Who is the leader of the House of Representatives?

The 118th United States Congress may well go down in history as the single most ineffective Congressional body this nation has ever seen.

A fumbling House of Representatives overstuffed with deeply unqualified members combines poorly with a contentious, massively polarized Senate, a messy mixture that’s resulted in the absolute debacle that is our current Congress. None of that is helped along by the inept leadership currently helming both the House and the Senate, a tangled situation that’s landed the U.S. in its current chaotic state.

Who leads the House of Representatives?

The House of Representatives is comprised of a whopping 435 members in total, with varying quantities of Representatives serving for each state, depending on population. Large states like California and Texas sport dozens — California boasts a full 52 Representatives, and Texas has 38 — but smaller states like Delaware and Alaska only have one.

The Speaker of the House serves as leader of the entire governmental body, working to keep those hundreds of Representatives in line and working toward common goals. Historically, some impressive and vastly capable figures have filled this role, but in recent years the bar has slipped. We’ve seen unqualified, belligerent, and downright inept leaders step into the role, but few are as unfit as the current Speaker of the House.

Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson stepped into the lofty role in October of 2023, after a polarized Republican base made Kevin McCarthy the first Speaker of the House in history to be successfully removed from his seat. A contentious series of votes eventually saw Mike Johnson step into the role, despite a largely unproductive and religiously-motivated history in politics.

Johnson has, during his time in politics, worked to strip Americans of their rights at almost every turn. He’s backed efforts to see abortion outright banned across the nation, he’s sought methods to criminalize homosexuality in the United States, and he was among those who voted to overturn the 2020 election, erasing the voices of the people who voted in favor of President Joe Biden.

Johnson will maintain his role as Speaker of the House until another contentious vote makes him history’s second removed Speaker, or until a change in the body’s makeup forces him out. Previous Speakers have held onto their positions for more than a decade, with gaps in between, but somehow I doubt Johnson has the staying power to stick around much past the 2024 election.