The search is on for a new House Speaker

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? Dems ready oppo cannon

Democrats believe Republicans just handed them a treasure trove of campaign material by unanimously electing Johnson, bolstering an anti-MAGA message they've been hammering for the last two years:

• "This [speaker's race] has been about one thing: Who can appease Donald Trump?" Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said in his nominating speech for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
• "House Republicans have put their names behind someone who has been called 'the most important architect' of the Electoral College objections," Aguilar continued.

"Damn right!" Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) interjected from the Republican side of the chamber.

Screenshot via X

Zoom in: Democrats are looking to define Johnson early — viewing his right-wing record as a potential asset in the swing districts crucial to taking back the majority in 2024, Axios' Andrew Solender and Erin Doherty report.

• "Bye-bye," one Democrat called out as Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), a Biden-district Republican, voted for Johnson.
• "Mike Johnson is Jim Jordan in a sports coat," said DCCC spokesperson Viet Shelton.

What we're hearing: "Because he's been so unvetted, there's going to be like a pop-up cottage industry" to define him, one Democratic strategist working on House races told Axios.

• "He is a rare and volatile combination of unvetted [and] conservative talk show host. He actually has years of material, freestyle right-wing rhetoric, that nobody has looked under the hood on," the strategist said.

Keep reading

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? Now comes the hard part

Data: OpenSecrets; Chart: Axios Visuals Twenty-two days of GOP infighting have left Congress with 22 days to fund the government — giving Johnson a short runway to manage the sequel to September's shutdown standoff. Why it matters: That's far from the only challenge inherited by Johnson, who has been suddenly been elevated from the 211th most senior member of the House to second in line for the presidency. Relationships: The wounds from McCarthy's ouster and the ensuing GOP civil war will not heal overnight. Johnson faces a significant learning curve when it comes to member management — not to mention the relationships he'll be forced to build from scratch with both the Senate and the White House. Fundraising: McCarthy was a prolific fundraiser — a key asset for any speaker whose goals include retaining and expanding their House majority. Johnson is relatively unknown among Republican lobbyists and has raised only about $548,000 in 2023 so far. Legislating: Even if Republicans stay united through the government funding process, Johnson's support for deep spending cuts — and opposition to sending aid to Ukraine — will set the stage for a tense standoff when it comes time for bipartisan negotiations. Between the lines: Brendan Buck, an aide to former Speakers John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), predicts that Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) will become one of the most powerful majority leaders in decades as a result of Johnson's inexperience.

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New US House speaker tried to help overturn the 2020 election, raising concerns about the next one Mike Johnson, the Louisiana congressman who was elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, took the lead in filing a brief in a lawsuit that sought to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 win. Johnson’s selection has raised concerns about how a speaker who supported Donald Trump’s last effort to stay in power could be well-positioned to do so again if the former president is the GOP nominee and loses the 2024 presidential election. Read more.

Why this matters: After the 2020 election, Johnson echoed some of the wilder conspiracy theories pushed by Trump to explain away his loss. He then voted against certifying Biden’s win even after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.   Trump’s supporters in trying to overturn the election have not fared well with voters since the assault on the Capitol. Instead, they have excelled at winning internal Republican contests and taking control of some state parties. Now they also have claimed one of the nation’s most powerful political positions.   Johnson’s role three years ago is relevant now not only because the U.S. Constitution puts the speaker second in the line of presidential succession after the vice president. The House now led by Johnson will also have to certify the winner of the upcoming presidential election.

Related coverage ➤ Who is Mike Johnson? New House speaker is a strong Trump ally and a quiet force among Republicans

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? Speaker Johnson's oppo dossier

New House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is being vetted in real time:

• The 51-year-old lawyer didn't have a national profile until this week. And his 20-year paper trail is an oppo researcher's dream, Axios' Justin Green writes.

Why it matters: Johnson is one of the most socially conservative speakers in modern memory — often far to the right of former President Trump. Democrats plan to make him a central figure in their 2024 campaigns.

Johnson has made it easy, with reams of op-eds and newspaper columns paired with legislation he recently introduced and supported:

• Abortion: Johnson posted in January that "we will get the number of abortions to ZERO!!" in Louisiana after the fall of Roe.
• Sexual orientation and gender identity: "Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do," Johnson wrote in a 2005 op-ed, CNN reports.
• Criminalizing gay sex: "States have many legitimate grounds to proscribe same-sex deviate sexual intercourse," Johnson wrote in a July 2003 guest column cited by CNN.
• Trump's election denialism: "Johnson led the way in shaping legal arguments that became gospel among GOP lawmakers who sought to derail Biden's path to the White House — even after all but the most extreme options had elapsed," Politico reports.

Official bio ... Go deeper: Johnson's "election fraud" claims ...

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?️ Biden's awkward dance with new speaker

President Biden is making overtures to newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), indicating that he's willing to look past the speaker's election-denialism to keep the government open and provide funding for Ukraine and Israel.

• Why it matters: The fate of Biden's immediate domestic and foreign agenda rests in the hand of a man who actively opposed certification of his election, Axios' Hans Nichols writes.

Shortly after Johnson's election, Biden called to congratulate him.

• The White House was quick with a statement to signal a willingness to work together. "There should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can," Biden said.
• Without a deal, the government runs out of money in 22 days (Nov. 17).

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on X that he and Johnson "will be meeting soon."

? Between the lines: Biden has no relationship with Johnson.

• Their only known interaction came in May, when Biden gave Johnson — and other Louisiana lawmakers — a shoutout at an LSU women's basketball championship ceremony in the East Room.

Johnson's remarks ... Biden's statement ...