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While McCarthy is now the first House speaker to ever be stripped of his power, the process for selecting a new leader of the lower chamber will be reminiscent of the four-day, 15-ballot election in January that resulted in McCarthy’s elevation. If Pelosi does not vie for the top Democratic House position, whether that ends up being speaker or minority leader, there are a handful of people rumored to be eyeing her spot. Since Republicans are only poised to control the House by a razor-thin margin if they take the majority, they will need every single member of the party to align their votes in order to keep the Democratic nominee from sneaking into power. That means they need to either find a more unifying Republican to nominate, like they did with Ryan in 2015, or McCarthy needs to concede to the demands of the Freedom Caucus in order to earn their support.
Law that ended single-family zoning is struck down for five Southern California cities
The House is staring down a deadline of Nov. 17, when current government funding expires. In his blueprint for the next few months, Johnson said a stopgap measure extending funding until January or April may be needed to approve more spending and avoid a shutdown. Johnson was the party's fourth nominee for speaker in three weeks, having taken the place of Rep. Tom Emmer, whose candidacy lasted all of four hours on Tuesday. Two other previous candidates, Reps. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, withdrew their names from consideration earlier in the process after failing to unite the party's various factions.
What's Happening with House Democrats
But Greene has yet to make the motion "privileged," which under the rules would necessitate a vote within two days. If brought to the floor, those three Republican votes would be enough to remove Johnson as speaker if all Democrats vote against him. Some Democrats have indicated they would step in to save Johnson, but Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Friday that "the pre-requisite to the conversation" about saving Johnson is that the foreign aid bills pass "in totality." Now that a House speaker has been selected following a dayslong stalemate and members have finally been sworn in, the chamber can look toward picking back up business and organizing GOP-led committees. Although McCarthy had most of his caucus behind him, he needed a majority of the House to vote against his removal to stay in power. At the moment, the GOP has a four-vote majority, making the eight Republicans who voted against him more than enough to depose the now-former speaker.
What happened with Jim Jordan this week?
This time around, the Georgia Republican has the support of at least two other House Republicans, Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. In 2022, Jeffries made history as the first Black lawmaker to hold the title of House minority leader. He could make history again as the first Black House speaker if plans of ousting Johnson and striking a compromise with Democrats were to become a reality.
Mike Johnson clinches GOP House speaker nomination hours after Tom Emmer drops out: Highlights - NBC News
Mike Johnson clinches GOP House speaker nomination hours after Tom Emmer drops out: Highlights.
Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Thus voting for Jeffries just to end the chaos might start to look appealing to a handful of Republicans. Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, joined the motion to vacate earlier this week but has said he doesn't want to force a vote on it, instead pushing for Johnson to resign. The three Republicans and other hard-right members of the conference are furious at the speaker for bringing up votes to provide aid for Ukraine, particularly without U.S. border security provisions attached.
Here’s what to watch for in the 14th round of voting for House speaker.
"The American people's business is too urgent in this moment. The hour is late. The crisis is great." Washington — Rep. Mike Johnson, a little-known Republican lawmaker from Louisiana, is now second in line for the presidency after winning a vote to become the next speaker of the House, more than three weeks after Rep. Kevin McCarthy's ouster left the chamber without a leader. Prior to that, the last Republican speaker had been Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, who died in 1931.
Jordan also refused to comply with subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack as lawmakers tried to gather more information about his role. McCarthy’s chaotic election as speaker in January took 15 punishing rounds and left him in a weakened position that contributed to his unprecedented downfall. Now, top Republicans want party members to work it out behind closed doors before a floor vote. With the House trying to pick a new leader as soon as next week, others are waiting in the wings, including Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who as chair of the Republican Study Committee leads the largest faction of Republicans in the chamber. GOP Rep. Scott Perry, a conservative member from Pennsylvania, said Tuesday that members will likely give Johnson some leeway on government spending bills.
NOW: House members are nominating speaker candidates
At other times, more junior members may be assigned to preside to give them experience with the rules and procedures of the House. The speaker may also designate, with approval of the House, a speaker pro tempore for special purposes, such as designating a representative whose district is near Washington, D.C. Other potential contenders could be Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the conference chair, and Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the Rules Committee chairman. She’s a strong fundraiser, and has been focused on expanding — and diversifying — the GOP caucus over the past few years, including by targeting traditionally blue areas. Cole, a bipartisan operator who has been an ally of the past three Republican speakers, warned Tuesday that removing McCarthy would result in chaos and criticized his party’s right wing for seeking his demise. But he shocked many when he voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Trump’s favor.
Jordan asked his Republican colleagues to support his candidacy for speaker in a letter Wednesday and touted his legislative work on immigration and oversight of the Biden administration. Washington — The historic removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from his position as House speaker sets up another election to fill the now-vacant seat atop the GOP-controlled lower chamber. “He will have to live the entirety of his speakership in a straitjacket constructed by the rules that we’re working on now,” Mr. Gaetz said.
Several of the members who are opposed to Jordan are members of the House appropriations committee, who are reportedly opposed to the way Jordan has embraced a hard line on spending cuts and shutting down the government. After McCarthy’s ouster, Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jordan entered the speaker’s race. Scalise won a private vote among the Republican conference, but withdrew his name from contention after it became clear he could not get enough votes. There are currently 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats in the US House (there are two vacancies), giving the GOP a very slim majority. Republicans hope to hold a candidate forum next Tuesday and an election next Wednesday, Punchbowl News reported. McCarthy told Republicans on Tuesday night that he would not seek to regain the gavel, clearing the way for another candidate to take his place.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the House minority leader, will almost certainly run for speaker, but would need GOP support to secure the position. “Prior to proceeding to the election of the speaker, it would be prudent to first recess for the relative caucus and conferences to meet and discuss the path forward,” McHenry said Tuesday, calling the House to recess and slamming the gavel. The four absences mean Johnson will need 215 votes to win the speakership if all members in the chamber vote for a candidate. Johnson now faces a daunting list of challenges, with a fast-approaching government shutdown chief among them.
He endorsed a plan to bring up 12 individual spending bills, rather than a single massive piece of legislation to fund executive branch departments. The consideration of individual spending bills was one of the demands made by GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and other who rebelled against McCarthy when he endorsed a temporary extension of government funding. Johnson prevailed after a chaotic process that saw three other GOP nominees fail to unite the party and secure a majority. He won 220 to 209 in the House vote on Wednesday with unanimous support among Republicans, who enjoy a slim majority in the chamber. Additionally, since many speakers held office for multiple terms, often with non-consecutive periods, the time listed for each speaker represents the total length of their time as speaker.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), a staunch McCarthy ally, has been appointed speaker pro tempore and will oversee the House until a permanent speaker is elected. The caucus, currently led by Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, is invite-only and purposefully secretive, with the official member list kept private from American voters. An alleged rule within the party is that if at least 80% of members are in agreement on a House issue, all in disagreement are bound to vote with the majority. In the coming days, Republicans will need to get on the same page soon in order to ensure a Republican becomes speaker, meaning McCarthy will need to find a way to win over critics' support or step back.
