Over Here, Over There podcast host Dan Harris discusses with BBC Radio Kent’s Steve Ladner the election of a new Speaker of the House, (R-LA) Michael Johnson.
‘Finally, the nightmare in the US House of Representatives is finally different’ (as opposed to over), so says late-night host Stephen Colbert. After three weeks of paralysis, the new House Speaker, second in line to the Presidency, is Representative Michael Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana. Not well known even by colleagues in Congress, many of whom had to Google him to learn more, Mr. Johnson talked cordially in the spirit of bipartisanship towards the Democrats in his acceptance speech. His quiet history tells otherwise, however. As a MAGA loyalist, he was one of the chief architects of the GOP’s campaign to decertify the 2020 U.S. presidential election in the House of Representatives. With severe challenges both at home and abroad, how he will use the powerful Speaker’s gavel, only time will tell. Have a listen.