# The Great Ongoing Revolving Speakership of the 118th Congress {Mike Johnson is new speaker as of 2023-10-25} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 12, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432 "2023-10-12T02:05:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/61 "2023-10-13T00:23:21Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > One congressman is now bribing his compatriots with McGriddles in exchange for votes. Maybe he should try that to court the Great Orange Junk Food Junkie’s support. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/62 "2023-10-13T00:26:08Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > allowing any power to the unelected (by the house to be clear) Pro Tem I don’t know enough about McHenry to guess whether kicking Pelosi out of her office was just a neener-neener stunt or a calculated ploy to set a precedent (“if you don’t think I’m allowed to exercise power as the _de facto_ Speaker, you should have complained then”). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/63 "2023-10-13T00:32:12Z")
Terry Crews should do it. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/64 "2023-10-13T00:40:35Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Well, Scalise just withdrew his name from being considered in the Speaker’s race on live tee vee. Fun fact: Steve Scalise is the _second_ Representative from Louisianna’s First Congressional District to be endorsed by the House Republican Conference for Speaker only to withdraw before the vote. Bob Livingston was nominated to succeed Newt Gingrich after the 1998 midterm election debacle but resigned when his extramarital affair was exposed. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/65 "2023-10-13T00:53:42Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Terry Crews should do it. I know shit’s bad right now… ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/66 "2023-10-13T00:53:52Z")
I had the same thought about the office-based pettiness, and my personal answer was it was likely both. More the former (pettiness) than the latter (political calculation), but still both. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/67 "2023-10-13T01:17:50Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I know shit’s bad right now… This has been pointed out many times, but Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho was not a horrible president. He knew he did not understand the problem, so he found the smartest guy he could find, listened to him even though he did not understand him, and went with his plan trusting the science. He would have been a good president during a pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/68 "2023-10-13T01:25:55Z")
McCarthy: “I’ll give ya whatever ya want. Just let me be Speaker. Pul-leeze!” Scalise: “That dickhead McCarthy gave away the farm to be Speaker. There is nothing left to give, so make me Speaker as-is or f-off!” Contestant #3: [crickets] ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/69 "2023-10-13T01:45:09Z")
It’s looking more likely for my worst-case outcome, which is “moderate” Republicans buckling under and deciding to vote for Jordan just so they can stop the chaos. I hope I am wrong wrong wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/70 "2023-10-13T01:53:24Z")
I don’t know. The “moderates” – and I do appreciate you putting that in parentheses – are still really, really pissed about the complete hash Jordan made of the Joe Biden impeachment inquiry, where their own witnesses were testifying, “Gee, if only there was some wrongdoing here. But there isn’t.” Jordan is Team Trump. Team Bannon, Team Flynn, Team Alex Jones. All Jordan wants is to raze government to the ground in an effort to clear the way for a Trump reelection. Though they won’t say so publicly, many Republicans are very ready to move past the Trump era. They know they are probably going to be creamed in the next election if they continue down this path of destroying everything. With a margin of only 3 to lose, I don’t see a path for Jordan. Whoever gets over the line will require the assistance of Dems. They will never vote for Jordan. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/71 "2023-10-13T01:57:00Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Bob Livingston was nominated to succeed Newt Gingrich after the 1998 midterm election debacle but resigned when his extramarital affair was exposed. And then they went with Hastert, who was guaranteed not to have a side chick since he preferred underage boys instead. People who’re older than me - who was the last Republican Speaker who wasn’t an amoral piece of shit? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/72 "2023-10-13T02:00:50Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > It’s looking more likely for my worst-case outcome, which is “moderate” Republicans buckling under and deciding to vote for Jordan just so they can stop the But if they actually care to “stop the chaos,” then they’d know that elevating Jordan wouldn’t actually stop any chaos. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/73 "2023-10-13T02:28:49Z")
I agree with @Aspenglow – there’s no way that the Republican “moderates” (more to the point, Republicans in Biden districts) can make Jim Jordan Speaker and hope to survive next year. Soon, Republicans will be looking for their lowest common denominator – i.e. the candidate who’s barely, grudgingly acceptable to everyone in the caucus. I’ve already mooted McHenry getting the permanent gavel. Another name I expect to start getting talked about soon is Elise Stefanik. She’s the Republican Conference Chairwoman, having booted Liz Cheney out of that role. She’s got cred with both the mainstream and screaming MAGA wings of the party, having started out as a fairly establishment Republican but taking a strong Trumpy turn after 2016. At the very least, she doesn’t appear to have particularly alienated anyone in the conference which may be all it takes when they finally exhaust themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/74 "2023-10-13T02:30:38Z")
It is becoming more and more obvious that the Republicans are becoming two distinct parties. They cannot even agree on a speaker, and they currently have no ability (or even desire) to govern. Someone in that Party needs to rip the bandaid off, and throw the 5 - 10 of the worst assholes out of the party entirely. Let them start a Full On Trumpist Party. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/75 "2023-10-13T02:34:38Z")
That would indeed be the best path forward for the non-trumply Rs as a collective. The problem each of those folks face is that the voters in their individual districts are a lot trumplier than the reps wish they could get away with. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/76 "2023-10-13T02:37:20Z")
Problem is that such an assessment has been being made for years. It’s never been wrong but the not Trump rump understands that without the Trump part they have virtually no power at all. They long ago recognized they were not driving the car and have been just trying to hang on the roof. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/77 "2023-10-13T02:46:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > People who’re older than me - who was the last Republican Speaker who wasn’t an amoral piece of shit? Maybe Joe Martin, who was Speaker 1951-1955. Otherwise you’d have to go back to Nicholas Longworth, 1925-1931. He was also married to Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter Alice. Paul Ryan was probably no more than normally corrupt and wrong within normal parameters. In retrospect he’s looking pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/78 "2023-10-13T03:00:09Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Another name I expect to start getting talked about soon is Elise Stefanik. Yep, that’s a possibility as this progresses. Jordan’s path this point is one of attrition: be the last man standing when everyone else viable has thrown their hands up. The challenge here is the extremists will want whoever takes the office to do so with a gun to their head again and they really risk harming their chances for a repeat majority – both McCarthy and Scalise did quite a bit of work to get others funded and elected and the way they’re getting treated they may not feel much like it next year. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/79 "2023-10-13T03:07:09Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > People who’re older than me - who was the last Republican Speaker who wasn’t an amoral piece of shit? Never a Speaker, but longtime Republican House Minority Leader Bob Michel was a decent, hardworking, well-respected leader who worked across the aisle to reach bipartisan agreements. He was of course savaged by Newt Gingrich and other firebrands who accused him of not fighting hard enough to seize power for Republicans, and they drove him into retirement just before the 1994 Republican takeover. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/80 "2023-10-13T03:08:10Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Jordan’s path this point is one of attrition: be the last man standing when everyone else viable has thrown their hands up. I think Jordan is the logical conclusion to the premise that the right wing of the caucus is willing to split the baby and the mainstream/“moderate” wing isn’t, so eventually either the right wing gets to have the baby or the mainstream wing has to show that it’s at least capable of calling their bluff. McCarthy probably got as close as could reasonably be expected to find an acceptable middle ground given how insane the demands of his right flank are; now his left flank has to decide if they will simply capitulate after even the most slanted compromise was rejected by the freedom caucus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432.md?page=5)