# 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:** 84
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1661 "2024-04-19T01:04:13Z")
I think Mike Johnson is basically a dick but I have to give him credit for doing the right thing. The fruitcake caucus of the GOP wants Ukraine to fall and loves loves loves Putin, but he’s willing to give up the gavel to give Ukraine a lifeline. Let’s celebrate the common ground and I’m all for Democrats killing the motion to vacate. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1662 "2024-04-19T01:08:10Z")
I swear to God that if Margarine Failure Groane is the reason that Republicans and Democrats in Congress actually start working together I will laugh my ass off. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1663 "2024-04-19T12:09:31Z")
What’s that old saying? Oh yeah: > Politics makes strange bedfellows. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1664 "2024-04-19T13:21:55Z")
last night due to the fact that it looks like aid packages will get to the floor for votes, the more radical types decided they need action! response! quick moves! to counter sneaky moves by the normals. they have formed the “floor action response team” to be on guard. the poor anchors last night could just barely maintain. the freedom caucus has come up with “fart”. [The Floor Action Response Team did not take its acronym into consideration (msn.com)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-floor-action-response-team-did-not-take-its-acronym-into-consideration/ar-AA1ngIgY) Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) discussed it during an appearance on a Blaze Media show, saying, “Myself and other members of the House Freedom Caucus, we have a Floor Action Response Team. F-A-R-T, I’m a mother of four boys, I can appreciate that.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1665 "2024-04-19T13:25:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What’s that old saying? Oh yeah: > > > Politics makes strange bedfellows. I thought necessity was the mother of strange bedfellows. We all know that politics do NOT make invention! ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1666 "2024-04-19T13:40:47Z")
The Chaos Caucus may have _finally_ gone too far. There’s a growing vocal backlash against their bomb throwing and threats amongst “normal” Republicans. > **[Analysis | Fed-up House Republicans strike back](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/19/fed-up-house-republicans-strike-back/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzEzNDk5MjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzE0ODgxNTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MTM0OTkyMDAsImp0aSI6ImZkOTMzYmViLTlkYjItNDM5Zi1hYWQ4LWIzYzljYjFhMDY4MyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI0LzA0LzE5L2ZlZC11cC1ob3VzZS1yZXB1YmxpY2Fucy1zdHJpa2UtYmFjay8ifQ.wIz0oaAZ8QIrbb9e1ZE95R8Q2CBgGfwzqu-27RkWQIg&itid=gfta)** > > In today’s edition … The first week of Trump’s hush money trial comes to a close … Biden: I’m from Scranton, not Mar-a-Lago. Gift link > They want Johnson to take forceful action to make the House work again. They want to raise the threshold for triggering a vote to oust the speaker, known as a motion to vacate. And some of them want to kick three of their colleagues off the powerful House Rules Committee. > Some House Republicans are also pressing Johnson to kick **Reps. Chip Roy** (R-Tex.), **Ralph Norman** (R-S.C.) and **Thomas Massie** (R-Ky.) off the Rules Committee, where the three of them wield an effective veto over the House agenda. > “When you’re a member the Rules Committee, it is a position where you’re carrying out the will of the conference,” D’Esposito, a freshman who represents a district that Biden won by nearly 15 points, told us. “And they’re not. They’re carrying out the will of themselves. And I think if that’s the situation, then perhaps there needs to be new people on the Rules Committee.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1667 "2024-04-19T14:22:40Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > the freedom caucus has come up with “fart”. So the House is now “Delta House.” Very mature. * * * * * * > [@MulderMuffin](#): > > The Chaos Caucus may have _finally_ gone too far. There’s a growing vocal backlash against their bomb throwing and threats amongst “normal” Republicans. Wow. Some of them have _limits_?? ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1668 "2024-04-19T14:33:22Z")
Well, their intent is to shit on the House in particular and the country in general, so naming themselves the FART Brigade seems quite natural to me. It also suits their level of intellect and decorum. When someone tells you who they are, listen carefully. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1669 "2024-04-19T14:40:54Z")
I can see a name change coming up: S H A R T - Special ('cause we know we are) House Assholes Revering Trump. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1670 "2024-04-19T14:46:54Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Some of them have _limits_? The matter is they’re even obstructing some of the _Republican_ priorities for election year, to focus on whatever lunatic troll-the-normies (not even the dems/libs any more) point they want to make at this particular instant. It may be some “normie” Republicans may have finally awoken to that the real risk is from _failing to deliver results at all_ and that this is what the freakshow caucus has wanted all along: to portray the Normals as useless and weak so they’re easier to pick off. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1671 "2024-04-19T14:47:01Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > the freedom caucus has come up with “fart”. > > [The Floor Action Response Team did not take its acronym into consideration (msn.com)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-floor-action-response-team-did-not-take-its-acronym-into-consideration/ar-AA1ngIgY) There’s no way they didn’t see that acronym coming. The trolls in the Freedom Caucus probably insisted on it, but I bet it annoys the hell out of the FC members who have pretensions toward being considered “serious” policy players like Chip Roy. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1672 "2024-04-19T16:10:52Z")
The House just overwhelmingly passed the rule to bring up the Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan foreign aid package to the floor. The vote was bipartisan, with actually more Democrats voting for it than Republicans. We’ll see if this is enough for Margie to pull the trigger on a Speaker vote. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1673 "2024-04-19T16:38:37Z")
> ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1674 "2024-04-19T16:44:25Z")
If only he could retire to spend time with his family. Oh, wait, they all campaigned against him, didn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1675 "2024-04-19T16:59:41Z")
Given the current makeup of the House, three Republican votes is what it would take to remove Johnson as Speaker – IF all Democrats voted to remove him. That seems unlikely to happen this time. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1676 "2024-04-19T17:16:08Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > IF all Democrats voted to remove him. That seems unlikely to happen this time. This is exactly the wrong time for the Democrats to vote to oust the Speaker. After months of dysfunction, shit is finally getting done, and it’s shit the Democrat want to get done. There’s no way they’ll rock the boat right now. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1677 "2024-04-19T17:18:20Z")
It would be nice if there was a deal with the D’s and Johnson; We’ll vote to keep you as speaker, and in return, you kick these FARTing morons off the rules committee and otherwise neuter them as much as you can. Oh, and bring aid for Ukraine up for a vote. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1678 "2024-04-19T18:08:04Z")
Only if you flip those quids and pros – do want we want, and then we’ll back you. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1679 "2024-04-19T19:55:33Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think Mike Johnson is basically a dick but I have to give him credit for doing the right thing. He actually has a backbone and ethics. Maybe not the ethics we can agree with , but they are there. Mccarthy otoh had neither. He can be worked with. > **[House Democrats help Johnson avoid defeat on foreign aid bills, despite GOP...](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-votes-advance-foreign-aid-bills-despite-gop/story?id=109423163)** > > The House on Friday cleared a key procedural hurdle in passing foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, despite Republican defections. _The House on Friday cleared a key procedural hurdle in passing foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, despite dozens of Republican defections, with Democrats helping Speaker Mike Johnson avoid a stinging defeat…Procedural votes such as Friday’s are typically passed by the House majority alone, but Democrats stepped in to help push the legislation forward after Republican hard-liners collectively opposed the measure. More Democrats voted to advance the bills than Republicans._ _“Democrats, once again, will be the adults in the room,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., during debate ahead of the vote._ What was it that **P.J. O’Rourke** said about Hillary Clinton- **“She’s wrong about absolutely everything, but she’s wrong within normal parameters,”** This applies to Johnson also. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-revolving-speakership-of-the-118th-congress-mike-johnson-is-new-speaker-as-of-2023-10-25/991432/1680 "2024-04-19T21:32:46Z")
If Mike Johnson, kicking and screaming, does finally admit that Ukraine needs our help and Russia does not, then that does set him apart from whatever the fuck has become of Republicans. On foriegn policy alone! I don’t even want to know his social views. [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=83) [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=85)