Long Island's reps place bets on new speaker

The votes of Long Island's House members to approve Mike Johnson as the new speaker of the House were key to the surprise victory of the 51-year-old Louisiana legislator. Johnson, who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election in favor of the defeated Donald Trump, is now second in line to the presidency with a very powerful role in shaping government policy, assuming he can hold on to the gavel.

Reps. Anthony D'Esposito, Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota voted unanimously with the Republican House conference to empower the unknown Johnson. His hasty selection came after 22 days of governmental chaos by GOP members, who had willy-nilly ousted their previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy. During the repeated search for a new speaker, the three LI reps first cleverly voted for former colleague Lee Zeldin as seemingly a “favorite son” sign of moderation, rather than support outspoken archconservative Jim Jordan. But in finally settling on Johnson with their Republican colleagues, the three LI reps voiced confidence in an unproven, extremely conservative backbencher as their new speaker. 

“Mike Johnson understands New York priorities and I look forward to working with him," Garbarino said.

“While Speaker Johnson and I won't always agree on everything, I am confident the gentleman from Louisiana will work collaboratively with myself and my colleagues from Long Island to advance the legislative priorities of New Yorkers,” said D'Esposito. LI's fourth GOP representative, the indicted but not expelled George Santos, initially was a Jordan supporter. 

WHO IS JOHNSON?

But what did Long Island’s reps really get for their support of this new speaker? So far, the answer seems — not much. And how much does Johnson, a 2020 election denier, reflect the values and interests of Long Island? He has opposed same-sex marriage and authored so-called “don’t say gay” legislation, is a longtime opponent of abortion, and wants to slash government funding and shrink its ability to help those in need of assistance.

Since being elected to Congress in 2016, Johnson has opposed a number of important bipartisan bills, including the infrastructure law and the CHIPS and Science Act, which will provide many new jobs for Long Island’s future. Johnson opposes any new gun controls ("the problem is the human heart," he said about the recent mass shooting in Maine that killed 18 people) and he's voted against measures to prevent violence against women. And he was among 93 Republicans who voted for an amendment by insurgent Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to halt U.S. military assistance for Ukraine. That last vote would have deeply undermined American resistance to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of our embattled ally.

In his first act as speaker, Johnson proposed to tie military aid to Israel with the radical right idea of cutting already-approved funding for the Internal Revenue Service designed to make sure the wealthy pay their taxes. A political nonstarter, it is a rebuke to Israel, our most important democratic ally in the Middle East, when it can least afford it. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office also said the effect of handcuffing the IRS in this way would add $26 billion to the federal budget deficit. Nonetheless, three members of the LI delegation voted "yea" for it Thursday evening (Garbarino didn't vote) though this effort will be likely rejected by the Senate.

With any new tax bill, it seems unlikely Johnson will provide relief on state and local tax deductions on federal income taxes, critical to Long Islanders burned by double taxation. But if the LI reps got a promise, they should say so.

STALLING ON SANTOS

The Johnson-led GOP, holding only a four-vote majority, also seems hesitant to act on expelling Santos. The House Ethics Committee has been slow-walking an investigation underway for seven months, and now says it will provide more information about its findings after Nov. 17. What the Long Island reps did get was a sham vote on a motion to expel Santos sponsored by D'Esposito and backed by 21 members of the New York delegation. It failed dramatically. At least D'Esposito and LaLota got a souvenir: a video clip of themselves on the House floor denouncing Santos.

Long Island is a “purple” place pretty evenly mixed with Democrats and Republicans who want the federal government to work. Federal funding runs out on Nov. 17. Will there be another disruptive shutdown? Can Johnson persuade the Gaetz-Jordan wing to accept the need to forge compromises and find solutions to the nation’s problems? If not, disruption and chaos will continue to prevail. 

The LI delegation owns its vote for Speaker Johnson — Donald Trump’s most powerful ally in Congress — and all of its future consequences. Time will tell whether they can continue to offer themselves as moderates within a party increasingly pursuing a far-right agenda. At a time when we most needed true leadership in Congress, they sent us into the unknown.