Trump-backed Mike Johnson elected House speaker after 22 days - live
New Speaker Mike Johnson is a hard-right Christian conservative opposed to LGBT+ and reproductive rights
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House Republicans overwhelmingly elected Rep Mike Johnson (R-LA) to be the next speaker of the House after 22 days where the House of Representatives had no leader amid turmoil across the globe and the need to pass spending bills next month.
Mr Johnson, the former deputy whip for House Republicans, won 220 votes on the floor after House Republicans coalesced around him on Tuesday evening. His ascent came after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer dropped out a mere four hours after the House Republican conference nominated him to be speaker.
Republicans from all factions of the conference cheered Mr Johnson and whistled on the floor, chanting his name.
After conservatives, led by former president Donald Trump, revolted against Mr Emmer, he removed himself from the running and after another contest, Mr Johnson emerged victorious.
A former attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, Mr Johnson is considered an arch-social conservative staunchly opposed to abortion. Earlier this year, he introduced legislation that would have made it illegal to transport a person under the age of 18 across state lines to obtain an abortion without parental notification.
Democrat representative celebrates her wife in apparent rebuke to Mike Johnson’s anti-LGBT+ record
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House finally has a speaker as Mike Johnson wins after weeks of chaos
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Emmer, Johnson, Donalds, and Hern head into fourth round
Trump allies are railing against ‘anti-Trump’ Tom Emmer for speaker
Allies of former president Donald Trump have begun working to take down the speakership bid of House GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
Those close to Mr Trump began sniping at the Minnesota lawmaker in the media on Friday, with far-right outlet Real America’s Voice declaring that Mr Emmer is “Nancy Pelosi in a suit”.
Mr Emmer has frantically been trying to quash the narrative that he’s not supportive of former president Donald Trump.
Mr Emmer and his staff worked overtime over the weekend making calls, including one to Mr Trump. The call between Mr Trump and Mr Emmer has been described as cordial, even as Mr Trump has been telling associates that he doesn’t want Mr Emmer as speaker, bothered by his vote to certify the 2020 election and believing that he hasn’t been sufficiently defending him in public amidst his broadening legal woes.
“Will you endorse Emmer? He hasn’t always been your biggest fan…” a reporter asked Mr Trump in New Hampshire on Monday.
Down to Emmer and Johnson
Only Reps Tom Emmer and Mike Johnson remain after Rep Kevin Hern was booted on the fourth round and Rep Byron Donalds dropped out voluntarily, according to Politico.
George Clooney’s doc on OSU sex abuse scandal will be a ‘game changer’
Amajor documentary on the Ohio State University (OSU) sexual abuse scandal that is expected to renew attention on then-OSU coach and now Republican Congressman Jim Jordan is currently in the middle of production.
The untitled Max (HBO) film, produced by George Clooney and directed by Academy Award-winner Eva Orner, will tell the story of decades of abuse by former OSU sports doctor Richard Strauss through the eyes of victims “including All American wrestlers and football players, many of whom have not spoken out until now”, the streaming site said in a statement last year.
A staffer at Clooney’s production house Smokehouse Pictures told The Independent they were “still thick in production on it”.
Attention on the scandal intensified in recent weeks as Jordan began his ill-fated run for House Speaker, only to be cast aside by the same chaotic forces he helped to foster within the party. Mr Jordan has denied any knowledge of the abuse by Strauss, despite numerous witnesses stating they discussed it with him directly.
Several victims have since gone on record to say that Mr Jordan’s alleged participation in the culture of silence that enabled Strauss’ abuse to go unpunished should have disqualified him from the speakership.
Emmer is next nominee for speaker
Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota is the next nominee for speaker after winning the fifth internal ballot, getting 117 votes to Rep Mike Johnson’s 97.
Emmer gets fewer votes than Jordan, in for ‘tough slog'
Emmer to keep pushing roll call votes until he gets to 217
‘In trench warfare even a couple of yards can be a long way'
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