Today, the newly-elected Members of the House of Representatives will meet and among their mostly ceremonial duties they will carry out one important task – electing the Speaker of the House.
Regular readers of CHQ will recall that after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted, we urged House Republicans to find and elect the most conservative Speaker that could garner the required 218 votes.
Ultimately, that “most conservative Speaker who could get 218 votes” came down to Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
The initial enthusiasm conservatives had for Johnson has dissipated to the point we have begun to refer to Mr. Johnson as Mike “The Disappointment” Johnson, but that doesn’t mean we are prepared to support another lengthy floor fight that bears no promise of electing someone more effective.
Our friend Rick Manning, President of Americans for Limited Government, summed up the arguments in favor of retaining Speaker Johnson this way:
President Trump’s entire Congressional agenda is at risk on day one of the new Congress when House Republicans decide whether to elect Trump-endorsed Speaker Mike Johnson or embark on yet another suicidal quest for the perfect Speaker. While it is understandable for many House conservatives to be disappointed that the past Congress did not do more to limit the size and scope of government, the only opportunity to move the aggressive Trump Make America Great Again agenda is through unity that will be forever shattered by a Speaker fight.
Americans voted to end President Biden’s crazy, leftist policies and to cut government’s intrusive reach into their lives. If House Republicans want to legislatively end Biden’s immigration disaster, they need to stay the course with Speaker Johnson. If House Republicans want to reinstate and expand job-creating tax cuts, they must stay the course with Speaker Johnson. If House Republicans want to truly permanently downsize the federal government, they need to stay the course with Speaker Johnson.
However, if they are unwilling to get 75% to 80% of their agenda passed in search of a unicorn, they will engage in a quixotic Speaker fight chasing windmills rather than getting the job done.
At the end of the day Speaker Johnson has two very persuasive things going for him. First, President Trump likes and trusts him; Second, Johnson’s acknowledged personal conservative convictions give us some hope that with Donald Trump in the White House to help stiffen his spine he may yet produce the conservative policy outcomes we were expecting when he was first elected.
The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), we urge CHQ readers and friends to call their Representative FIRST THING TODAY to demand they vote to elect Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana to preside over the House in the 119th Congress.
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