Johnson New House Speaker

The House is returning to work on legislation after Republicans approved conservative Rep. Mike Johnson (La) as House Speaker.

The vote to approve Rep. Johnson, who has been in office less than seven years, came after weeks of upheaval among House Republicans following the surprise decision to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) from the Speaker’s chair.

The lack of a Speaker put the brakes on the passage of any legislation in the House, putting in jeopardy both the federal budget and the farm bill.

Rep. Johnson was elected to the House in 2016 to represent Louisiana’s fourth district.

He has been serving as vice chair of the House Republican Conference and as a deputy whip. He sits on the House Judiciary Committee and on the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

President Biden called the new Speaker to offer his congratulations and urge bipartisanship in order to get key pieces of legislation passed this year, according to the White House.