Friday mailbag!

The week, answered.

(House Speaker Mike Johnson)

We have a Speaker!

After more than three weeks of turmoil, House Republicans finally found someone who could win: Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson.

Johnson now faces the real challenge: How to keep the deeply fractured Republican conference together amid a looming government shutdown and questions about funding wars in Israel and Ukraine.

While the Speaker’s race sucked all the oxygen out of the room, we still have the 2024 presidential race going on — and we have a new Democratic candidate as of this morning: Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips is running a long-shot bid to knock off President Joe Biden.

Lots to talk about — and lots of questions from you all. Let’s get right to it.

But, first, a quick reminder: This is a post for paid subscribers only. If you aren’t one, I hope today is the day you become one. It’s $5 a month or $50 for the whole year. And it’s easy to subscribe. Just click here:

To the questions!

Q: Why is Joe Biden's approval rating at an all-time low after his impressive and dangerous visit to Israel and an excellent Oval Office speech, not to mention all of the other things he's accomplished? I don't get it. What does the poor man have to do?