US news
Mike Johnson is the new House of Representatives’
speaker, but for how long?
After much ado, the GOP made their choice – a leading
figure in the Republican attempt to overturn the 2020 election – but he faces
the same bind as his predecessor
Nimo Omer
Thu 26 Oct
2023 01.41 EDT
Good
morning. If you want to take a break from the dysfunction in Westminster then
cast your eyes to the dysfunction in Washington DC. The House of
Representatives had been out of action for three weeks since the Republicans
ousted their own speaker, Kevin McCarthy, until yesterday when they finally
agreed upon Mike Johnson – their fourth nominee in that time.
He takes up
an incredibly important and powerful role: the speaker oversees Congress, sets
the legislative agenda and can completely derail the president’s plans. The
person who occupies that role also becomes the second person in line to the
presidency, after the vice-president. Without a speaker, the US government has
been at a standstill, unable to legislate or allocate any spending – even to
provide financial support to allies abroad.
After what
feels like countless votes, endless deliberations and numerous nominees, the
GOP have finally replaced McCarthy, but in doing so exposed the extent to which
ideological divides, bad blood and resentment have taken over a party that was
once known for its ruthless ability to consolidate power.
To
understand what has been happening in Congress, I spoke to the Guardian’s
Washington DC bureau chief, David Smith. That’s right after the headlines.
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Bullying,
intimidation tactics and even death threats have marred the race to become
speaker in a manner most unbecoming of what is known in US politics as the
“grand old party”. Rather than being a bastion of stable government, the GOP
has been self-destructing.
How did
this begin?
On 3
October the then speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted from office by a small
number of hard-right members of his own party. It was the first time that has
ever happened to a speaker of the house in US political history.
McCarthy
was the speaker for just nine months, and only ascended to that role after a
tortuous process that included 15 rounds of voting. He secured the job by
offering various concessions to hard-right rebels in the Republican party,
including a rule that said just one member could table a motion to vacate and
oust him. Lo and behold, that is exactly what happened. McCarthy was pushed out
by Matt Gaetz for the crime of passing a funding bill with Democratic support
to avoid a government shutdown.
David says
that the seeds of this crisis were sown after last year’s midterm elections
when Republicans gained a majority in the House of Representatives by a very
narrow margin: “It meant that a handful of members can call the shots and so it
really gave power to the far right, particularly those aligned with Donald
Trump.”
Upon
McCarthy’s exit, campaigns began to nominate a new speaker. Louisiana
congressman Steve Scalise (pictured above) – a man who once reportedly called
himself “David Duke without the baggage” – was selected by the Republican
conference. A day later he withdrew his candidacy after it became clear that he
would not be able to shore up the amount of support needed to win the
nomination.
Republicans
then put forward Ohio congressman Jim Jordan as the second nominee. A
passionate Trump supporter and co-founder and chairman of the House Freedom
Caucus, Jordan represents the far right of the GOP and, as a result, could not
win over enough moderate Republicans. After three rounds of voting, Jordan
withdrew.
The race
quickly became a melee, with nine candidates, many of whom had no national
profile, throwing their hats in the ring to try their luck. Seven of those
candidates had voted to overturn the 2020 election. “It was very fragmented
with no obvious end in sight,” David says.
Tom Emmer
emerged as a relatively moderate candidate (in that he did not vote to overturn
the last presidential election) but also withdrew his candidacy within hours of
being nominated after Donald Trump urged Republicans to oppose him. Republicans
then put forward Mike Johnson, a man perhaps best known for leading efforts to
have the 2020 election overthrown, a fact he was not keen to be reminded of by
a reporter when his candidacy was announced. Johnson won in the end, with the
support of all 220 Republicans who cast a ballot, his extreme views marking a
win for the rightwing, Trump-supporting faction of the party.
“At this
time of great crisis, it is our duty to work together, as previous generations
of great leaders have, to face these great challenges and solve these great
problems,” Johnson said after his victory.
What’s been
happening without a speaker?
“It
effectively means the American government was operating with one hand tied
behind its back,” David says. While the White House is still functional, and
President Joe Biden has the power to take executive actions, the House of
Representatives needs to be up and running to pass any legislation, including
government spending bills.
The
dysfunction has hampered the US’s ability to intervene internationally and
domestically. Biden has requested $106bn for Israel, Ukraine and US border
security and none of that could be passed until the House got a speaker.
That could
now change, and Joe Biden welcomed Johnson’s election, saying: “Even though we
have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort
to find common ground wherever we can.”
For his
part, the new Speaker has indicated a willingness to work with the Democrats on
areas of mutual interest. Which is just as well, as there’s the small matter of
another government shutdown looming next month. The House needs to have a
speaker in order to pass the spending bills that allow government employees to
be paid, without that, all but essential services cease to function – and
thousands stop being paid. It was McCarthy’s work with Democrats to pass the
last spending bill that brought him down. Can Johnson better navigate those
choppy waters?
“All of
this sends an alarming message to the world at a moment when democracy is under
threat and wars are breaking out – many will be wondering if the US government
is still fit for purpose,” David says.
What has
been the response from the rest of Washington?
Everyone
has been watching this excruciatingly slow car crash unfold over the last three
weeks with horror. Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie has called
the speaker race an “embarrassment”. House Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar
(pictured above) said his party was growing “weary”. “So much of this is kids’
playground stuff, with a lot of bullying, ego clashes and ‘you’re my friend,
you’re not my friend’,” says David. “It’s a sad state of affairs that it has
come to this.”
Meanwhile,
the spectre of Trump is still cast over the party. He is, by far, the leading
candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and holds
significant sway with the Republican voter base and the party itself.
It’s no
surprise that the victorious candidate is a strong Trump supporter. Johnson,
who practised constitutional law before entering politics, was the architect of
a failed attempt by House Republicans to have the supreme court overturn the
2020 election result.
“There’s
gloom, dismay and shaking of heads. It’s just so dysfunctional and I think a
lot of people in Washington would say this is where eight years of Trump chaos
gets you,” David says. “The Republicans are a party in civil war – they’re
rudderless and they don’t seem to like each other.”
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