NC’s Patrick McHenry gives up his gavel as Republicans elect new House speaker

Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry finally gave up his gavel Wednesday afternoon.

Twenty-two days after eight House Republicans worked with Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from leading the chamber, the party was able to find McCarthy’s replacement.

Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, received the title after four nominations and four rounds of votes.

But as soon as Republicans announced Johnson’s nomination, people, including members of Congress, began asking, “Who is Mike Johnson?” with some of his colleagues even admitting to having to Google him.

Johnson, Trump and the 2020 election results

Johnson, 51, is serving in his third term in Congress and is most known for his support of former President Donald Trump. He served on Trump’s legal defense team during Trump’s impeachment hearings, helped organize Republicans to file court documents in Texas that contested the 2020 election results in four swing states and voted to overturn the Pennsylvania election results.

In the House chamber, when Rep. Pete Aguilar, a Democrat from California, called Johnson one of the leading “architects” of trying to overthrow the certification of President Joe Biden’s election, several Republicans shouted, “Damn right!”

He is also a staunch opponent of abortion, medical marijuana and same-sex marriage.

On Wednesday, Trump said he wouldn’t make an endorsement because all five men who sought the Republican nomination Tuesday night were “fine and very talented men” who have supported him.

“In 2024, we will have an even bigger and more important, WIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!”

That was a drastic turn from Trump helping quash the nomination of Majority Whip Tom Emmer, of Minnesota, who was nominated by Republicans Tuesday morning but was ousted as the nominee by that evening.

When a reporter asked Tuesday night about Johnson’s vote to overturn the 2020 election, North Carolina’s Rep. Virginia Foxx led her colleagues in chastising the reporter and telling her to “Shut up!”

NC Republicans in line behind Mike Johnson

North Carolina Republicans coalesced behind Johnson as the nominee. The delegation had stuck with the party’s pick as it changed from Majority Leader Steve Scalise, to ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus founder Jim Jordan, to Emmer, to Johnson.

When Rep. Greg Murphy, a Republican from Greenville, voted on the floor for Johnson, he used a Southern turn-of-phrase: “Bless your heart, Mike Johnson.”

Democrats from North Carolina were faithful in their votes to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

At times throughout the 22 days it appeared that Republicans would never agree on who would lead the House and McHenry might become speaker by default, a position he made clear he wasn’t interested in.

McHenry, 48, became the temporary speaker on Oct. 3, after he found his name on top of a secret list kept by McCarthy of potential successors in case something happened to him that made him unable to fulfill his job. The successor list is kept as a post-9/11 rule to ensure that someone could take charge of the chamber in the event of a crisis.

However, once McHenry received the title, the parliamentarian quickly told the men that the role of speaker pro tem was meant strictly to help the chamber find a permanent successor. McHenry took that ruling seriously and brought no legislation to the floor, essentially allowing the eight Republicans to paralyze Congress for most of October.

Republicans met in conference many times throughout the month trying to find someone who could take on McCarthy’s role. At first, Scalise emerged as the conference’s nominee. But within 24 hours, Scalise pulled out of the process after some members of the conference tried to negotiate with him for their vote.

Jordan became the nominee next. But Jordan’s reputation as a rabble-rouser and staunch support of Trump, including helping Trump spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen, drew the ire of a large group of Republicans.

Jordan tried to bring his nomination to the floor three times, but each time the number of Republicans voting against him grew larger.

That led Republicans to vote Friday afternoon to revoke their nomination of Jordan and start from scratch Monday, with another nine Republicans attempting to become speaker.

Late Tuesday evening, after Johnson received the nomination, Republicans announced they would take his nomination to a floor vote as soon as they could.