With a MAGA Republican second-in-line to the presidency, President Biden must put aside political disagreements to orchestrate pressing, necessary legislation.

Article by Julia O’Keefe, Senior Election Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Three weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his position as Speaker of the House, the House voted to elect Lousianna Republican Mike Johnson, ending weeks of political uncertainty. 

The final tally was 220 votes for Johnson and 209 for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Johnson was not the party’s first choice for the seat, emerging as the fourth Republican nominee, but has strong support from former President Trump. 

“He will be a great Speaker of the House, and we were very happy to have helped,” said Trump to reporters outside the New York courthouse Wednesday, according to The Hill. 

President Biden certified his willingness to work “across the aisle” in a statement Wednesday, saying, “the American people have made clear that they expect House Republicans to work with me and with Senate Democrats to govern across the aisle -- to protect our urgent and national security interests and our grow our economy for the middle class.” 

Johnson assumes this position at a challenging and mobile time. Government funding will expire Nov. 17, meaning Congress will need to work together to avoid a complete shutdown. 

Biden assured he has been working on pressing Congressional issues while Republicans sought a new Speaker. He both proposed a supplemental funding package to advance bipartisan security interests in Israel and Ukraine, secure the U.S. border, and invest in the American people. 

“We need to move swiftly to address our national security needs and to avoid a shutdown in 22 days,” said Biden. Johnson has stated his desire to seek an aggressive agenda, moving swiftly on pending legislation, as Biden requests. 

While the GOP-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate agreed to work together to be most productive in current, pressing legislative decisions, Johnson’s selection may have implications for the 2024 Presidential Election. A clear ally of former President Trump, Johnson helped lead efforts to overturn the 2020 election, leaving Democrats suspicious of his socially conservative record, according to ABC. For presidential candidate Biden, this means a MAGA Republican, a prominent Trump ally, serves second-in-line to the presidency. 

“Now, Donald Trump has his loyal foot soldier to ban abortion nationwide, lead efforts to deny free and fair election results, gut Social Security and Medicare, and advance the extreme MAGA agenda at the expense of middle-class families,” said Biden in a statement Wednesday. “22 days before Congress must act to avoid a government shutdown and while our allies overseas at war depend on our help, extreme MAGA House Republicans elevated a man to second-in-line to the presidency who still won’t admit President Biden won the 2020 election.”

A MAGA Republican in a position of so much power raises concerns that Republicans will try to influence voters in the looming election. 

“You don’t want people who falsely claim the last election was stolen to be in a position of deciding who won the next one,” said Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Johnson is more dangerous because he wrapped up his attempt to subvert the election outcomes in lawyerly and technical language.”

However, President Biden will put current obstacles first, urging for unity in partisanship. 

“Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground whenever we can,” said Biden. “This is a time for all of us to act responsibly, and to put the good of the American people and the everyday priorities of American families above any partisanship.”