DeLauro Statement on New Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

Today, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) released a statement after Congressman Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) was elected Speaker of the House by the Republican Conference.

“For 22 days the House has been frozen because of House Republicans’ inability to elect a Speaker of the House. For 22 days, we have been unable to consider legislation that would lower the cost of living, support our democratic allies in Israel and Ukraine, or secure our border. The government runs out of funding on November 17, and House Republicans have wasted time we could have spent legislating.

“Finally, after nearly a month of chaos, House Republicans have chosen to elevate to the office of Speaker of the House one of their more extreme members, Mike Johnson. This is someone once described as the ‘most important architect’ of the Electoral College challenge to Biden being elected President. These were the same objections that challenged President Biden’s legitimate election to President and gave rise to the Capitol attack on January 6.

“As a Member of Congress, Johnson pushed for extreme policies that undermine the rights of Americans. He voted to overturn the election of Joe Biden. He co-sponsored an amendment that would ban abortion in all 50 states, even in the case of rape. And he has said, the effort to balance the federal budget must include addressing the cost of Social Security and Medicare.

“But I welcome an end to the chaos and hope that we will get back to the budget agreement and both parties and both the House and Senate working to pass bipartisan appropriation bills.

“Government funding legislation runs through November 17. It will require Democrats and Republicans to work across the aisle in both the House and Senate to ensure we fund the government for 2024. I will work with Speaker Johnson where I can, and I will push back strongly on policies that would hurt hard-working Americans.

“House Democrats and I stand ready to work. We are willing and able to govern in a bipartisan way that lets us deal with the issues impacting Americans and our democratic allies across the globe.”