# 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:** 47
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/921 "2023-10-21T23:34:06Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I always wonder who was the first person to suggest “roll up your sleeves and take off your tie to look like an average person.” There’s an injury-law firm that advertises a lot here in the Chicago area (though apparently they aren’t based here) – their ads often feature the two principal lawyers with the rolled-up sleeves, and loosened ties. It does seem pretty trope-y, and I’m pretty sure that they didn’t come up with it. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tm_B9fEJFXM/maxresdefault.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tm_B9fEJFXM/maxresdefault.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/922 "2023-10-22T01:01:32Z")
Two-Twenty Two-Twenty Two-Twenty Two! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/923 "2023-10-22T01:48:39Z")
But seriously, back to the thread, will someone please remind me, ha ha, how it is the Democrats’ responsibility to elect a, ha ha ha, Republican speaker?? Ha ha ha ha. Jeeze fuckin louise. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/924 "2023-10-22T03:19:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > He is a republican, right? Technically he died as a member of the National Union party working with a Democrat so he would not get the votes for Speaker. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/925 "2023-10-22T03:24:01Z")
The House is largely paralyzed right now. So much effort has been going toward addressing this matter that nothing else can get done. If the Rs can put up a reasonably moderate candidate, the Ds might consider supporting that person, just to get back to work.        The Rs hate government slightly more than they hate America. This paralysis is the kind of thing that makes them happy. And the likelihod of them putting up a reasonable candidate – _hey, a perch just rode past my window on a bicycle_.        The only way to light a fire under their asses would be to freeze their bank accounts until they get this fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/926 "2023-10-22T03:24:33Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > At this rate, no one who is a house Republican will ever win. So the mods should look outside the House. How many votes would Chris Sununu get? And would the Dems vote for him as Speaker to F over the FCers? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/927 "2023-10-22T03:26:44Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > But seriously, back to the thread, will someone please remind me, ha ha, how it is the Democrats’ responsibility to elect a, ha ha ha, Republican speaker?? Because you want a functioning House with someone in charge who is reasonably close to the middle. And you’re worried that a FCer will eventually make enough threats to be elected by the Pubs. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/928 "2023-10-22T03:29:50Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Because you want a functioning House with someone in charge who is reasonably close to the middle. There’s an absolute, 100% immovable requirement for “reasonably close to the middle”: it’s a willingness to reach across the aisle and compromise with Democrats. Someone who uses the Republican idea of negotiation (only within the Republican party, never with Democrats), and who believes that compromise is a sign of cowardice and treachery, is definitionally nowhere close to the middle. So this is the test: _which someone has reached out to Democrats for their support?_ ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/929 "2023-10-22T03:33:11Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > There’s an absolute, 100% immovable requirement for “reasonably close to the middle”: it’s a willingness to reach across the aisle and compromise with Democrats. And I think there are a few Republican Governors that fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/930 "2023-10-22T03:34:45Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > And I think there are a few Republican Governors that fit the bill. Are they the strange combination of ambitious enough and stupid enough to accept a nomination? If they are, have they passed that test I put in italics? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/931 "2023-10-22T03:44:43Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Are they the strange combination of ambitious enough and stupid enough to accept a nomination? Chris Sununu yes. I think Phil Scott would not leave the governorship for the speakership. What about Mitt Romney? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/932 "2023-10-22T03:53:35Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > What about Mitt Romney? I think a big part of the reason he’s retiring from the Senate is that he’s tired of dealing with the RWNJ wing of the GOP, and that wing may be even stronger in the House than it is in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/933 "2023-10-22T03:57:51Z")
Would a Speaker who is not a Representative be paid? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/934 "2023-10-22T04:21:15Z")
$223,500 per year as per Executive Order 13970. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/935 "2023-10-22T05:18:20Z")
Not bad. I’d do it for half that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/936 "2023-10-22T06:24:44Z")
How is your gavel banging? ---
**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 22, 2023, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/937 "2023-10-22T06:31:30Z")
Depends. Am I allowed to use it to discipline unruly congressmen? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/938 "2023-10-22T10:50:48Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > And the likelihod of them putting up a reasonable candidate – _hey, a perch just rode past my window on a bicycle_. Thanks for the laugh first thing in the morning! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/939 "2023-10-22T10:54:08Z")
Republicans: Hey Democrats, we really need you to bail us out here, we’re in _way_ over our heads. But it has to come in the form of you guys voting for a Republican, ok? Not us guys voting for a Democrat. But we really need you guys to fix what we’ve done. Democrats: Did you know that fish sometimes ride bicycles? ---
**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 22, 2023, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/940 "2023-10-22T11:12:30Z")
The next time Jeffries gets to address the floor, I double-dog dare him to just start reading the script of Bee Movie. [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=46) [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=48)