When recollecting on the past ten years, U.S. politics have been extremely out of the ordinary, unorganized, and frankly nerve-racking for what the future holds for our democracy and American values. The most recent turn of events in U.S. politics followed an unprecedented 20-day absence of the Speaker of the House after Kevin McCarthy was removed from the role. In a vote of 216 to 210, with some Republicans joining in the effort, Kevin McCarthy was officially removed from his position. While former Speakers of The House have stepped down from their positions, McCarthey is the first to be driven out by Congress.
With this historic and unprecedented event, Republicans in Congress frantically tried to find a person to fill the vacancy. After having gone through many candidates like Jim Jordan, who could only secure 199 votes out of the 217 needed to win, and with Steve Scalise also unable to attain the vote. After these votes, nine Republicans ran for the positions (Kevin Hern, Jack Bergman, Byron Donalds, Pete Sessions, Austin Scott, Tom Emmer, Mike Johnson, Dan Meuser, and Gary Palmer). Out of those nine, Louisiana’s 4th District Representative Mike Johnson was able to seal the vote 220 to 209 and become the 56th Speaker of The House.
With leadership now regained, being able to pass legislation can continue after a 21-day standoff. The most impressive and largest request being made to Congress now is President Biden’s $106 billion request for aid to Israel, Ukraine, and our southern border.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s views and policies have been controversial, with him believing that the 2020 election was stolen, wanting a national abortion ban, and writing in a Louisiana newspaper in 2004 that homosexuality is “inherently unnatural.” SHS senior Andrei Aprea mentioned that he feels “disappointed” in the direction many politicians are going regarding equality and women’s bodily autonomy. Aprea also talked about how it feels like many things are just “falling apart” in America right now.
As more unmatched events like having no Speaker of The House for almost a month keep occurring, the realization that we are living in a country that’s deemed the “great experiment” by many comes to fruition as we try to navigate all the obstacles that come with the American experience.