DeGette statement on the election of Speaker Johnson

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) released the following statement after House Republicans finally elected a Speaker of the House:

“Instead of embracing bipartisanship, House Republicans have elevated an extremist.

“Mike Johnson helped lead the Big Lie which drove insurrectionists to attack our Capitol on January 6. That alone should be disqualifying. He has also repeatedly worked to end abortion rights, going as far as to declare that doctors should be imprisoned and given hard labor and saying specifically ‘We will get the number of abortions to ZERO.’

“The bottom line is this: Speaker Johnson’s record is fundamentally out of step with the American people. I hope he will put the good of all Americans over House Republicans’ extreme agenda so we can address the urgent challenges facing our nation.”  

Today’s vote comes after 22 days of gridlock and dysfunction in the House Republican Conference.

Mike Johnson’s extreme record includes:

• Being called ‘The Most Important Architect of The Electoral College Objections’ for his work to lead the House Republicans’ amicus brief backing a Texas lawsuit to the Supreme Court that sought to overturn the 2020 election;
• Rejecting the certification of the Pennsylvania election results in the 2020 election,
  • This vote came after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol;
• Attacking abortion rights – including calling for providers to be “imprisoned at hard labor for 1-10 years;”
• Voting against protections for same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law;
• Leading a bill in the Louisiana State House that would have protected discrimination against same-sex couples;
• Voting against the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act which passed after the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, TX;
• Supporting President Trump’s inflammatory Muslim ban; and
• Falsely calling medical marijuana a “gateway drug.”