Local Congressmen react to new Speaker of the House
Congressman Mike Johnson was elected as the Speaker of the House.
We reached out to Republican Rep. Ken Calvert and Democrat Rep. Raul Ruiz to get their reaction to Johnson's election.
While both Calvert and Ruiz said they are relieved the house is back open and can get back to voting on important bills, they have strongly different reactions to Johnson's election.
Calvert was unavailable for an interview, but his office sent us a statement:
“With the election of Speaker Mike Johnson complete it is time for the House of Representatives to get back to the work the American people expect us to do. We need to send a strong unequivocal bipartisan message to the world that the House stands with Israel, opposes antisemitism, and will support efforts to destroy Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist organizations. With a government funding deadline looming on November 17th we also need to get back to work approving our annual appropriations bills to keep the government open. The United States faces national security threats around the world, an open border, and economic challenges at home. We need the People’s House to be fully engaged in solutions in the weeks and months ahead.”
Meanwhile, Ruiz says Johnson's election cements the extreme MAGA takeover of the House GOP.
"He has voted to shut down the government in the sense of voting against the cr that kept the government open, that caused McCarthy's ouster to begin with, and he also voted against the agreed upon negotiated bipartisan funding framework that passed the senate and passed the house with the majority of bipartisan support," Ruiz said.
Ruiz continued, "I am concerned, and I am worried because he has some serious concerning previous behaviors. One of which was he led the effort to decertify President Biden's election."
Congressman Raul Ruiz statement:
“Now that House Republicans have selected a House Speaker, it’s time to move past their dysfunction and extremism that has plagued this Congress and get back to work in a bipartisan manner so we can serve our constituents, lower costs, grow the economy from the middle out, keep our communities safe, and support our allies, Israel and Ukraine,” said Dr. Ruiz. “House Republicans must honor the bipartisan budget agreement that a majority on both sides of the aisle supported, and President Biden signed into law. We cannot afford to risk another damaging government shutdown that would endanger essential programs critical to veterans, children, seniors, working families, farmers, and retirees.”
You can watch the full, in-depth interview with Ruiz today at 4:00 p.m. on News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2.
