First victory for the new US House Speaker

Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives on November 14 overcame partisan hostility to pass a temporary budget bill that would significantly reduce the risk of a federal government shutdown.

But the heart of the matter is that the “two-step” bill proposed by new Speaker Mike Johnson, which would keep government agencies “funded” until next year, has more support from Democrats than from his own Republican Party.

Specifically, the bill received 336 votes in favor and 95 votes against, including 93 votes from the Republican Party and 2 votes from the Democratic Party. But the above result is still considered the first victory for Mr. Johnson, who was elected as Speaker of the US House of Representatives 3 weeks ago.

The new Republican leader appears to be on track to achieve better results despite facing the same political problems that led to the ouster of his predecessor Kevin McCarthy.

Far-right Republican lawmakers, angry and frustrated, rejected Mr Johnson’s approach, instead demanding budget cuts, and voted against it. Instead of the usual applause and handshakes that follow the passage of a bill, some hard-line conservatives argued forcefully with the Speaker before leaving the chamber.

Without enough support from the Republican majority, Johnson had no choice but to rely on Democrats to ensure the bill passed in time, before federal funding ran out at midnight on November 17.

The same situation happened with Mr McCarthy and Mr Johnson, but the results were different. At least Mr Johnson is not under threat of impeachment for the time being.

World - First victory for new US House Speaker — US House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with other Republican members, during a press conference about his proposed bill to avert a government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, November 14, 2023. Photo: Shutterstock/ABC News

Mr Johnson's proposal sets out a two-part process that critics say is bizarre, temporarily funding some federal agencies through Jan. 19 and others through Feb. 2 of next year.

It was a continuing resolution, or CR, that came without any of the deep spending cuts that conservatives have been clamoring for all along. It also did not include President Joe Biden’s request for nearly $106 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel, border security and other additional funds.

Many Republicans on the right have criticized the approach, but not Mr. Johnson personally. Representative Ken Buck, who voted with seven other Republicans to remove Mr. McCarthy from his position as House speaker in early October, said Mr. Johnson faced a different set of circumstances.

“What happened to Kevin is that he knew we didn’t agree on the timeline for the federal funding,” Buck told The Independent. “Now Johnson has inherited that mess and the new chairman has to do something about it.”

Rep. Chip Roy told reporters he was not impressed with the way the bill passed. “We should have gone forward with a bill that had overwhelming Republican support. This bill had a majority of Republicans, but it was not a majority,” he said.

“I guarantee you that a lot of the people who voted yes were not very happy about it,” Mr. Roy said.

The bill now heads to the US Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it could pass quickly. And eventually, the bill could reach President Joe Biden's desk for his signature .

Minh Duc (According to The Independent, AP, Bloomberg)

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