” when asked whether he’s concerned it will cost Republicans the majority.

House passes resolution in support of Israel in war against Hamas

Missouri House Speaker remains silent on obstruction claims - KCTV 5

Missouri House Speaker remains silent on obstruction claims.

Posted: Fri, 26 Apr 2024 22:21:00 GMT [source]

Mr. Emmer’s downfall followed a swift backlash from the right, including former President Donald J. Trump, that left his candidacy in shambles and the G.O.P. as divided as ever. Mr. Johnson was only able to emerge as his party’s nominee for speaker this week after three other G.O.P. nominees before him were unable to rally enough support. The views are sharply at odds with those of most Americans, according to opinion polls that have found the public is broadly supportive of gay rights. Mr. Johnson’s abrupt rise to the speaker post this week in the depressed and divided House Republican conference underscores the rightward lurch of the G.O.P., which dumped his more mainstream predecessor, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California. Mr. Johnson said Mr. Jordan called him when he was running for office, because “he knew I was a conservative,” contributed money to his campaign and invited him to Washington for a meeting with him and other Freedom Caucus members.

Rep. Don Bacon confident there will be a speaker tomorrow night

At other times, more junior members may be assigned to preside to give them experience with the rules and procedures of the House. 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. From early in its existence, the speaker's primary function had been to keep order and enforce rules.

His solidly conservative voting record

It came after a historic fight that began when the hard right ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3, and raged on as the divided House G.O.P. nominated and then quickly discarded three other candidates to succeed him. Since Gingrich’s tenure, speakers are often criticized as too partisan and too powerful, trampling minority party interests. Second, the speaker manages business on the floor and navigates legislative rules, structuring House debate in a way that will advantage their legislative priorities.

Mr. Johnson instead faulted the way some states had changed voting procedures during the pandemic, saying it was unconstitutional. No credible evidence has ever emerged to support the conspiracy theories about Dominion and another voting machine firm having helped to ensure Mr. Trump’s defeat. In April, Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit by Dominion over reports broadcast by Fox that Dominion machines were susceptible to hacking and had flipped votes from Mr. Trump to Mr. Biden. A social conservative, Mr. Johnson played a leading role in recruiting House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the results. Johnson praises former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, unceremoniously deposed three weeks ago. Says “he is the reason we are in this majority today,” a nod to his political skills.

Republicans have now spurned all three of their top leaders over the past few weeks. The chamber has been frozen for the better part of a month as Republicans feud over who should be in charge, even as wars rage overseas and a government shutdown approaches. Pressed by reporters on Tuesday night about his efforts to overturn the election, Mr. Johnson smiled and shook his head, saying, “next question,” as Republicans beside him booed. Instead, he moved quickly to bring up a resolution expressing solidarity and support for Israel.

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The speakership reached its apogee during the term of Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon (1903–1911). He determined the agenda of the House, appointed the members of all committees, chose committee chairmen, headed the Rules Committee, and determined which committee heard each bill. He vigorously used his powers to ensure that Republican proposals were passed by the House. The power of the speaker was greatly augmented during the tenure of the Republican Thomas Brackett Reed (1889–1891, 1895–1899). Reed, however, declared that members who were in the chamber but refused to vote would still count for the purposes of determining a quorum. Through these and other rulings, Reed ensured that the Democrats could not block the Republican agenda.

Mr. Johnson came to Congress in 2017 with support from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, though he has never joined the group. We’re seeing a little bit of that here, with his gracious words toward Jeffries, promising to work together and find common ground. Representative Ken Buck of Colorado said that Mr. Johnson was not involved in postelection efforts to invalidate the results, even though Mr. Johnson was a critical player in those activities. Elected to Congress in 2016, Mr. Johnson is the most junior lawmaker in decades to become speaker. Third, the speaker oversees everything from accounting to procurement for the House.

The Democratic whip just sent out a note reminding members that they must be present on the House floor to be sworn in and reminding members to remain on the floor after McCarthy’s speech. The somber anniversary did not lead to comity on the House floor, as Mr. McCarthy’s fiercest holdout accused him in a bombastic speech of performing a fruitless exercise in vanity. Left unmentioned was that many of the same rebels who helped lead the effort in Congress to overturn the 2020 election, giving rise to the assault that day, were also among the final holdouts working to block Mr. McCarthy’s ascent. The two met in Washington, D.C., at Georgetown University in 1961 and have five children and nine grandchildren.

He once shared the story with a mostly Democratic audience at a congressional hearing on slavery reparations, and he was surprised to hear boos as he spoke, he later recounted to the Council for National Policy, an assembly of conservative donors known for its strict secrecy. To show support for racial equality, Mr. Johnson in the past has told audiences that he and his wife adopted a Black teenager they met through an evangelical youth group — like the movie “The Blind Side” but without the N.F.L. prospects, he has quipped. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican and the first to be nominated for speaker following Mr. McCarthy’s ouster, was ultimately seen as insufficiently pro-Trump by too many of his colleagues. He also opposed legislation to mandate federal recognition for same-sex marriages — a bill that passed with strong bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. 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.

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." Johnson, a little-known lawmaker who is now second in line for the presidency, attracted the support of all 220 Republican members in attendance, surpassing the 215-vote total that was required to win. Mr. Gaetz said on Tuesday that lawmakers should not give the post to somebody willing to sell “shares of himself to get” it. Mr. Gosar, who voted against Mr. McCarthy on multiple ballots but changed his vote to support him on Friday, spread numerous lies about the 2020 election and spoke at “Stop the Steal” rallies arranged by Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer.