Although his arrival has taken three weeks, Mike Johnson does not have a second to lose in addressing the serious issues that lie ahead. Among them, if not the first, managing to maintain the spirit of unity among the GOP legislators that allowed him to win the gavel with all the votes of the representatives of his party. In addition, the time in which the abscence of a speaker has halted the House of Representatives, leaves unfinished business, ranging from the "catastrophe" on the border through government funding -the agreement that cost McCarthy his job ends on November 17-, the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the rise in inflation and the investigation into the Biden family.
I am honored to have been elected the 56th Speaker of the House. It is time to come together to deliver for the American people! pic.twitter.com/gQSSIfXgeR
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) October 25, 2023
The economy, absolute priority for the new speaker
In his own words, the number 1 priority must be to combat the "unsustainable" national debt of 33.6 trillion (trillion) dollars. Something that will only be possible by making "difficult decisions" that must be "explained well" to citizens. For this, he called for the support of both parties in the chamber.
The greatest threat to our national security is our nation's debt and while we’ve been sitting in this room – that's right – the debt has crossed almost $33.6 trillion and in time it’s going to take me to deliver this speech, we will go up $20 million in debt. It’s unsustainable. We have to get the country back on track. We know this isn’t going to be an easy task and tough decisions will have to be made but the consequences if we don’t act now are unbearable. We have a duty to the American people to explain this to them so they understand it well and we’re going to establish a bipartisan debt commission to begin working on this crisis immediately.
This promises to be the first battle in the House, since the bipartisan agreement that managed to avoid the government shutdown and that caused Matt Gaetz's motion that overthrew McCarthy ends in less than a month. As a note, this is a law to which Johnson himself voted "no" - along with 89 other GOP legislators and another Democrats - on September 30, so reaching a consensus that allows the Government to continue functioning will not precisely be a walk in the park.
Contain federal spending to address inflation
Johnson assured that containing federal spending is essential to address Americans' main concern: inflation. During his speech, the new speaker compiled the main data on this phenomenon, which has skyrocketed by 17% in the last two years:
The skyrocketing cost of living is unsustainable and Americans shouldn't have to worry about how they're going to feed their family every week because they can't afford their groceries anymore. Everybody in this room should think about this. Here are the stats: prices increased by 17% last two years. Credit card rates are at the highest levels and mortgage rates are at a peek we haven't seen since 2001. We have to bring relief to the American people by reining in federal spending and bringing down inflation..
The new speaker assures that "inaction is unacceptable" on the border
After the economy, Johnson pointed to the "catastrophe" of the border as the greatest challenge of the legislature. A challenge that he related to the increase in fentanyl consumption and that "is putting our communities in an extreme situation." Therefore, he called on the Senate and the White House to stop ignoring the problem, stressing that "inaction is unacceptable."
We have a catastrophe at our southern border. The Senate and the White House can no longer ignore the problem. From Texas to New York, wave after wave of illegal migrants are stressing our communities to their breaking points. We know that our streets are being flooded with fentanyl in all of our communities. Children and even adults are dying from it. The 'statu quo' is unacceptable. Inaction is unacceptable and we must come together to address the broken border. We have to do it..
More congressmen, less speakers
In addition, the new president of the House of Representatives announced that he intends to decentralize the power of his position to transfer it to congressmen.
The job of the speaker of the House is to serve the whole body and I will but I made a commitment to my colleagues here that this speaker's office is going to be known for decentralizing the power here. My office is going to be known for members being more involved and having more influence in our processes in all the major decisions that are made here for predictable processes and regular order. We owe that to the people. I want to make this commitment to you, to my colleagues here and the other side of aisle as well, my office is known for trust, transparency and accountability, for good stewardship of the people's treasure, for the honesty and integrity that is incumbent upon us, all of us, here in the people's house. Our system of government is not a perfect system. It has a lot of challenges but it's still the best one in the world and we have an opportunity to preserve it.
Term limits for congressmen
Although he did not mention it in his speech, Johnson is one of the main promoters of a constitutional amendment to limit the terms in which a legislator can be re-elected.
Last week, I called and chaired a hearing in my Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government to examine a proposed constitutional amendment to impose term limits for Congress.
Today, we held a markup on legislation to advance the idea. pic.twitter.com/bV8ue5pQ8I
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) September 28, 2023
