As of October 18, 2023, the United States of America had not had a Speaker of the House for over 2 weeks. What are the consequences of this, you may ask? Countless.
Without a presiding Speaker, the US House of Representatives is unable to conduct any legislative work, leaving crucial decisions such as how to fund the government in limbo. For context, on September 30th, 2023, after days of in-party fighting and compromise, the House voted to pass a temporary spending bill to fund the government through November 17. Just five days later, then Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was voted out of his position. As a result of a movement led by eight extremist House Republicans, the United States was effectively spiraling into pure chaos. As we approached 30 days before an imminent government shutdown, we found ourselves in the middle of the chaos with no peaceful end in sight. Over a third of the time meant to be spent passing a fully effective spending bill was spent on failed attempts to elect the next speaker. As we watched House Republicans lead their own downfall, the only thing they seemed to be able to agree on was their hate for Democrats. Their united hate towards the left only served to divide them further as their in-party dysfunction came to the surface.
On October 12, over a week after McCarthy’s ousting, Representative Steve Scalise was nominated by Republicans to run for Speaker. Yet, party divisions led to a failure to amass enough votes for Scalise to win the position. The next day, Scalise dropped out of the race. It only took one day for the next nominee to be announced: Representative Jim Jordan. After spending several days trying to win his colleagues over, he ultimately failed to get enough votes on the House floor, losing more votes on the second and third rounds.
With half of Congress in a state of perpetual chaos, many Americans were left wondering whether this child’s play would ever end. Will the people we elected to represent our values ever be able to get past their own differences? With a government shutdown looming, an escalating war in the Middle East, and an ongoing war in Eastern Europe, it seems now is the absolute worst time for those leading our country to be at war with themselves. I couldn’t agree more.
After three failed attempts, Jim Jordan stepped down and the next Republican nominee, Tom Emmer took his place. Yet, just hours after his nomination, Representative Emmer took himself out of the race. The speed at which Republicans went through nominees almost felt like a joke and demonstrated their clear inability to unite behind a member of their own party. However, soon, that joke turned into a very daunting reality. The next Republican nominee was Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson. Although many GOP members admitted to having to Google Representative Johnson to figure out who he was, Johnson seemed to have the votes to win. Were the majority of Republicans genuinely supportive of Johnson, or did they simply want an end to the weeks of back and forth? That is a question I continue to ask myself. Regardless, there was a clear shift in perspective and attitude on the House floor. The next day, on October 25th, Mike Johnson was elected speaker, effectively ending 22 days of chaos.
Now all is well, right? In the eyes of many, yes; but from my perspective, absolutely not. Representative Mike Johnson played a key role in promoting the 2020 election denial. Representative Mike Johnson voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, against implementing new gun laws, against codifying same-sex marriage, and against legalizing abortion. This man is now the Speaker of the House. This man now has power over what is discussed in Congress and what actions are taken. Yet, the primary worry of many, including myself, is Speaker Johnson’s extreme conservative views and the ability of those views to stand in the way of any real progress. As a 17-year-old woman, I feel less safe knowing that the authoritative spokesperson of the legislative branch of our country wants to strip my gender of their right to a choice. I feel less safe knowing that the person meant to protect our interests refuses to protect the children of our country from the risk of school shootings.
Only time will tell whether Speaker Johnson will continue to lead through a partisan lens or if he will truly work for the American people. But nothing will alter my lasting disappointment in the elected leaders of our country and their inability to stand together at a time when we needed them the most.
