Iowa’s four congressional members supported U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson’s, R-La., bid for the Speaker of the House in a Wednesday vote.
The GOP majorities’ vote for a new speaker comes three weeks after far-right conservative U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., ousted former Speaker of the House U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Johnson was formally elected speaker in a 220-209 vote on Wednesday after several rounds of closed-door voting among the House Republican conference over the last three days where U.S. Reps. Steve Scalise, R-La., Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, were once chosen as speaker designees but all ended their candidacy after failing to gain consensus among the party.
During Jordan’s bid for speakership all four Iowa Reps. supported him until U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, pulled her support in subsequent rounds of voting.
Following her vote against Jordan, Miller-Meeks reported that she received credible death threats and harassment from Jordan’s supporters.
Another possible government shutdown lurks around the corner if the U.S. House does not pass a continuing resolution to allow more time to pass spending bills to delay a shutdown.
House Republicans could also opt to pass spending bills to fund the government through the end of the next fiscal year, however, House leadership has had trouble getting hardline members to sign onto moderate spending packages that would make it through the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Iowa GOP U.S. Reps. Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn, and Randy Feenstra all voted for Johnson on Wednesday.
Republicans commit to moving forward with conservative priorities
Miller-Meeks called for House Republicans to get back to legislating following a three-week hiatus to find a new speaker.
“Now it’s time to resume our efforts to fortify our border, keep parents involved in educational decisions, make meaningful steps toward energy independence, regain global leadership over China, affirm our support for Israel and most importantly continue to work for the American people,” Miller-Meeks said in a Wednesday news release.
Hinson called for the House to move swiftly to pass the single-subject appropriations bills created by the House Appropriations Committee that Hinson sits on.
“The recent chaos and dysfunction is inexcusable, but it is time to move forward and focus on our legislative agenda,” Hinson said in a Wednesday news release. “If there is a silver lining to the past few weeks, it is the thoughtful ideas put forward by Speaker candidates to help Washington work better for the Americans we are lucky to serve.”
Democrats call out Johnson’s record
In a news release on Wednesday, Democratic National Committee chairperson Jaime Harrison called out Johnson’s record.
Johnson was one of a group of House Republicans, including Jordan, who voted to overturn the 2020 election results and claimed that the election was stolen from Former President Donald Trump.
According to The New York Times, Johnson also supports a nationwide abortion ban and thinks that homosexuality is “inherently unnatural” and a “dangerous lifestyle.”
“Speaker Johnson has proven that he is a loyal foot soldier to the real leader of the Republican Party – Donald Trump,” Harrison said in a Wednesday news release. “We have been here before – this is the same exact MAGA extremism that the American people have already rejected – and they will do it again.”
Following Hinson’s vote for Johnson, Amir Jones, campaign manager for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District candidate Sarah Corkery from Cedar Falls, said Hinson is elevating the most extreme parts of her party.
“When your idea of responsible leadership is someone who wants to overturn the will of the American people, overturn the right of all people to marry who they love, and take away the right to make our own healthcare decisions, it’s time for you to lose your job,” Jones said in a news release on Wednesday.