Speaker Mike Johnson pledged Friday that the Republican-led House would prioritize ending electric vehicle policies and other Democratic climate change efforts.
Addressing colleagues shortly after securing the gavel, Johnson laid out a number of top priorities for the 119th Congress, including on regulations and immigration.
The Republican Party has an even smaller 219-215 House majority than it previously did, but the GOP now also has the Senate and will soon control the White House.
“The path to prosperity has long been paved with policies that put America and Americans first. And that is what we will champion in the 119th Congress,” said Johnson.
“We have a mandate, and that was shown in the election cycle,” he said. “The people want an ‘America First’ agenda.”
Johnson said the Republicans have a “duty” to put the United States in a position of “energy dominance,” reflecting terminology President-elect Donald Trump used on the campaign trail.
“We have to stop the attacks on liquefied natural gas, pass legislation to eliminate the Green New Deal,” he said. “We’re going to expedite new drilling permits, we’re going to save the jobs of our auto manufacturers, and we’re going to do that by ending the ridiculous EV mandates.”
While President Joe Biden came to office with pledges to end the United States’ reliance on fossil fuels, oil and natural gas production both grew throughout his presidency and have set numerous new records. The United States is the world’s largest producer of both oil and gas.
Biden’s administration did not implement any EV mandates, but it carried out a number of pro-EV policies that Trump and GOP lawmakers plan to target quickly, including stringent new vehicle emissions standards, new subsidies and a waiver that allows California to ban most new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
Johnson said Republicans would “roll back the totalitarian fourth branch of government known as the administrative state,” cut the size of government and make a “leaner” federal workforce.
Johnson became speaker earlier Friday by a vote of 218 to 215, with all members voting along party lines except Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who chose Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) as a protest against Johnson. All Democrats voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
The selection took only one round of voting, avoiding a replay of the drawn-out, multiday elections that brought former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to power in 2023 and Johnson 10 months later.
Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) initially joined Massie in voting against Johnson, with Norman choosing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Self picking Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).
After the voting ended, Johnson spent nearly an hour talking with Norman, Self and others. Norman and Self then switched their votes to Johnson.
Asked what, if anything, he promised the holdouts, Johnson told reporters, “nothing.”
Norman and Self spoke on the phone with Trump after their initial votes, and he helped convince them to get behind Johnson, POLITICO reported.
Johnson made general commitments to Norman and Self that the House GOP conference would work more collaboratively, POLITICO said, citing two Republicans who were granted anonymity to speak freely.
Reporter Garrett Downs contributed.
