Good morning. If you want to take a break from the dysfunction in Westminster then cast your eyes to the dysfunction in Washington DC. The House of Representatives had been out of action for three weeks since the Republicans ousted their own speaker, Kevin McCarthy, until yesterday when they finally agreed upon Mike Johnson – their fourth nominee in that time.
He takes up an incredibly important and powerful role: the speaker oversees Congress, sets the legislative agenda and can completely derail the president’s plans. The person who occupies that role also becomes the second person in line to the presidency, after the vice-president. Without a speaker, the US government has been at a standstill, unable to legislate or allocate any spending – even to provide financial support to allies abroad.
