Electing a Speaker Should Be Easy
But nothing is easy for House Republicans
It’s January 3, and as any middle schooler can easily find out, that means the new Congress is constitutionally mandated to assemble in Washington at noon today to choose its leaders and swear in its members.
The first order of business is to elect a speaker.
As of this morning, there is no guarantee this will happen. In fact, as of this writing it appears that Mike Johnson could fall short of the majority he needs of those present and voting to hold on to his job on the first ballot.
Johnson’s problem is a continuation of the pre-Christmas continuing resolution fiasco, which resulted in Republicans negotiating a bipartisan agreement to keep the government funded for a few more weeks, then blowing up that agreement at the behest of Elon Musk and Donald Trump, then defeating a replacement bill that Trump demanded which included lifting the debt limit, then ultimately passing a slightly modified version of the original agreement without the debt limit changes—with more Democrats supporting the legislation than Republicans.
The ugliness rankled enough MAGA representatives to put Johnson’s speakership at risk. MAGA doesn’t do bipartisanship.
Then tensions rose further last week, when Musk—on behalf of the billionaire tech club supporting Trump—went to war with MAGA over immigration policy, with Musk advocating for skilled worker visas and calling the unrepentant racists in Trump’s base “unrepentant racists.”
One Republican—Thomas Massie—has announced he will not support Johnson, and several others have not yet endorsed him. Steve Bannon is lobbying for Johnson’s ouster. And Johnson just doesn’t have the votes to spare.
