Speaker Mike Johnson Is Triumph for Matt Gaetz and a Nightmare for Biden

Matt Gaetz is taking part in a victory lap after Mike Johnson was elected to House Speaker, ending a three-week period of chaos the Florida congressman helped initiate.

Johnson won the backing of every House Republican in a vote on the lower chamber floor on Wednesday to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker, who was historically ousted from the role on October 4 after Gaetz introduced a motion to vacate.

Johnson, who was the fourth candidate the GOP nominated for the speaker position, with reps. Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer all dropping out because of a lack of sufficient support from their own party, can now lead the House in its return to governing, including potentially working with President Joe Biden to avoid a possible government shutdown in November.

It remains to be seen how Johnson can balance his recently unified support from the GOP with negotiating to avoid a government shutdown. He must not only appease the more moderate Republicans who are open to compromise, but also the hard-line factions of the GOP, including Gaetz, who have previously drawn lines in the sand on issues such as sending more aid to Ukraine.

Coincidentally, it was McCarthy's role in working with the Democrats to get a stopgap funding bill passed to prevent a government shutdown that triggered Gaetz to introduce a motion to vacate, which passed after eight House Republicans supported it.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Gaetz suggested the past three weeks of turmoil was worth it now Johnson has the gavel, and history will remember the period "as the most productive weeks" of the 118th congress.

"Because now we have both a man and a plan," Gaetz added.

Speaking to former Donald Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, Gaetz said that the replacement of McCarthy with Johnson shows that the MAGA movement is on the rise in Congress.

"If you don't think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement, and where the power of the Republican Party truly lies, then you're not paying attention," Gaetz said.

Justin Begley, U.S. economist at ratings agency Moody's, suggested that Johnson will have his "work cut out" trying to heal the infighting in the GOP and help Congress reach a new deal with the president before the federal government runs out.

"In getting unanimous support from the Republican Party and to become the speaker, he may at least be starting off on a good footing," Begley told Newsweek.

It is not just the GOP that Johnson must take into consideration in his new role.

Biden must also be hoping that the Louisiana congressman is not antagonistic in regards to working to get bills passed, as well as other issues such as Israel's war with Hamas and the U.S. economy, and is as eager to negotiate terms as his predecessor McCarthy was.

Biden was quick to suggest that he is willing to work with the Republican, who voted to object to certifying the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021.

"We need to move swiftly to address our national security needs and to avoid a shutdown in 22 days," Biden said in a statement after Johnson was elected House Speaker.

"Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can," he said.

Whereas Biden attempted to show unity and common ground between the Democrats and the Republicans, his 2024 campaign team were quick to warn against "the extreme MAGA takeover" of the House Republican Conference that Johnson's ascension to House Speaker represents.

"Now, Donald Trump has his loyal foot soldier to ban abortion nationwide, lead efforts to deny free and fair election results, gut Social Security and Medicare, and advance the extreme MAGA agenda at the expense of middle-class families," Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for the Biden-Kamala Harris campaign, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Johnson's office has been contacted for comment via email.