Mike Johnson Reelected to Speaker

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There were a couple of different Republican movements that said
that they could be detractors to this, but it appears
by a vote of two eighteen to two fifteen, with
just a single other vote that was recorded, Mike Johnson
able to win now Republicans of a two nineteen to
two fifteen advantage in the House of Representatives for this

(00:21):
upcoming term. So now that everybody's sworn in and things
are ready to go, we have that yeah, in the
midst of them giving Mike Johnson the gavel. At this
point he is acknowledged someone in the crowd that they
have cheered with a full standing ovation. But now Mike
Johnson continues to speak, So let's take a listen into

(00:45):
the House floor and Mike Johnson getting back into the speakership.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you, Leader Jefferies, all of our treasured colleagues here
in the House. I'm grateful for this nomination. I'm grateful
for this election, for the confidence this Chamber has placed
in me. It is the great honor of my life
to serve this body with all of you. Of course,
these are difficult days in our home state of Louisiana,
where I come from. We all know about the terrorist

(01:11):
attack in New Orleans, and it's really shaken our state.
People are reeling from that attack. It took the lives
of fourteen innocent people, and it injured dozens more. And
I wanted to begin appropriately today if we could, I'd
ask you all to join me in a moment of
silence for the victims of this horrific act. Thank you,

(01:43):
Thank you for that. I believe giving an honor where
honor is due. And all of us do well to
honor our spouse. As my wife happens to be here
this time. She didn't make it last time. It happened
a little sudden, Kelly. Would you stand up up here
in the gallery, thank you. And we have our four

(02:16):
children here, Hannah, Abby, Jack andwell, we all stand up
just really quickly. Come on. I wanted to do that.
All of us recognize that there are no perks to
be in a congressman's kid, right, it's all sacrifice. And
our spouse has put up with so much, endless hours

(02:38):
and travel and all the responsibilities upon us, and we're
good to remind them how important they are to us
and how we could not do the job without them.
And so it's appropriate for all of us to do that.
Thank you, Thank you, guys. This is a momentous time
in the nation of the history, the history of our nation.

(02:59):
It really is. And as members of the one hundred
nineteenth Congress, we are stewards of the Great American Revolution
that began almost exactly now two hundred fifty years ago,
seventeen seventy five and seventeen seventy six. It will fall
at the time of this Congress the Great Anniversary. And
in these two and a half centuries we've been reminded repeatedly,
repeatedly that freedom is never free, and we have stood

(03:23):
tall as the greatest nation on the face of the earth.
It is without debate. We are the freest, the most powerful,
most benevolent nation that has ever been in the history
of the world. And it's not by happenstance. We're the
ones who settled the West. We're the ones who ended slavery,
who laid the Transcontinental Railroad, who gave women the right

(03:45):
to vote, who won two World Wars, who landed on
the Moon, and who won the Cold War. Throughout our
history we have done what no one thought was possible,
and still at two hundred and fifty years old. Our
nation is actually a young nation. This past fall, I
had opportunity to go to the G seven Speakers Meeting.

(04:07):
It was held in Italy. It's the only international trip
I took as speaker over the last fourteen months because
I didn't have time to do it. But it was
a quick three day John and met with my colleagues,
the speakers of the other parliaments, the great governments around
the world, and we talked about that how really special
America is, how unique we are in our place on

(04:28):
the globe, and how important it is for us to
maintain that. And as I talked to these colleagues from
around the world, I thought, our closest allies, you know,
who recognize how important we are, how important this body,
this house is. I thought about, how is it that
such a young country has become so exceptional, so singular

(04:49):
in its importance, that today's stands as the world's leader
in liberty and the economy and culture. One hundred years ago,
President Calvin Coolidge answered that question in his inaugural address.
It was March of one hundred years ago, exactly almost.
He said this, we best serve our own country and
most successfully discharge our obligations to humanity by continuing to

(05:14):
be openly and candidly, intensely and scrupulously American. I love that.
I love that today. Yeah, that's right, that's an applause line. Today,
my friends, our nation is the envy of the world.

(05:34):
Why because we have been marked by a spirit and
a people who are explicitly that we are explicitly American.
We don't try to be like other nations, and we
recognize that a strong America is good for the entire world,
and everybody around the globe knows that that's right. We

(05:58):
also recognize that the core principles that made America what
we are must still be preserved today. The principles I
call them the seven core principles of American Conservatism, but
it's really the seven core principles of the nation itself.
Individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength,
fiscal responsibility, free markets, human dignity. These are the ingredients

(06:21):
that things that made us who we are. And in America,
we know that human flourishing is best achieved by adherents
to time tested truths. We could list a number of
those simple truths. Here's a couple. It's better to give
a hand up than a handout. That innovation thrives when
bureaucracy dies. The simple truth that it is parents and

(06:50):
families and not administrators, that must be in charge of
their children's education. The path of prosperity has long been
paved with policies that put America and Americans first, and
that is what we will champion in the one hundred

(07:11):
nineteenth Congress. We have a mandate and that was shown
in the election cycle. The people want an America first agenda.

(07:32):
They do. Sadly, for the past four years of divided government,
too many politicians in Washington have done the opposite. Open
borders and overregulation have destroyed our cities and stifled innovation.
Inflation and weak leadership have left Americans poorer, and they
have placed our country in a perilous position. That's right.

(07:55):
But in recent months, we've witnessed something happening, something that's
really remarked a political moment in our modern history. A
groundswell of Americans from every state, race, and religion who
now demand that we put the interest of Americans first again,
and we will, and we will. This is a powerful

(08:25):
new coalition of our country. It's a coalition that insists
that we purge the policies of America last and we
bury them in the graveyard of history's mistakes, because it
was a big mistake. To that end, this Congress will
renounce the status quo, and we will listen to the
voices of the people. We will act quickly, and we
will start by defending our nation's borders. That's a number one.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
Hold yes, all right, Well pause it there for now.
That's Mike Johnson in the middle of his acceptance speech
as Speaker of the House. Yoorton moment, because we were
not sure this is going to happen today in the
first vote. It did happen in the first vote two

(09:06):
eighteen to two fifteen, just one additional vote listed as
other and not for either Johnson or Jeffreys, the Democrat
who certainly Democrats don't have the majority. But if there
was any dissension whatsoever, and just a handful of Republicans
decided to go against the grain, there was a big
chance that this is going to end up like a
Kevin McCarthy situation, and we officially have avoided that, which

(09:30):
is really, honestly very good news. We'll have more coming up,
as Mike Johnson takes back the gavel for the Speaker
of the House next on news Radio eleven ten kfab.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Emri Sunger on news radio eleven ten kfab.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Thank you. Let's get back to where we left off.
As Mike Johnson reclaims the gavel.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
In coordination with President Trump, this Congress will give our
border an immigration and four agents the resources that they
need to do their job. We will secure the border,
we will deport dangerous criminal illegal aliens, and finally finish
building the border wall. You said you'd work with us

(10:21):
on that hikem I'm counting on it. After four years
of high inflation, we have a big agenda. We have
a lot to do, and we can do it in
a bipartisan fashion. We can fight high inflation, and we must.
We'll give relief to Americans and we'll extend the Trump
tax cuts. We're going to protect our industries from one

(10:50):
sided trade dales, and we're going to bring overseas investments
back to America shores. We'll difin that right, we'll defeat
the harmful effects of inflation, and we'll make life affordable
again for America's hardworking people. As leaders of a nation

(11:13):
with vast natural resources that God has blessed us with.
It is our duty to restore America's energy dominance dominance,
and that's what we'll do. We have to apply common sense.

(11:35):
We have to stop the attacks on lookified natural gas.
Pass legislation to eliminate the Green New Deal that funding,
that funding, We're going to expedite new drilling permits. We're

(11:55):
going to save the jobs of our auto manufacturers, and
we're going to do that by ending the ridiculous ev mandates.
And as heirs to the American Revolution and the descendants

(12:15):
of patriots who defy tyranny. In the coming months, we
are going to pass legislation to roll back the totalitarian
fourth branch of government known as the administrative state. We're

(12:37):
going to drastically cut back the size and scope of government.
We're going to return the power back to the people,
and in coordination with President Trump and his administration, we
are going to create a leaner, faster, and more efficient
federal workforce. We need to do that. Our people do

(13:01):
not deserve to be ruled by millions of bureaucrats they've
never voted for, never met, and can never hold accountable.
They deserve a government that is led by those they've
elected to lead. That is how Article one is supposed
to work. That was the idea of the Congress, and
we will return to that principle. The American people have

(13:22):
called on us to reject business as usual and throw
out the status quo. We must and we will heed
their call. This is especially important as it comes to
our nation's military. For too long, the Washington establishment has
sought to appease and accommodate our nation's adversaries. They've tried

(13:45):
to replace our military warriors with social justice warriors. It
does not work. And while we're still the most powerful
fighting force in the history of the world, by God's grace,
the same establishment has eroded the capacities of our army
and Navy and demand the readiness of our air force.
We have to put an end to this madness. My

(14:18):
friends and my colleagues, I think we should all unite
in this idea. It is time now to reinstate fear
in our enemies, refocus our mission on lethality, and realign
our commitment to peace through strength. Right now, we have

(14:41):
to prioritize the things that matter most. We have to
make adequate investments in defense, This is the most dangerous
moment since World War Two, and everyone around the world
is looking to America and looking to this body to
ensure that we maintain the peace. What we're proposing now
is just simply, as President Trump likes to say, a
return to common sense, and he's exactly right. That message

(15:05):
resonated across the country. I am very thankful personally that
this body is filled with men and women who are
committed to that change, to return to common sense. We
can do this together. We should. It is our responsibility
to do so. When I first took this gavel, many
of you heard me say that I don't believe in
lucker consequence. I believe in the idea of providence. This morning,

(15:28):
I participated with many of you early this morning and
the one hundred and nineteenth Congress Interfaith Prayer service. It
was held at Saint Peter's Catholic Church. Many of you
were there. It was an ecumenical service with a bipartisan service,
which was great. My good friend Hakim Jeffries began by
reading with the Old Testament. He read out of Deuteronomy ten,
and then I was asked to provide a prayer for

(15:49):
the nation. I offered one that is quite familiar to
historians and probably many of us. It said right here
in the program. It says under my name. It is
said each day of his eight years of the presidency,
and every day thereafter until his death. President Thomas Jefferson
recited this prayer. I wanted to share it with you

(16:11):
here at the end of my remarks, not as a
prayer per se right now, but as really as a
reminder of what our third president and the primary author
of the Declaration of Independence, thought was so important that
it should be a daily recitation. Let me just read
you that prayer. It goes like this, Thomas Jefferson's prayer
for the nation. It's entitled, Almighty God, who has given

(16:33):
us this good land for our heritage, We humbly beseech
THEE that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful
of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless
our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners.
Save us from violence, discord and confusion, from pride and arrogance,

(16:56):
and from every evil way. Defend our liberties. In fact,
into one united people. The multitude brought hither out of
many kindreds and tongues. En now with Thy spirit of wisdom,
those whom in thy name we entrust the authority of government,
that there may be justice and peace at home, and

(17:16):
that through obedience to Thy law we may show forth
Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In time
of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness. And in the
day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail,
of which we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
That was Thomas Jefferson's prayer. Yeah, suffer not our trust

(17:46):
in THEE to fail. We will not fail. We cannot fail.
We are all in this together. Our nation is counting
on us to band together and solve these problems and
get this done. I've said before that I believe God
has elevated each one of you. Is my belief to
your positions of leadership, and it's an active providence that
you've all been placed in your specific roles in this

(18:07):
specific moment, at this historic time, at the two hundred
and fifty year inflection point of the greatest nation in
the history of the world. It is no small thing.
We're also witnesses to the providence that spired are incoming
President President Trump from the assassin's bullet, remarkable as that was,
and to the new coalition of Americans that has risen

(18:28):
from every creed, color, and cul de sac who want
us to put America first. Our people are asking for
a thriving economy, in a rebuilt middle class, and strong borders,
in a strong military, and we can deliver that. See
these objectives and these aims don't have an R or
a D behind them, they have a USA. That's we'reabout.

(19:02):
In just a few moments, we're all going to take
an oath. It is the same, one oath for one nation,
and under the banner of one great American flag. This
is an opportunity for us to protect our shared American heritage,
to maintain the conditions needed for self government, and to
defend what Hakim said earlier, the rights to life, liberty,

(19:23):
and the pursuit of happiness. Working together, we have the
potential to be one of the most consequential Congresses in
the history of this great nation. So long as we
work together, we do the right thing, and we put
America first. As we think about all we've accomplished in
the past two hundred and fifty years, we can only
imagine what life will be like two hundred and fifty

(19:44):
years from now. Whatever the future may look like, if
we do our jobs now, we can help ensure that
our civic virtues will endure, that this nation will still
be an example to all the world for its greatness
and its example of self govern And then in spite
of our great challenges and even our disagreements and our

(20:04):
healthy debates, this extraordinary institution, the People's House, will still
be standing strong.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
We're gonna go ahead and pause it right there and
come back, and we will hear that oath which they
are going to be taking momentarily. We will give that
to you as as it's happened this hour. So just
stay locked and loaded with us. Here. It's two thirty
on news radio eleven ten KFAB.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Oh Marie So on news Radio eleven ten KFAB.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Representative Mike Johnson then continuing his reign as Speaker of
the House for the new congressional term, and his finish
of his address and then the oath of office.

Speaker 2 (20:48):
So as as the sequence of events requires, I am
now ready to take the oath of office, I asked
the Dean of the House of Representatives, the Honorable Harold
Rogers of Kentucky to a minister the oath called just

(21:12):
a second, Dean, you don't have the microphone on you.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
Our shared American self rule. When our founding fathers rejected
calls for an American king and shows a bold and
innovative government of self rule, it was met by opposition,
understandably by the world's kings. They said, you can't govern yourself,

(21:48):
you need a king to direct the country. They said,
it's only a dream self rule. The founding father said,
you're right, it's the American dream. And thus our founders

(22:09):
said that we should move on our own, with our
own leadership. The Speaker of the House is the critical
protector and promoter of self rule, the keeper of the dream,
if you will, and we've elected this man from Louisiana

(22:31):
to carry on our bold experiment in democracy and self rule. So, sir,
if you're ready to assume this awesome responsibility, please raise
your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that you will

(22:53):
support and defend the Constitution of the United States against
all enemies, foreign and domestic, That you will bear true
faith and allegiance to the same that you take this
obligation freely, that you take this obligation, whether ain a
mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will

(23:16):
well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on
which you're about to enter. So help you God, I
do congratulations, mister Steeghan, Hold on.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
You may as well remain standing, because according to precedent,
the Chair will swear in the members elect Onen Moss.
The members elect will all rise. The Chair will now
administer the oath of office. Will you raise your right hand,
Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will support

(24:05):
and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic, That you will bear true faith in
allegiance to the same, That you take this obligation freely,
without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that
you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the
office on which you're about to enter. So help you God. Congratulations.

(24:28):
You are now members of the one hundred nineteenth congre
And there we go.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
There is the oath of office and Congress is official.
What a happy moment for all those people. What a
great time. Imagine going through that election cycle and then
you get to raise your hand and you get sworn in,
and how you actually can say, ah, yes, I'm actually

(24:54):
in Congress and Washington, DC. This is the best moment
of my life. Congratulations to him, and we'll see how
it goes. You know, things are a bit different in
the House of Representatives. You only have the two years
to you know, achieve things before you have another election
that you need to win. But quite interesting, to say
the least, all of the talk, all of the chatter.

(25:16):
Matt Gates has a new TV program. By the way,
I don't know if you knew this, but Matt Gates is,
you know, hosting a show on OA in these days.
And Thomas Massey, the representative from Kentucky, wanted to get
Johnson out of his position. Throughout the calendar year, he's
been a very very vocal critic of Mike Johnson. And

(25:39):
he was on Gates show and said yesterday, and this
is a quote, you can pull all my fingernails out,
you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start
cutting off my fingers. I am not voting for Mike
Johnson tomorrow. And you can take that to the bank
and quote, well, well, well, well, well I bet we can.

(26:07):
I bet we can now. I don't know how this
how this goes. I don't know what conversations went on
behind the scenes, but one thing I do know that
probably pushed a lot of these Republicans to making the
decision to confirm Mike Johnson as the Speaker of the

(26:28):
House is the President elect of the United States, Donald Trump,
who wrote in his true social and I quote, good
luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of
great ability who is very close to having one hundred
percent support. A win for Mike today will be a
big win for the Republican Party and yet another acknowledgment

(26:49):
of our one hundred and twenty nine year most consequential
presidential election end quote. Were you going to be that
Republican that was in the House of Representatives? I decided
you were going to create a coalition to stop this
from happening. You think the next couple of years of
your life are going to be a lot of fun
with Donald Trump taking office if you would have gone
against his wishes here, I don't think so.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
I don't think so.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
So looks like everybody's willing to play ball. After all,
it is two forty seven. If you want to call
us you can. Four oh two, five five eight to
eleven ten is the number four oh two five five
eight to eleven ten. It's news radio eleven ten Kfab