SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The 56th Speaker of the House has finally been sworn in after Kevin McCarthy was ousted by House Republicans three weeks ago.
Republicans elected a new speaker of the House on Wednesday from Louisiana known as Mike Johnson. He was nominated Tuesday after three previous nominees flamed out. He unified the Republican Conference, winning votes from right-wing detractors as well as centrist Republicans who opposed Rep. Jim Jordan.
Congressman Richard Neal said that not much is known about our new speaker. Johnson was first elected back in 2016 he has a spotless history of voting against legal abortion, and he voted against bipartisan legislation to codify same-sex marriage.
“I think this came as a surprise. He’s been in Congress for a very short period of time, many of his views are outside the main stream but I do think that for Republicans he was the compromise,” said Neal.
Neal says that the speaker’s views are far more conservative than people might think.
Melissa Torres is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2021. Follow Melissa on X @melissatorrestv and view her bio to see more of her work.
