Notre Dame News

When the House reconvenes on Jan. 3, 2027, for the start of the 120th Congress, there will be no members and no speaker of the House, so Johnson would have no authority over seating members, said Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame Law School. Members-elect must first elect a speaker by a simple majority vote. The speaker will then swear in the present members-elect. “Presuming that Democrats take the House, let’s assume that, that will all move very smoothly,” Muller said. Even if Republicans in the minority objected to a Democratic speaker seating members, Democrats could overrule them, he added.

Rick Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame law school, cautioned that not all the court’s decisions in favor of religious groups have been strictly divided along ideological lines. Among the cases he cited was a unanimous decision in 2012 exempting a religious school from an employment discrimination lawsuit. He also disputed the notion that the Roberts court has distorted the promise of religious freedom. Instead, it has undertaken “doctrinal repair” of cases that disfavored religious exercise, he said. Citing the Ten Commandments case, he added, “It remains to be seen whether this doctrinal repair that I’m talking about is going to be extended into this realm of what’s happening in the public school classroom.”