(CNN) — The Republican-led Home elected Rep. Mike Johnson as the brand new Home speaker on Wednesday – a significant management change that comes three weeks after the historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy. Johnson, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump and a key congressional determine within the failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election, will now take the reins of the bitterly divided Home Republican majority and faces the looming risk of a authorities shutdown subsequent month.
There have been 220 votes for Johnson – and unanimous GOP assist behind him – and 209 votes for Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic chief from New York.
Johnson, who serves because the Home GOP convention vice chairman, secured the nomination for the speakership late Tuesday night. The vote capped off a chaotic day that began with Republicans choosing Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer to be their newest nominee just for him to drop out hours later after dealing with stiff resistance from the suitable flank of the convention and a rebuke from Trump. The day ended with a vote to elect a brand new nominee – this time, Johnson received out.
The GOP convention is below growing stress because the Home stays paralyzed with no speaker. However Republicans have to this point struggled to unite behind a successor to McCarthy following his historic ouster. The vote to push out McCarthy plunged the Home into uncharted territory and it has remained unclear whether or not any candidate can win the gavel within the aftermath of the unprecedented transfer.
Following the nomination vote, Home Republicans took one other vote to gauge the nominee’s assist throughout the convention. There have been round 20 members absent for that vote and Johnson can solely lose 4 votes on the ground, creating uncertainty over whether or not he could have the wanted votes for the gavel.
“Democracy is messy generally, however it’s our system,” Johnson mentioned Tuesday night. “The intention is to go to the Home flooring tomorrow and make this official. So we can be doing that.”
Emmer was the third Republican to win the GOP nomination solely to then exit the race after failing to lock up the required votes to win the gavel, following Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Steve Scalise additionally of Louisiana.
After successful the occasion nomination, Emmer confronted swift opposition from the suitable flank of his convention in addition to a rebuke from Trump. In a publish on Reality Social, Trump referred to as Emmer a “Globalist RINO,” and mentioned that voting for him “can be a tragic mistake.”
The-CNN-Wire
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