There’s a new House Speaker in D.C.
25 News spoke to Congressman Pete Sessions about what this means for a republican-led congress.
Republican Mike Johnson needed 218 votes to become speaker of the house, and that’s with 220 republicans voting.
As it turned out, they got the 218, so Johnson was elected speaker rather quickly.
"That was very important — two years ago it took a long time before McCarthy was sworn in," Sessions said.
Johnson is a relatively new member of U.S. Congress.
Arriving in 2017, much of the process and procedures are new to Johnson because 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Nancy Pelosi was speaker and Johnson wasn’t involved in the majority party.
"This is a hard transition so what we’re doing is moving forward slowly and deliberately, but we also have President Trump’s consideration and that’s to Mike Johnson’s advantage," Sessions said.
The House must pass a debt limit, a border bill and change millions of dollars from mandatory spending to discretionary.
Sessions believes there is a lot to be done, but with President Trump on Johnson’s side, Johnson can do it despite the inexperience.
"Mike is a good man and a good friend — he’s making decisions from a younger newer member so in a lot of learning circumstances," Sessions said.
A new rule was put in place, which states nine House republicans will be needed to call a vote to oust Johnson from his role.
Previously, it only took one lawmaker to remove the Speaker.
