By Mike Hayes, Kaanita Iyer and Elise Hammond, CNN |
New speaker: Rep. Mike Johnson secured the speaker’s gavel without losing any GOP votes Wednesday after weeks of party infighting left the House in chaos. The Louisiana lawmaker has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump and was a key congressional figure in the failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
About the vote: There were 220 votes for Johnson and 209 votes for Democrat Hakeem Jeffries. There was unanimous GOP support behind Johnson. One Republican – Rep. Derrick Van Orden – was absent from the vote.
What’s at stake: House Republicans faced intensifying pressure to elect a new speaker after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted more than three weeks ago. The House has remained effectively frozen since then — a dire situation as Congress faces a November funding deadline and as crisis unfolds abroad in Ukraine and with Israel’s war against Hamas.
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