Susan Collins must Google the person who could be the subsequent Home speaker
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins advised a reporter on Wednesday that she deliberate to Google the newest Republican nominee for Home speaker.
It highlighted the relative obscurity of Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who on Tuesday turned the fourth Republican to clinch the occasion’s nomination for speaker within the three weeks since Kevin McCarthy of California was ousted by a couple of rogue members of his convention and all Home Democrats.
Collins made her remarks on Johnson to a CNN reporter, saying she didn’t know him and deliberate a Google search later within the day. The Maine senator is the highest Republican appropriator within the higher chamber, that means she works intently with Home members on funding payments.
She will not be alone in in search of extra data on Johnson. Whereas he’s already a member of Home management, he has solely been in Congress since 2017. After he gained the nomination on Tuesday, his Google search site visitors went from nearly nil to close peak reputation.
Three weeks on, the Republicans have been frittering away their majority standing within the Home. It has additionally gummed up work within the Senate, the place a bipartisan majority desires to ship recent help packages to Israel and Ukraine. A authorities shutdown additionally looms in mid-November.
Refusing to unify, far-right Home members gained’t settle for a extra conventional speaker and average conservatives don’t desire a hardliner. Whereas Johnson had no opponents through the non-public roll name, some two dozen Republicans didn’t vote, which might be greater than sufficient to sink his nomination in a vote that’s anticipated later Wednesday.
A lawyer specializing in constitutional points, Johnson rallied Republicans round former President Donald Trump’s authorized effort to overturn the 2020 election outcomes. He tried to rally members after clinching a higher-than-expected variety of nominating votes.
“Democracy is messy typically, however it’s our system,” Johnson mentioned afterward, with Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, a former speaker candidate who can also be from Louisiana, standing behind him. “We’re going to revive your belief in what we do right here.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
