House Elects New Speaker; Spending Deadline Looms

What happened: Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected Speaker of the House after 22 days of deadlock within the GOP Conference. Relatively unknown in Washington, Johnson is now the top Republican and second in line to the presidency. He has represented western Louisiana since 2017, most recently in House Republican leadership positions and on the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees.

Johnson considers infrastructure investment one of his top priorities, but opposed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), claiming it did not support enough road and bridge projects and was not fully paid for.

Why it matters: Government funding runs out in three weeks, and Johnson must find agreement with the Senate and White House to keep the government open beyond Nov. 17. He is proposing a continuing resolution to fund the government through either January or April, while work on Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 spending bills continues.

What’s next: Johnson plans House consideration of the FY 2024 transportation appropriations bill the week of Oct. 30. The Senate is expected to wrap up their work on a FY 2024 transportation appropriations bill next week as well.