Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, was elected as the new speaker of the House on Wednesday.
In a letter to his GOP colleagues earlier this week, Johnson laid out a plan for the lower chamber to continue moving forward on appropriations bills and aiming to pass the final version of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in December, offering to propose another stopgap funding measure to keep the government open through January or April if more time is required to finish the work.
“You’re going to see an aggressive schedule in the days and weeks ahead. You’re going to see Congress work as hard as it’s ever worked and we are going to deliver for the American people,” Johnson said at a press conference after being sworn in as the 56th Speaker of the House.
Johnson, who has represented Louisiana’s 4th district since 2017, also serves on the Judiciary Committee and has been the vice chair of the House GOP conference since January 2021.
In the three weeks since House Republicans voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as speaker, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) all mounted unsuccessful bids for the role.
Ultimately, all House Republicans voted in favor on Wednesday to elect Johnson to the speaker role.
“Our House Republican Conference is united, and eager to work. As Speaker, I will ensure the House delivers results and inspires change for the American people. We will restore trust in this body. We will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden administration, and support our allies abroad. And we will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of it. Let’s get back to work,” Johnson said in a statement.
Johnson steps into the speakership as Congress must still complete work on final FY ‘24 appropriations bills ahead of the next shutdown deadline on November 17.
“We all understand that our next speaker must be prepared to negotiate from a position of strength with the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House. The only way to secure that position is for the House to have passed all twelve of our appropriations measures. I am confident that we can work together to accomplish that objective quickly, in a manner that delivers on our principled commitments to rein in wasteful spending and put our country back on the path to fiscal responsibility. It will be challenging work, but we can and will do it,” Johnson wrote in his “Dear Colleague” letter sent out on Monday.
The House in late September passed its $826.5 billion defense spending legislation, which received strong opposition from Democrats over its nearly $2 billion cut to multi-year procurement for select munitions and the inclusion of a slew of GOP-led proposals they’ve criticized as “needlessly divisive” (Defense Daily, Sept. 29).
The Senate has yet to pass its own $831.8 billion FY ‘24 defense spending bill, which was advanced out of the Appropriations Committee in July (Defense Daily, July 27).
House and Senate lawmakers will also have to continue work on conference negotiations to settle on a final version of the FY ‘24 NDAA in the coming weeks.
Johnson’s letter said he would propose a continuing resolution to keep the government open through January 15 or April 15 to allow more time for the work and to “ensure that the Senate cannot jam the House with a Christmas omnibus” spending package.
The new speaker did not include a mention in his letter for a plan to consider the White House’s $106 billion emergency spending package unveiled last week with weapons aid for Israel and continued security assistance for Ukraine (Defense Daily, Oct. 20).
Johnson is set to have a significant role in the fate of future security assistance for Ukraine as opposition to further aid continues to grow among conservative lawmakers (Defense Daily, Oct. 4).
During his time on HASC, Johnson served on the panel’s Readiness and Seapower Subcommittees.
The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) released a statement on Wednesday offering support for Johnson’s election to the speakership.
“We congratulate Speaker Mike Johnson, an advocate for the shipyard industry, industrial base and maritime workforce. His unwavering support for the state of Louisiana and the entire U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industry on the House Armed Services Committee previews the same demonstrated leadership he will provide to our country. In these times of geopolitical uncertainty, Speaker Johnson’s experience as a dedicated lawmaker is the type of leader the U.S. needs for our national and domestic security, and we are looking forward to working closely with him in the term ahead,” Matthew Paxton, president of the SCA, said in a statement.