in the event of a death or inability of that designee, the alternate members of the house listed in the letter bearing this date that i have placed with the clerk are designated in turn for the same purpose. signed, sincerely, mike johnson, speaker. the speaker: the chair lays before the house a commun communication. the clerk: the honorable kevin f. mccumber, clerk of the house. washington, d.c. mr. clerk, i hereby appoint the honorable patrick mchenry, the honorable adrian smith, the honorable andy harris, the honorable guy reschenthaler, the honorable rob wittman, the honorable ben cline, the honorable richard hudson, and the honorable john joyce to act as speaker pro tempore pore rarery to sign enrolled bills and joint resolutions for the remainder of the 118th congress. signed, sincerely, mike johnson,

speaker. the speaker: without objection, the appointments are approved. and the house will be in recess subject -- subject to the call of the chair. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, we'll be back soon.

>> the election of mike johnson is historic tst louisianan to be elected. he's aduate of l.s.u. and l.s.u. lawchl. these are his current positions which he wl ve up. becoming speaker. republican conference vice ai armed services and judiciary committee, republica study committee chair, ande was first elected in 2016. want to get your views on hearing about the election of mike johnson. 202-748-8021 for republicans. all others 748-8922. you can see the text number there at the bottom as well. 748-8903.

if you do send a text, include your first name and city. we are going to start with a call from mike johnson's own district in louisiana, robert a republican there. what can you tell us about your congressman? caller: i've known mike for many, many years. who is he? he's our congressman northwest louisiana. he is a very honest, decent, fair man who will do an honorable job, awesome job as speaker of the house. the nation needs to know that you are in good hands. you heard him speak. in good hands. some people may not know who he is. i have known him for many, many years. host: how have you known him? professionally or personal level? caller: well, personal level, actually. at one of his elections i didn't even remember how long i knew him. he reminded me at that time. i have known him, good grief,

didn't realize how many years. i am a republican of the state committee here. you are going to see a great man. are you going to see -- i knew he would be speaker at some point in time. i never thought it would be this early. that just is a testimony to the job he's done. he's been a constitutional lawyer for years. host: give us a little insight here. this started to break last night that this was going to happen. he got elected by his conference as the designee. were the phone lines burning up in shreveport and among the republicans gathered there? caller: i guess so. we have known mike so long. my phone wasn't burning up. i know him, and i'm sure mike was busy talking to his lesion. we are just proud as we can be. he's the first louisianan -- i don't know if you noticed.

i know a lot of people like to call our country a democracy. when you look at the pledge of allegiance, it is a republic. if you notice that mike did that because he has been defending our constitution for years and years. host: ok. the shreveport times says that colleagues past and present say mike johnson's collegial personality generates good will, even among those on opposite sides of the political spectrum. do you agree with that? caller: yes, sir. absolutely. remember he put in the compact for civility when he first got into office there. mike will work well with all kinds of people. he's very, very principled. he's not going to move from his principles. you heard him speak about what he is. he's christian guy. he has a clear vision. he always has had a clear vision for our country. and i know in louisiana we are -- i have to tell you -- host: i have to get going here.

one final question. did i say -- caller: i was going to say one last thing. maybe i shouldn't say this. don't be surprised someday if he doesn't move down the street on pennsylvania avenue. thanks so much. host: it's boujor city. caller: yes, sir. i remember years ago howard cosell called it bossier. host: thank you, sir. appreciate your time. representative speaker johnson sent out this tweet. honor of a lifetime to have been elected the 56th speaker of the house. let's hear from jill now, democrat in delray beach, florida. jill, what do you think? caller: hi. well, i'm not going to prejudge mike johnson on the job that he might do as speaker. but it concerns me a lot that all of the nominees that have been pushed by the republicans

are all trump acolytes. in fact, mike johnson even says that jim jordan is his main inflncin life. so we have a group -- had a group of people that were all ection deniers, conspac theorists, impeament supporters of joe biden, certainly not of donald trump. and it worries me that this is the group that is in charge. and if, heaven forbid, we have a re-election of that man to president, i am afraid for our democracy. i'm terribly afraid. host: that's jill in delray beach, florida. back to the shreveport times article about speaker johnson. johnson also passes the trump test as an ardent supporter of the former president who was a member of trump's inner circle. he served on trump's impeachment

defense team in the former president's first impeachment trial and didn't vote to certify the 2020 election that trump lost to president joe biden. that again is from the shreveport times. chris, missouri. on our independent line. chris. what do you think about all this? caller: yes. i kind of go either way. i think give him more conservative. i see it both ways. i would say listening to democrats and watching this prolong and democrats republicans can't get it together. well, it seems to me as an example of democrat party they all just go along to get along. there is no free thinking. they are all anti-trump is the devil. whatever they want to believe. they are going through the motions and getting to the point where they have elections for speaker. it seems like the republican party is more about america and not party. i wish the democrat party would

be more like that. host: next from middletown, delaware, republican line. sean, good afternoon. caller: hi, good afternoon. i just want to say hearing that speech that gave me so much optimism for the future of the republican party and future of america. i want to thank matt gaetz and the patriotic seven who made this happen. this was -- first of all in his speech when mentioned god, we have god back in the people's house. he mentioned israel and our border. he got right down to the point. this is the first time, i believe he's the only speaker not from new york or california. this is great for our country. it's great for working class americans. and very optimistic for the future. host: up next is julie in fullerton, california. democrat. hi. caller: hello. hello. did you ask me a question? host: what do you think? caller: well, i'm just glad that there were some results and we

actually have a speaker now so we can start moving things forward and get things done. obviously, as a democrat, i'm concerned with who is in power. this is the person who is -- the speaker is second in pineline to the presidency and he's an election denier. and the architect of the house efforts to turn over the 2020 election. that right there alone is concerning enough. and the fact his views -- he want as national abortion ban. the list goes on. it's very concerning for anybody that cares about the country or the people or americans. and he's obviously a very devout religious person, and i'm all for everybody to believe in whatever they want to believe

in. but it shouldn't be imposed on others. and the separation of church and state is essential in a free society. we cannot have freedom of religion without freedom of some religion. so that is probably the main concern i have because he's using that -- his position to basically try to lord over others and demean others who do not share his views, his beliefs. those are host: what did you think of hakeem jeffries' speech prior to this? caller: i have to go back and rewatch, i got distracted. but he's -- i love hakeem jeffries. he's a man of integrity and

honesty and i would have obviously preferred that he would have been chosen speaker but i think he'll do a very good job of trying to work, you know with the other side of the aisle to make sure that good work gets done. host: all right, judy, thank you for your time. appreciate it. from monroe, louisiana, trent. monroe is not in mike johnson's district, correct? caller: no. another congressional district. host: what do you think about your fellow louisianan being elected speak ore of the house in. caller: good, good. even in the last few minutes it's been interesting to listen to the people who are concerned about the religious and those who love the fact that he brought up god and country. i think the republican party is

shifting from maga, make america great again, to more of a mapa -- mrveg ata, make america theological again. either there's an infinite personal god and is there in a way we can know and we've got to order our lives and country around it or we're part of an evolutionary process and it's full of relativism and truth is whatever you want it to be and that will lead, in my opinion to chaos. host: so you'd be somebody who thinks going in, like you say, mata direction is a good idea? caller: i think we have to. i think it's a whole and total streuf reality over another whole and total view of reality. the democrats believe in a

theocracy of relativism, the truth is whatever you want it to be. the republicans are seeing the chaos around them and have got the courage now to say, we've got to think about theonomy, rule by god's law. host: the house will be coming back in a few minutes. but right now the republicans are gathering on the capitol steps. we'll listen in unless the house comes back in session. >> on behalf of the republican conference we are unified and so proud to have elected mike johnson as speaker of the people's house. [applause]

as many of you heard, as america heard, i am so -- i mean every word i said on the house floor. mike ebusiness miezs servant's leadership. he's hundredable -- humble but strong, he is well respected not only across the conference but the nation. we know the stakes. we know we were sent here on behalf of the american people to serve as their voice, push back on single party democrat rule led by joe biden. we are here union fid in strength to re-open the people's house and i'm so excited to turn it over to my colleague, tom emmer from minnesota, our whip. [applause] mr. emmer: thank you. good afternoon, everyone. good afternoon, everyone. thank you for bearing with us. i know it's been a long few weeks. from an outside point of view the last few weeks probably

looked like total chaos. confusion nochg end in sight. from my perspective this is one of the greatest experiences in recent history -- in the recent history of our republic. while speakers races for the last 100 years have been conducted behind closed doors, filled with political promises and tyrannical threats against anyone who would not fall in line, the speaker's races under our house republican majority have been open, honest, transparent, and a true display of what democracy looks like in action. it took a while for us to get here but our conference has shown we achieve tremendous success when we work together as a team. and i couldn't be more proud to be part of this team with our new speaker of the house mike johnson leading the way. [applause] mike is a strong man of faith. a fierce fighter for the republican commonsense agenda

he's been a leading force on the judiciary committee where he's defended americans' individual liberties while fighting back against the democrat's radical ageneral dand the biden family's culture of corruption. he's been an important voice many our conference for three years as vice chairman. as speaker i know he'll keep the party united as we continue to deliver on the commitments we made to constituents. we have had some challenging times around here the last few weeks but our country has endured challenging times before. i have zero doubt that we will again. not only will we survive, we're going to come out stronger and better because of it and the american people can rest -- rest assured that with speaker mike johnson at the helm, our house republican majority will keep fighting to unapologetically stand with israel, rein in washington's reckless spending, secure our border, and force the biden white house and schumer senate along with us as we govern.

[applause] if these last few weeks have proven anything it's that we will never stop fighting. we will never give up. i firmly believe that with house republicans now united and ready to get back to work, as our new speaker elect said, our best days lie ahead. with that, let me introduce the other fledged louisiana, our majority leader, steve scalise. mr. scalise: thank you. that is a great day, a day that's been coming for a long time. if you think about what's happened the last three weeks, a lot of people outside of washington talk about dysfunction, this great group of men and women mind me have been talking about how to fix what's broken in washington. and hasn't that discussion been coming for way too long?

that's what the last three weeks have been about. that's what we have been struggling through. that's what we've been working toward. and we resolved it today by electing mike johnson as our next speaker. and what mike laid out was a vision. wasn't just core principles he talked about on the house floor so eloquently but a vision for how we get not just the house back operating, but how to get washington working better. how we fix this broken institution. and how symbolic, mike talked in the house chamber about the symbolism of the house chamber. moses, in god we trust right above the speaker's rostrum. so many other symbols. washington. lafayette. the history of some of the great battles. passing the 13th amendment in that chamber. but if you look at this capitol dome that serves a as beacon to so many just just here in america but around the world, interestingly the last three weeks the statue of freedom was

covered in scaffolding. just like we have been doing construction to fix this stews, how symbolic the scaffolding is coming down as we elect a new speaker to fix this institution that's had problems for decades that needed to be addressed and went ignored for way too long. i have seen this man in action. since i was a state representative. for those people that don't know mike johnson, maybe they're looking to google, maybe they're looking to other places. those of us who have known mike johnson for a long time, and i've known him maybe longer than most, i've seen a commitment a self-service comiment, to things bigger than himself. going back to my days in the state house. when he came to congress. those same principles followed him. his belief, his faith that driefs him so deeply, that some actually mock him for. those are the principles that make this country so great. those are the principles that

cause people who believe in freedom all around the world to look up at that statue of freedom as a beacon of hope for all around the world and what mike johnson is going to do for us and our country, getting us back on track. we are just getting started. but people are going to come ono and love what he represents because he fights for things bigger than himself and people who have been ignored for way too long. it is my great privilege to introduce the 45th speaker of the house, my dear friend, mike johnson. mr. johnson: thank you, steve, thank you tom and elise. this is an extraordinary team that's been assembled to serve the american people. steve scalise represents so much in our home state of louisiana, one of the things he truly represents is perseverance and hope. as he was talking here a moment ago i was reminded of the

scripture that's suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope. what we need this this country is more hope. the people have lost their faith in our institutions. their faith is at an all-time low. one of the reasons they've lost it is because the congress over the years has not delivered for the american people well enough. we're in the majority right now. we've gone through a little bit of suffering. we've gone through a little bit of character building. you know what it's produced? more strength, more perseverance and a lot more hope. that's what we're about to deliver to the american people. we are going to speak, we're going to speak with clarity and conviction and consistency to the american people. we're going to tell them what we're for. what agenda we are pursuing. and why it is best for every american. why it will give them more liberty, opportunity and security. we're going to speak to that

clearly. we're going to act consistently. we're going to exhibit two thing here's. trust and teamwork. and this group will deliver for the american people. i said it in the chamber. i'll say it here. we're going to govern well. i think the people are going to be very closed with -- pleased with those results. i'm so grateful and so humbled to have got and unanimous vote on the floor by all my colleagues here. [applause] we went through a lot to get here but we are ready to govern. that will begin right away. you've all heard me talk a lot today, i'm not going to belabor the point because the sun is bright and it's too warm for the fall. but i'll say this, we're going to dispense with the ceremonies and celebrations that usually follow a new speakership because we have no time for either one. the shower great, the -- the hour is late, the crisis is great, america, we hear you. we are reporting again tour duty station. that will begin in just a few

moments. this entire group is going to go back to the house floor and we are going to pass our resolution in support of the nation of israel our close closest ally in the middle east. you're going to see an aggressive schedule in the days and weeks ahead. you'll see congress working as hard as it's ever work and we're going to deliver for the american people. i'm grateful nor opportunity. i want to thank you for being patient with us. i promise it'll be worth it. god bless you. god bless you. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

host: speaker johnson said, the house will be coming back into session shortly to discuss the resolution in support of israel. they might also be taking up an appropriations bill on energy and water. that's to be determined. but the workers in the capitol have already put the nameplate above the speaker of the house's office. you can see there, speaker of the house, mike johnson. now back to your phone calls. gary, new york, republican line. what do you think about the election of speaker mike johnson? caller: i think it was long overdue.

i spent several years in elected office, and i was never a politician, but a public servant. that's what i hope mike johnson is going to be, a public servant. host: if you want to get to know him better, go to c-span.org. if you type in in the search function mike johnson, louisiana, you will find all sorts of videos. we covered several of the armed services and judiciary committee hearings that he was present at so you can get at least a flavor of who he is. benjamin, greenwood, arkansas. democrat. caller: hello. i was thinking about the election and i see a lot of democrats that are like, you

know, upset about it. but i mean, i do think mike johnson is less desirable than mccarthy but realistically it's not like much changed. what's most interesting to me is there were a lot of republicans that said they wouldn't vote for maga, the moderate centrist type, wouldn't vote for jim jordan but voted for johnson the next day which is kind of weird to me. and i saw matt gaetz made a statement where he said it's clear where the power in the republican party is it shifted to maga. he's right. they do not have a spine. last lot of moderates who voted for johnson, they'll be accountable to their constituents when election time rolls around. but i don't think his election is that big of a deal. i don't think much is going to change. i am ultimately glad that they've elected a speaker finally. good to have the government in working order.

host: thank you, sir, for calling in, general jamin, appreciate your in-- benjamin, appreciate your insight. this tweet. mike johnson is the shortest tenured house speaker since john carlisle of kentucky was elected in 1883. mike johnson was first elected in 2016. from the fourth district of louisiana which is shreveport area. allen in weatherfield, connecticut, independent line. hi. caller: hello. just a couple of things. first of all i wanted to comment on what the previous caller before they had the outside of the house said, i think it's very important that we remember that the united states was based on the principle of the separation of church and state. i believe in the personal god but i do not think that god should be brought into the running of a country. as far as the speaker is

concerned, i am glad that a speaker has finally been elected. i've been watching this for three weeks. it's been very stressful. i think it would be a great first step if speaker johnson were to publicly acknowledge that president biden is the duly elected president of the united states. that me a great move in the right direction host: that's allen in connecticut. airie, north carolina. mount what's your reaction to speaker mike johnson? caller: first i'm very proud of my former congressman, patrick mchenry, for keeping things together the last three weeks. he was my congressman until he was redistricted to another area. i think what mike said in his speech outside about trust and teamwork, that has to be top of

mind. we have to trust everyone. and the democrats have to work with the other side of the house. you know, i don't like this gridlock and this whole thing with hakeem jeffries. you know, elections have consequences. and the house should unite. the democrats knew a republican was going to be speaker of the house and it was going to be somebody a little for a right than the middle and i think that hakeem has to get his house in order. to bring everyone together. and again, we'll see how mike johnson works out. you know. he could be tossed in three months too. i'm -- again, i'm proud of patrick mchenry. the guy is fantastic. i wish he still represented me. host: it'll be interesting to see if there are rule changes about vacating the speaker's chair, if one member can do that, or if they'll change that

up a little bit. but there was a tribute, short tribute paid to the work that patrick mchenry did. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. aguilar. mr. aguilar: thank you, mr. speaker pro tempore. i notice a little more of a smile on your face than we have in the past. [applause] host: and another republican from louisiana, another congressman there, representative garrett graves tweeted out this picture standing there with the new

speaker. donald, south bend, indiana, indiana, democrat. hi, donald. caller: hi. i guess i'm indifferent about the whole thing. i'm glad they got a speaker. i just want to say two things. i understand they want to tackle the border. that's fine. i've been for border reform, immigration reform since the late 1990's. and also the debt, the deficit, it's interesting they keep saying we've got to do something about the debt and deficit, i understand that. but this is what -- what's going to happen that we think is going to happen in the new future is, the confrontation with china over taiwan. and i think that's just going to pretty much blow the deficit and the debt out of, you know, sky high. host: i want to ask you. you said you were indifferent about this.

is it -- two thing, what did you think of the last three weeks without an official speaker? and are you indifferent because why? caller: ok. the last three weeks, well, what do you expect? i keep tweeting this out. this is the result of project redmann. thank you, chris janikowski because the district is so gerrymandered to republicansings, you've got these crazies in there. so you know, that's what -- that's what i expect. now your next question, why am i indifferent? host: right. why are you -- why do you say you're indifferent about this? because it doesn't mat her because it's not -- nothing is going to change? caller: it does matter but i agree with some of the callers

who say these republicans, especially -- not all republicans. i have a lot of respect now for liz cheney, adam kinzinger, and even the gentleman, he was a neo-con, the new national review, i have respect for them. and mitt romney. but the maga, i'm sorry, this maga extremist, i have no respect for them. host: thank you for your time this afternoon, jim is out in utah. independent line. hi, jim. caller: hi, how are you doing? like the last caller said i'm indifferent as far as who the speaker is i don't care if it's a republican, democrat, independent, i don't care who it is as long as we have one. but is this speaker going to work with both sides of the

party? is he going to push himself out there to tray to work with both sides? i didn't really hear that in his speech. also, on -- i hate the fact that, you know, i'm very much against donald trump, ok. i did not like donald trump when he was in there. i thought he tore this country apart. but he had some good points at times too. make america great again, yes, we want to make america great again we used to be second to none. now we're second to china as far as military goes we are second to russia when it comes to ships. and china when it comes to ships and the seas. host: all right, we've got the point. appreciate your time this afternoon. you say you don't know mike johnson i'll recommend two things. try the shreveport times

newspaper. google that, you can see his hometown newspaper and see what they're saying. one of the things they're say, they quote him as saying that, i am a fearless, full spectrum conservative. and that he's a constitutional lawyer as well. four kids. lives in the shreveport area. wife, kelly, 51 years old. louisiana state undergrad and law school. served in the louisiana state house. as well as being elected to congress in 2016. those are some nuggets of information for you about him. the other place i would recommend looking is c-span.org. he served on the armed services and judiciary committees throughout his service in congress and we covered a lot of hearings with mike johnson where he would question witnesses, etc., and make statements. you can at least get a flavor of

what mike johnson talked about, what's important. next call is tremendous teresa in san luis obispo, california, republican. what do you think of your new speaker, mike johnson? caller: i'm very happy about it. i think he's a wonderful -- a wonderful man. i've just been educating myself about who he is. on the internet, the last two days because i honestly did not really know -- really know much about him. everything that i'm reading i'm aligned with. i would like to say, this last three weeks irk did not see chaos. we are a constitutional republic. and i really believe that the people gave the republicans the majority in the house and mike was voted unanimously for this position. of speaker. and i really believe that this is the twhoifl people.

and i also want to say that he know what is time it is. this country has fallen so far in the past few years. and we have lost so many of our rights. and so many things that we see people coming across the border who are unvetted. so many things that put us at serious risk. we have allowed things in this country that we never should have allowed. we have fentanyl. we have, you know, people that don't care for america but yet they are here. and they're on the dole. host: we're going to leave it there. here are a couple of texts and then back to your phone calls.

host: our next call is from gabriel in dover, new hampshire. democrat. what do you think? caller: thanks for taking my call. i think he's a really smooth talker. i've watched him for a listening time. i can understand why people elected him. but my major primary concern is the fact as you mentioned multiple times, he was on the armed services committee we spend hundreds of billions of dollars on our military to rival mostly china but also russia. and as most independent analysts have said the foreign investment aid and military aid going to ukraine is less than .5% of our

annual budget. by far the best military investment we have ever made. so i think it's ridiculous that the republicans do not even bring it up once in their speech. and that the democrats had to bring that up. then the fact that he's on the judiciary committee and the republicans talk about the weaponization of government and defunding police. they say the democrats want to do that, they're the ones who are bad mouthing the f.b.i. constantly and you know, basically instilling this distruct in our institution. so i think it's shocking that those two things were let slide and obviously his election denial. then, you know, the religion thing, obviously we live in a separation of church and state. i'm a strong christian. but i'm also on the far left spectrum of democratic party. so when he calls out marxism and communism, if you look at what jesus did who stood for the poor and tried help the poor, i think some people have a very different view of what christianity stands for and for

him to view it, you know where it's all about abortion, even the pope said that it shouldn't be about that. it's all about lgbt for him, the pope said it's not about. host: all right, gabriel, got the point. dover, new hampshire. appreciate your input. into this discussion. the vote was 209 for mike johnson. -- 220 for mike johnson, to the for hakeem jeffries. the g.o.p. has one vacancy and the person not votg was conditioningman dan orton of wisconsin who just over in israel and the democrats not voting, they have 2 in their caucus, were repsentative boyle of pennsylvania, correa of california, and gonzalez of texas. next call is rachel in round rock, texas, independent line. rachel if i cut you off it's because the house is coming back into session but go ahead.

caller: yes, sir. first and foremost i'm thankful that we even have a speaker at the moment. it's long overdue. i did want to make a couple of points. one of the things i found interesting is that, you know, basically been accused of being unqualified. by the democratic party. and yet one of them submitted a vote for ocasio-cortez which seems silly in and of itself under that same banner. the other thing i wanted to say is, you know, i'm not a trump supporter, never cast a vote for him, i voted for biden but understand the support for him. more so now than i did prior to his election. to and the reason for that is because what we are seeing is the retaliation and weaponization of the federal government against someone who was duly elected. from trump supporters i have spoken with, many of them say the same thing. if they can do that to a president, they can do that to anyone.