On Wednesday, Republicans unanimously elected Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana for House speaker — a man with a history of vehement anti-LGBTQ advocacy, including as a former leader of an organization that has been declared a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The vote was split down party lines, with all 220 Republicans present voting for Johnson and 209 Democrats voting for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York). Johnson won after over three weeks of pure chaos in the House after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was ousted from the position and a parade of racist and antisemitic Republicans — notably, Representatives Steve Scalise (Louisiana) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) — tried and failed to take his place.
