Johnson and Scalise chosen for U.S. House

WASHINGTON – House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise were reelected Wednesday by Republican members of the U.S. House, keeping its top leadership positions in the hands of the two Louisiana lawmakers.
After the voting was held behind closed doors at a hotel near the U.S. Capitol Building, Johnson and Scalise emerged still in control of the House.
Never in history have the No. 1 and No. 2 House leaders been from the same state’s delegation. As speaker and majority leader, they have the power to set the legislative agenda.
And as Johnson told his constituents while campaigning for reelection this fall, the benefit of having a representative who is House speaker is that “your district gets the most attention.”
But before Johnson and Scalise take those spots, the Republicans will have to officially maintain the majority in the 435-seat House. Republicans are just shy of clinching the 218 members needed to do so, which is widely expected to happen soon as votes continue to be counted.
And technically, Johnson was chosen speaker-elect. The full House will vote on its speaker when the 119th Congress convenes in January. But that election would likely be a foregone conclusion with a Republican majority.
President-elect Donald Trump addressed House Republicans prior to their vote Wednesday, endorsing both Johnson and Scalise, according to a leadership staffer.
With Republicans in charge of all levers of power, Johnson and Scalise say they are ready to implement Trump’s legislative agenda. Legislation already is being prepared for rollout on the first day of the new Congress in January to close the border, increase oil and gas exploration and production, influence what is taught in schools and extend an expiring tax break, among other bills.
“With control of the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, Republicans have been given the opportunity to quickly begin reversing the Biden-Harris Administration’s disastrous policies and restoring America to greatness,” Scalise said Wednesday night. “This means passing legislation to secure America’s southern border, unleash American energy, lower costs for hardworking families by getting inflation under control, rein in costly regulations, keep our communities safe, bolster our national security, and reject tax hikes.”
By Wednesday, The Associated Press and The New York Times were reporting that Republicans are two seats shy of the majority with ballots left to be counted in about a dozen races.
Given the math of the outstanding races, when the results are finalized the Republican majority will be slim. In the past, such a narrow margin has raised problems for the Republican House leadership.
After the 2022 election, Republicans held a four-seat majority.
In January 2023, after the 218th Congress was seated, a cadre of conservatives withheld their votes for 15 roll calls before U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, was finally elected as speaker. He lasted nine months, until a small group of conservatives orchestrated a coup, faulting him for negotiating with Democrats on a bill to avoid a government shutdown.
During the next three weeks several Republican leaders, including Scalise, tried but couldn’t get enough GOP votes to win the speakership. Republicans finally turned to one of their middle managers at the time, Johnson, to take the top job.
As speaker, Johnson ran into many of the same problems with the House’s far right in his efforts to get vital legislation passed.
In May, a tranche of conservatives attempted to fire Johnson — calling him the leader of the “uniparty,” stressing their contention that Democrats and Republicans were essentially the same. But enough Democratic and Republican representatives rallied around Johnson for him to keep his post.
Johnson and Scalise’s apparent success in their effort to maintain the GOP majority is playing a role in their bid for another go in their leadership roles.
Before Election Day, Democrats needed to pick up only four seats to gain the majority, and about a dozen Republicans facing challengers were representing districts that had voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.
Johnson toured 250 cities across 40 states during the past year. He said that while on the campaign trail, he perceived a shift, particularly among some Hispanic and African Americans, toward Republican stands on issues.
“You’ve earned the gavel,” U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-North Carolina, told Johnson Tuesday. Hudson chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Scalise had an equally hectic schedule, traveling to 36 states, 112 cities and 153 districts. In a recent letter, he urged GOP colleagues to choose him again as majority leader, saying he had stood “alongside many of you to ensure our team had the necessary resources to win.”
In the 2024 election, Trump polled much better in many Democratic districts than he did four years ago, which analysts say helped GOP House candidates win.
Johnson said Wednesday that the House will launch an aggressive legislative agenda during the first 100 days in office.
“And we took the temperature of the American people. We heard their concerns,” Johnson said Wednesday night. “We heard that no matter where you are in the country, north, south, east, or west, the number one concerns were the cost of living, the wide-open border, the instability on the world stage, the weakness that has gotten us into the most dangerous situation since World War II.”