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Louisville congressman weighs in on new House speaker

U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, a Democrat from Louisville, says he feels a sense of "exasperated relief" over Wednesday's election of Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
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U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, a Democrat from Louisville, says he feels a sense of "exasperated relief" over Wednesday's election of Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Congress has a new Speaker of the House. Wednesday, Kentucky’s five Republican members of Congress voted to elect Mike Johnson, while the state’s lone Democrat congressman, Morgan McGarvey of Louisville, voted for his party’s nominee, Hakeem Jeffrees. The day after the vote, McGarvey told WEKU News he felt a sense of relief.

 “We need a speaker, the government needs to work. They're in the majority. They're the ones responsible for choosing the speaker. But it's exasperated relief, because for weeks now, Democrats have been offering a bipartisan path forward.” 

That path forward would have featured a power-sharing agreement of some sort. McGarvey said he’s glad the House finally has a speaker after three weeks -- but he’s concerned about the actions Johnson took trying to reverse the results of the 2020 election and keep President Trump in the White House.

“He is apparently one of the architects of that, that attempt to overturn the election, to have a speaker in the 2024 election cycle, when it looks like Donald Trump might be on the ballot again, that is concerning.”
 
Kentucky’s five Republican members of Congress did not respond to our request for an interview.

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John McGary is a Lexington native and Navy veteran with three decades of radio, television and newspaper experience.
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