Summary

The House of Representatives has a new speaker after 22 days of leaderless, gridlocked chaos following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy. Mike Johnson of Louisiana won all 220 Republican votes cast on the House floor Wednesday. After emerging from the leadership vacuum, Speaker Johnson said Congress must win back Americans’ faith. Congressional Correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports from Capitol Hill.

For a transcript, click here.

News wrap alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

Warm up questions

• Who is Mike Johnson, and what is his background?
• Where is Johnson from? What district does he represent?
• Why has the House been without a chosen Speaker for weeks?
• How did Johnson manage to bridge Republican divides and
• What are some of the expectations for how Johnson will manage the House?

Focus questions

How do you think Speaker Johnson might change the political landscape? How might politics and U.S. policies be different in the coming year?

Media literacy: Much of this story is about the politics of the House, but what about the policy? How could you find out about the laws passed by this Congress or the laws that are being considered?

Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What story would you want to find out more about? Where would you go to learn more?

For more

What students can do: Learn more about the role of the House of Representatives and the power of the Speaker of the House. As a class, discuss:

• What makes the House of Representatives a unique legislative body?
• What role does it have that is different from that of the Senate?
• What is its relationship to the Executive and Judicial branches?

For a quick introduction, watch this video from WPSU:

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