The leader of the US House of Representatives is the Speaker. Mike Johnson from Louisiana State is the current Speaker the leader of the US House of Representatives. Mike was elected as the 56th Speaker of the US House of Representatives, after the resignation of “ Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California”, on Oct 25th, 2023.
Procedure for how the leader of the US House of Representatives was elected?
The U.S. Constitution, Article 1 Sec(2) mentions “the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.”
Constitutional Requirement:
In general, the Speaker has always been a sitting member although it is not mentioned about the specifications of the membership in the article.
Nomination:
The party members nominate one of their candidates for the position of Speaker through an in-house party meeting.
Party Vote:
Once nominated, the Speaker candidate from the majority party needs a majority vote. This means the candidate must receive more than half of the votes from the members of their party.
Full House Vote:
A Quorum (minimum no. of members present) is required before proceeding further. The nominated candidate’s name for the post of Speaker is put forward for a vote in the full House of Representatives.
Minority Party Leader:
The Minority Leader is usually elected similarly within the minority party caucus.
Swearing-In:
After the voting if elected, the new Speaker takes the oath of office and assumes the role. The US Senate Prediction will help you to analyze the current political scenario with an overview of “Exploring Mike Johnson’s political rise, his succession to the Speaker post, and the circumstances leading to Kevin McCarthy’s resignation; also, a glance at the current political landscape for a California candidate in the 2024 U.S. Senate election.”
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy a Republican, supported Trump and his policies and began his political career as a member of the California State Assembly scaled to the US House of Representatives in 2007 although he had a short-term career as a speaker that started for nine months only from Jan 2023 to beginning of Oct 2023.
McCarthy who served a term as House Republican Chief deputy whip from 2009 to 2011 rose his political career again and served the Majority whip from 2011 to 2014. Losing the majority whip by Eric Cantor in the Republican Primary McCarthy was elected as a majority leader under John Boehner. Once rising in his political career McCarthy was elected as a House Minority Leader after Paul Ryan’s term ended.
After the Win of Joe Biden in the US Presidential election 2020, Donald Trump charged claims of voter fraud were supported by McCarthy. The violence in the U.S. Capitol on 6th Jan 2021 during the electoral vote count McCarthy blamed Trump for the riot. As a nominee for speaker in January 2023 he lost the vote at the first attempt to regain the post after negotiation within the party.
The parties negotiated the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, to bypass the 2023 debt-ceiling crisis, with the support of Democrats to help pass a bipartisan. Republican Matt Gaetz filed a motion against McCarthy to vacate the seat which finally led to the resignation of the Leader of the US House of Representatives McCarthy as the Speaker.
Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson, is the current and 56th Speaker, “ the Leader of the US House of Representatives”, assumed his office after the resignation of Kevin McCarthy on 25th Oct, 2023. In 2016, Johnson was elected to Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District before joining politics Johnson practiced as Attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom and advocated for sodomy laws and criminalizing homosexuality. Before being elected as a Speaker, the leader of the US House of Representatives he served as vice chair of the House Republican Conference.
Johnson was elected to Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District after John Fleming who is running for the US Senate seat election vacated by John Fleming. In 2018, he defeated Democrat Ryan Trundle by securing 64% of votes against 34% of votes gathered by Ryan thus winning by a huge margin. Again maintaining the winning streak defeated Democrat Kenny Houston by gaining 60% against Houston’s 25% votes.
Johnson won the seat in 2022 in a one-sided affair in reelection showing his immense potential as a Republican Leader.