Mike Johnson (center) is applauded after being nominated Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives on October 24, 2023
Mike Johnson was the fourth GOP nominee for House Speaker in three weeks AFP

After more than three weeks of chaos and internal fights in the Republican party, a new Speaker of the House has been elected.

Representative Mike Johnson, a conservative from Louisiana, climbed to the post after receiving 220 votes from the House floor.

Johnson, 51, is an attorney and defender of religious rights. He was among the group of Republicans who supported a lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election results. His candidacy to Speaker of the House was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

In the Oct. 21 letter to his GOP conference, in which he announced his candidacy, Johnson said the moment demands "a leader who would humble himself each day before Almighty God, selflessly serve the full membership of this body, and fight ceaselessly for our core conservative principles and policies."

As the new speaker, Johnson will have to address urgent issues. Among them are President Joe Biden's $106 billion national security package that includes aid to Israel, Ukraine, as well as humanitarian aid to Gaza.

He will also have to discuss a solution to fund the government after Nov. 17, when the stopgap measure that avoided a shutdown will expire.

Paralyzed House

Legislative activity in the House of Representatives was essentially paralyzed since Oct. 3, when Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the speaker position. He angered members of his own party for working on the bipartisan stopgap measure that averted a government shutdown.

The GOP conference nominated three other candidates for Speaker of the House before Johnson, but none of them was able to get enough support within the party.

The first nominee, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, withdrew his candidacy even before facing the full House vote.

Then Jim Jordan, a far-right Republican from Ohio, and also a staunch ally of Trump, dropped out of the race after having his name rejected three times in floor votes.

Tom Emmer of Minnesota was nominated Tuesday morning, but abandoned the bid later in the afternoon before submitting his name to the floor.