The Week In Politics Oct. 21-27
Hello and welcome back everyone to week four of Politics Explained! This week we’ve finally seen things have started to settle. For those of you that are new here, we’ve built this website for people who are hungry to learn about politics. We cover the major happenings on Capitol Hill in compact weekly blogs, creating an easy way for you to stay in the loop. As we said before, things have finally calmed down on Capitol Hill, so let's dive right into it.
Twenty-two days after Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted as Speaker of the House, a new Speaker was elected - Mike Johnson (R-LA), Vice Chairman of the Republican Conference and a member of the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees. He is a relatively new face in Congress, serving just his 4th term in office, and does not have as many critics as past nominees had. Hours after the GOP nominated Johnson, he was elected Speaker by a vote of 220-209, with all Republicans voting for him. Here’s a little recap if you’re confused about this Speaker situation; after Kevin McCarthy was kicked out, Steve Scalise was nominated by the GOP, but withdrew his nomination when he realized he didn’t have the votes to win. Next, Jim Jordan was nominated as Speaker, but after 3 roll call votes on the House floor, it became evident that he didn’t have the votes to win either. Although he vowed to fight on, the Republican Conference held a secret ballot vote and the nomination was withdrawn. Then came Tom Emmer, who was nominated by the GOP, yet 4 hours later withdrew his nomination when he realized he didn’t have the votes either (and Donald Trump tweeted negative things about him). Which finally leads us to new House Speaker Mike Johnson. The first order of business - a resolution in support of Israel in their war with Hamas, H.Res. 771 which passed 412-10, with mostly far-left Democrats voting against it.
The battle for the House in 2024 has started. Once every ten years, each state must redraw their Congressional district lines - this is known as redistricting*. This used to happen only once every ten years, but it has now become a decade long battle over voting and representation in many states. There are multiple states that are required by a court or have voluntarily started to redistrict. Those states include: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Alabama has already completed its court-ordered redistricting, with a probable gain of one Democratic seat in 2024. The North Carolina legislature has voluntarily redistricted, with Republicans gaining at least three seats, possibly four. The other states mentioned above are all in various court-ordered situations, with most, if not all, of the redistricting centered around lack of Congressional seats with minority representation (the ability of minority communities to elect Representatives who look like them). Stay tuned as this will be expected to change over the next six months!
*The process by which each state redraws its political boundaries. Typically every 10 years after the census.
