House Republicans celebrated a return to legislating Wednesday after electing Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana to serve as speaker and ending weeks of bitter intra-party fighting over leadership that paralyzed the chamber.
Mr. Johnson, 51, was elevated to speaker as one of the least experienced lawmakers ever to serve in the position and he’ll be immediately tested in his ability to unite the fractious Republican Conference over critical government funding that is set to run out in a matter of weeks.
“The people’s house is back in business,” Mr. Johnson told lawmakers in his inaugural address, delivered from the speaker’s rostrum. “We will do our duty here. We will serve you well. We will govern well and we will make you proud of this institution.”
Now serving his third term in Congress, Mr. Johnson confidently pledged he would unify the long-divided conference and even work across the aisle while tackling some of the most difficult issues facing the nation, including lax border security, runaway federal spending and aid for overseas allies.
“The country demands strong leadership of this body and we must not waver,” Mr. Johnson said.
Mr. Johnson has served for three years as vice chairman of the Republican Conference, the No. 5 leadership position.
He’s now second-in-line to presidential succession and will oversee a 435-member House where he has served for only six years.
Like his predecessor, ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, he’ll have to govern with the GOP’s razor-thin majority and thanks to the extended leadership stalemate, he faces a fast-approaching deadline on legislation that deeply divides his conference: Funding the federal government before a stopgap bill expires on Nov. 17.
He’ll also have to navigate the political divide over a new emergency package meant to aid both Israel and Ukraine. Most House Republicans only back the Israel funding.
Mr. Johnson’s election unlocked the House floor for legislative business for the first time since Oct. 3, when a small group of hardline conservatives exploited an obscure House rule and removed Mr. McCarthy because he decided to pass the stopgap funding bill.
Three successive GOP nominees failed to win the gavel but Mr. Johnson managed to secure it in a single ballot on the House floor Wednesday.
Mr. Johnson was nominated for the speaker’s gavel by Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York. She praised Mr. Johnson’s service on the Judiciary Committee, where his expertise as a constitutional lawyer has made him a standout on the panel. He also served on the Armed Services Committee.
“And as vice-chair of our conference, he has united all of our members to speak clearly and boldly on behalf of the American people,” Ms. Stefanik said. “ A friend to all and an enemy to none. Mike is strong, tough and fair. And above all, Mike is kind.”
Soon after Mr. Johnson was sworn in, the House debated and passed a resolution in support of Israel, which is fighting to defeat the terrorist organization Hamas.
The measure easily won bipartisan support but the path ahead on other legislation is far more difficult.
Mr. Johnson is pushing lawmakers to finish passing the remaining 2024 appropriations measures or otherwise support another stopgap spending bill that would expire either in January or April. All spending legislation will require compromising with the Democrat-led Senate, which does not support the kind of spending reductions Mr. Johnson’s conservative base in conference will insist upon.
Mr. Johnson told lawmakers in his inaugural address Wednesday that reducing federal spending is a priority.
“We have to bring relief to the American people by reining in federal spending and bringing down inflation,” he said.
Mr. Johnson called the nation’s $33.6 trillion debt, “the greatest threat to our national security.”
Republicans gathered on the steps of the Capitol following Mr. Johnson’s swearing-in, a look of relief on all of their faces that the seemingly endless fight over the speaker’s gavel that had shut down House business was finally over.
Just a day earlier on Tuesday, the GOP was mired in gridlock, having rejected their third pick for speaker, Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, only four hours after he was nominated. By Tuesday night they had united around Mr. Johnson.
It happened so quickly that Mr. Johnson’s wife could not find a flight from Shreveport in time to see her husband become the 56th House speaker.
There was not enough time, either, for the usual ceremonies and celebrations for a new speaker, Mr. Johnson said.
“You’re going to see an aggressive schedule in the days and weeks ahead,” He said. “You’re going to see Congress working as hard as it’s ever worked and we’re going to deliver for the American people.”
