Mike Johnson wins House speaker election after emerging as the Trump-backed ‘GOP unity candidate’ following 22 days of turmoil

• The Louisiana Republican won unanimous support from all of his colleagues 
• His victory comes after 22 farcical days, thirteen failed candidates, four nominees and four floor votes since McCarthy’s ouster
• READ MORE: Who is Mike Johnson? The Trump-backed college football fanatic 

After 22 farcical days, thirteen failed candidates, four nominees and four floor votes, the Republicans have finally elected a House speaker.

Louisiana’s Mike Johnson has been unanimously selected by his party to take the gavel in a vote that ended the three-week House GOP circus sparked by the ousting of Kevin McCarthy.

Winning all 220 Republican votes on the floor, father-of-four Johnson, 51, cinched the top job after a battle dominated by backstabbing, death threats, side deals, Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz.

Johnson, who served as vice chair of the House GOP Conference and is backed by Trump, needed at least 215 out of 220 present Republicans to vote for him – but instead got unanimous consent from his party. 

All 209 present Democrats voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a vote dominated by jeers about election fraud and Trump.

Johnson was the fourth Republican nominee for the top job in three weeks, and the first one to break through the GOP infighting.

‘The People’s House is back in business,’ Johnson said following his election on the House floor to cheers throughout the chamber. 

After 22 farcical days, thirteen failed candidates, four nominees and four floor votes, the Republicans have finally elected a House speaker 

Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected House speaker, putting to rest an over three-week-long impasse in Congress ‘ lower chamber

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s name was finally taken down from over the door above the speaker’s office

A new sign was installed above the speaker’s office in the Capitol immediately after Johnson was elected

He was the first Republican speaker to get every single vote in his party since John Boehner in 2011, starkly contrasting the deep division each candidate has faced since McCarthy was voted out. 

His victory will now allow the House of Representatives to conduct regular business again, which is desperately needed with less than a month until a potential government shutdown and as the Israel-Hamas war intensifies.

The House will catapult back into legislative business that includes a resolution to support Israel and a contentious spending battle. 

‘This is a beautiful country,’ Johnson said on the House floor immediately after his election, noting that the U.S. faces many challenges currently.

‘We stand at a very dangerous time…A strong America is good for the entire world,’ he said to applause from both the Democratic and Republican side of the chamber. 

A faith-filled man, the new speaker mentioned how his wife prayed on her knees for weeks leading to his election. 

He invoked God in his introductory speech as well. He referenced the ‘In God We Trust’ motto of the House of Representatives. 

The Republican said the first course of action the House will take under his leadership is adopt a resolution condemning Hamas and in support of Israel.

‘We have a catastrophe at our souther border,’ he also added. ‘The status quo is unacceptable and we must come together and address the broken border. We have to do it.’

Johnson said there must be a reigning in of federal spending in order to bring down inflation. 

‘The greatest threat to our national security is our nation’s debt,’ he added. 

‘This speaker’s office is going to be known for decentralizing the power here,’ Johnson concluded. 

He said he wants members more involved and influenced in all the processes of the House. 

Trust, transparency and accountability will be pillars of how he will run the leadership office. 

He was sworn into the office of the speaker by the Dean of the House Rep. Hal Rogers, R-K.Y.

Immediately after his swearing in, the House took up the resolution in support of Israel as it faces attacks from Hamas terrorists. 

President Joe Biden said that he has no issues with new Speaker Johnson on Wednesday during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Former President Donald Trump – who publicly backed Johnson – cheered his election Wednesday. 

‘Congratulations to Rep. Mike Johnson. He will be a GREAT “SPEAKER.” MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ he wrote on Truth Social. 

Johnson was nominated on Tuesday evening – just hours after after Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., won an internal Republican vote but dropped out after 26 Republicans signaled they would not vote for him on the House floor.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, another Louisianan, was the first GOP nominee after Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a historic motion to vacate vote over three weeks ago.  

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hands the gavel to speaker-elect Rep. Mike Johnson

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks with his successor, the new Speaker Mike Johnson 

But he dropped out after about 24 hours when he realized there were holdouts who could not be swayed in his favor – those who thought he was too ‘establishment.’ 

Then firebrand Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee, won the nomination after Scalise, but was not able to sway about 20 moderates in his favor during three failed floor votes.

Johnson and Jordan have highly similar voting records.

Both voted against certifying the 2020 election, against the continuing resolution that keeps the government funded until November 17, against the $300 million Ukraine aid and for the McCarthy-Biden debt ceiling deal. 

Rep. Madeleine Dean told DailyMail.com that a colleague told her the only difference between Johnson and Jordan is that ‘one wears a jacket.’

GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik hugs Mike Johnson after nominating him for speaker on the House floor 

As part of his ‘fired up’ brand, Jordan is infamously known around Capitol Hill to ditch his suit jacket, even when he’s conducting business as the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. 

Some Republican appropriators and defense hawks had opposed Jordan believing that he could cut defense spending. 

‘Jim Jordan has said everything is on the table to spending cuts, including defense,’ one aide to a moderate member who opposed Jordan told DailyMail.com. ‘Johnson has not gone that far.’ 

Jeffries sounded off about Johnson’s nomination: ‘The twice-impeached former president ordered House Republicans to stop Tom Emmer and elevate a top election denier. Is anyone surprised that they complied?’ 

Johnson led an amicus brief signed by more than 100 Republicans to a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Asked about his past efforts to overturn the results on Tuesday night, he huffed and told a reporter: ‘next question.’ 

Meanwhile, Democrats seized on his involvement in 2020 election fraud claims.

‘[Johnson] has distinguished himself as being one of the primary antagonists to our democratic institutions and our free and fair elections,’ Rep. Adam Schiff, R-Calif., told reporters. 

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., one of the eight who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told DailyMail.com: ‘I believe Johnson is going to be trustworthy, more, will be honest, will be truthful.’ 

But Democrat Dean predicted Johnson would face the same ‘untrustworthy’ accusations that were levied against Kevin McCarthy. 

‘He’s not somebody who’s based in the truth he’s very smooth talking. He’s clearly bright, but he’s not based on the facts and the truth,’ she said. 

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said he didn’t expect any major leadership or policy differences between Johnson and McCarthy, but Johnson was more trusted by the right wing of the party. 

‘I have been told by a number of my friends in the Freedom Caucus that they do expect they’ll provide Mike Johnson more grace than they gave Kevin McCarthy. I think that’s going to give him a little more runway to try to deal with the next three months, two months,’ he said, referring to the upcoming spending battle to get the government funded. 

429 members showed up to the vote that elected Mike Johnson as speaker 

Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., looks on as the House holds Johnson’s election 

Rep. Lauren Boebert stands to vote for Johnson

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives for the Speaker vote, where she backed Democrat minority leader Hakeem Jeffries 

‘I believe that they trust Mike Johnson in a way that they didn’t trust Kevin McCarthy.’

McCarthy was ousted after he put a ‘clean’ continuing resolution, a bill to extend government funding at 2023 levels for six weeks while the House took more time to pass 12 single-subject spending bills, on the House floor. 

The South Dakota Republican predicted that Johnson would be able to work across the aisle get negotiate spending deals despite his conservative voting record.

He said when he came to office, ‘Mike Johnson came to my office, sat down with me as a new member and talked to me about how important civility was in this place, how even when we disagree with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we should try to do it as as people who have good faith and good intention with decency.’

‘That is not something very many members will spend time in these halls, preaching the importance of civility, but I bring that up, because that is at his heart who Mike Johnson is.’

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