BEFORE 2023, THE UNITED STATES HOUSE HAD ONLY SPENT 2 DAYS IN SESSION WITHOUT A SPEAKER, WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR COUNTING VOTES AND RUNNING THE HOUSE AGENDA. AFTER KEVIN MCCARTHY WAS OUSTED BY A GROUP OF REPUBLICANS EARLIER THIS MONTH, THE HOUSE WAS SPEAKER-LESS FOR OVER THREE WEEKS. LOUISIANA REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON’S ASCENSION TO THE ROLE ENSURES THE LEADERSHIP VACUUM WILL NOT REMAIN. I SPOKE WITH SOME STUDENT JOURNALISTS IN WASHINGTON DC TO FIND OUT JUST HOW IMPORTANT FILLING THE ROLE OF SPEAKER WAS.
MEDILL SOPHOMORE JULIAN ANDREONE IS A STUDENT JOURNALIST IN WASHINGTON DC FOR THE MEDILL PROGRAM MEDILL ON THE HILL. HE SAYS WITHOUT A SPEAKER, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WAS EFFECTIVELY SHUT DOWN.
[Julian Andreone] When there’s not a speaker of the house, just on a very basic level, when there’s not a speaker of the house, the house cannot pass any resolutions or cannot vote on any legislation.
AND BECAUSE THE HOUSE COULDN’T VOTE, THE REST OF THE GOVERNMENT WAS IN LIMBO AS WELL. ANDREONE EXPLAINS THAT MOST GOVERNMENT FUNDING INITIATIVES HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH. IF THE HOUSE IS INOPERATIVE, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO GET FUNDING THROUGH.
[JA] The United States Government as a whole cannot pass any increases in funding through legislation through the legislative branch for any of these conflicts or anything else without a speaker of the house. So it really is holding up some of the processes that define America or they usually define America’s role as a broker in international conflicts.
WITH CONFLICTS RAGING IN BOTH EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST, AMERICAN ALLIES ARE RELYING ON AMERICAN AID. WITHOUT THE HOUSE WORKING PROPERLY, THAT FUNDING CAN’T GET PASSED.
LUIS CASTANEDA, ALSO A MEDILL SOPHOMORE IN WASHINGTON, SAYS THE SPEAKER FIGHT DISTRACTED FROM OTHER EVENTS, LIKE GOVERNMENT FUNDING AND THOSE WARS INVOLVING AMERICAN ALLIES.
[Luis Castaneda] In my perspective, it’s very, like narrow vision. Like, they’re just so focused on this one thing, and then it’s like, Oh, my God, like there’s so many other things to like, pay attention to but it’s like this one simple thing is not letting things happen.
ONE MAJOR DIFFICULTY THAT WAS STANDING IN THE WAY OF A SOLUTION BEFORE WEDNESDAY WAS THAT COMPROMISE HAS BEEN ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.
[LC] “I mean, like, every new speaker that they tried to nominate just keeps losing more in this gap of like, how many people say no to them, just keeps getting wider, I think for McCarthy, I think it was like 18, 19. I think we’re up to like, 25 people that say no now to think it’s Emmers (sic), Representative Emmers (sic). NOTE: REPRESENTATIVE TOM EMMER ENDED HIS CANDIDACY FOR SPEAKER HOURS AFTER THIS INTERVIEW WAS RECORDED. But, yeah, and then Democrats I mean, on…on their side, they just, they see a lot of these Republicans as, especially on the far right, as more as insurrectionists. So they’re like, why would we? Why would we strike a deal with you? You know, we don’t even trust you.”
ANDREONE AGREES, SAYING THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY SAW NO REASON TO END THE STRUGGLE IMMEDIATELY. FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE, THIS WAS A PROBLEM CAUSED BY THE REPUBLICANS, SO THE REPUBLICANS NEED TO SOLVE IT. NONE OF THE HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTED FOR JOHNSON ON WEDNESDAY.
[JA] I think that it is also unlikely for Democrats to go over and vote for Republicans. What we’ve seen and based on some of my reporting and some of other people’s reporting is that Democratic members of the House feel like they shouldn’t touch this mess. They feel like this is a mess that was created by the Republicans and needs to be solved by the Republicans.
ANDREONE ALSO SAYS THE FIGHT, BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE PARTY LINES, HAS GOTTEN PERSONAL, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO FORESEE A QUICK END. JOHNSON ENDED UP BEING ABLE TO BYPASS THESE PERSONAL FIGHTS PARTIALLY THANKS TO STRONG CONNECTIONS WITH FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP. HOWEVER, THIS WAS FAR FROM A FOREGONE CONCLUSION EARLIER THIS WEEK.
[JA] It’s up in the air right now. It’s really chaotic, members are…are fighting amongst themselves. A lot of it is based on personal vendettas. A lot of these people have, you know, personal gripes with one another. And that’s part of what’s fueling some of these decisions. So it’s really hard to tell. I honestly can’t really make a prediction.
CASTANEDA CONCURS. GIVEN THAT NOTHING LIKE THIS HAD HAPPENED IN THE COUNTRY’S HISTORY, THERE WAS NO PREVIOUS EXAMPLE TO HELP DETERMINE AN ENDPOINT. BEFORE JOHNSON’S NOMINATION, THE LENGTH OF THE FIGHT WAS VERY MURKY.
[LC] there’s no clear line of sight into how this is going to end in my perspective. From like, the month and a half that I’ve been here so far, it’s just like, this is really just an unprecedented…unprecedented, right?
JESSICA MA IS A MEDILL JUNIOR ALSO WORKING FOR MEDILL ON THE HILL. SHE WAS IN THE BUILDING WHEN EMMER DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE. SHE ALSO SAID THE FIGHT SEEMED LIKE IT COULD HAVE GONE A LOT LONGER.
[Jessica Ma] I mean, if I have to use one word to describe it, just like chaos, I think it’s very evident that there was a lot of like, infighting within the Republican Party. So I mean, I was honestly surprised that they were able to come to a candidate and decide on Johnson today.
THE FIGHT ENDING IS HUGELY IMPORTANT FOR THE ENTIRE GOVERNMENT. AS ANDREONE MENTIONED, LEGISLATION CANNOT GET PASSED WITHOUT A SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. THAT INCLUDES LEGISLATION FOR THE GOVERNMENT’S BUDGET, MEANING THAT WITHOUT A SPEAKER…
[JA] We’re about 30 days, some…some odd days out. I mean, I’m losing track at this point, but we’re about 30 some odd days out from the next government shutdown. There is a non zero percentage chance that we enter a government shutdown without a speaker of the house. And that would leave us with no way to get out of government shutdown, theoretically, just based on what the Constitution provides us, because the Speaker of the House has to bring any legislation to a vote and you need to bring legislation to a vote to get out of a government shutdown.
JOHNSON NOW HAS THAT JOB, PARTIALLY THANKS TO HIS CONSERVATIVE BELIEFS GARNERING WIDE SUPPORT IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. JOHNSON WAS A KEY FIGURE IN SEEKING TO OVERTURN THE 2020 ELECTION, HELPING EXPLAIN WHY HE DID NOT RECEIVE ANY DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT. THAT PHILOSOPHY, ALONG WITH SOME OF HIS OTHER CONSERVATIVE BELIEFS, COULD LEAD TO MORE GRIDLOCK EVEN WITH THE HOUSE BACK OPEN FOR BUSINESS.
[JM] I think there’s going to be, if anything, more gridlock, given that he is more like right then from other candidates like McCarthy and Emmer. Like one of the reasons Emmer didn’t get like, pushed through into the floor vote was because like he supported gay marriage and a lot of Trump allies were criticizing him for that saying, like they were gonna hold out on him because of his track record. So I think if anything, there’s going to be more gridlock.
THAT GRIDLOCK IS LESS THAN IDEAL, ESPECIALLY WITH ALL THE ISSUES JOHNSON WILL HAVE TO FACE ALMOST IMMEDIATELY.
[JM] A lot of like, congressional activities have been put on pause, put on hold, especially with everything going on with Israel and Hamas, especially since the US has announced its support for Israel. He’ll probably have to take that on, pass legislation to get the ball rolling on funding for the war in Ukraine. And there’s also you know, the stuff going on on the border and immigration. So he has a lot on his plate. We’ll have to see if he’ll be ready for it.
FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M BRENDAN PREISMAN.
