Now it falls to Mr. Johnson, a fourth-term congressman who has never served in a top leadership position before, to try to keep his anti-spending party united and the government open — all in a matter of weeks.
The previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy, found it impossible to corral recalcitrant Republicans to pass legislation to keep federal funding flowing and prevent a politically and economically damaging shutdown.
Mr. Johnson was among a majority of Republicans who opposed that stopgap spending bill.
In the days leading up to the government shutdown deadline in September, Mr. McCarthy put forward a stopgap measure that severely slashed spending.
Twenty-one conservative lawmakers opposed it, tanking the bill and declaring that they would not vote for a temporary funding measure under any circumstances.
Persons:
Mike Johnson, Biden, Johnson, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy
Organizations:
House Republican, Republicans
Locations:
Israel, Ukraine