October 20, 2023 House Republicans drop Rep Jim Jordan as speaker nominee

Table Of Content

• House to take up resolution declaring support for Israel
• The digital daily newsletter
• Column: Kevin McCarthy may win the House speakership. But he can’t control the clown caucus
• Harris calls push for reproductive rights 'a fight for freedom' in Florida speech
• Republican loss of Congress sealed as Democrats step in to save Mike Johnson’s speakership amid right-wing revolt
• Presiding officer

[I] also can’t wait to see my Republican conference show their cards and show who we are. The procedure was last used to remove Johnson’s predecessor Kevin McCarthy just six months ago – the only time in US history a House speaker has been ousted. The list of the 10 speakers who served in the job longest includes just one Republican (and in the ninth slot at that). That speaker was Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, notorious as the autocratic "Czar Cannon" during three two-year tours as speaker that ended with his party's historic defeat in 1910. His predecessor, Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts, also had the top job for less than five years. But when he left after the 1924 session, his party was still firmly in control and had just elected President Calvin Coolidge to a full term.

House to take up resolution declaring support for Israel

Johnson is the sixth Republican elevated to the speakership since 1994, the year the party won its first House majority and elected a speaker of its own for the first time in 40 years. The hard truth is that the five who preceded Johnson (McCarthy, Paul Ryan, John Boehner, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich) all saw their time in the office end in relative degrees of defeat or frustration. And to find a Republican speaker who left voluntarily in a moment of victory, moving on to another office, you have to go back to the mid-1920s.

The digital daily newsletter

What played out last week under the Capitol dome was a caustic strike on a politician whose ascent had been swift. He was elected to the California Assembly in 2002 and in his freshman year became Republican leader. He entered Congress in 2007 and was soon dubbed one of the GOP’s Young Guns along with Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). They promised to bring a new verve to the Republican Party and quickly sought to undermine the presidency of Barack Obama. Every wrinkle and twist of his career — from a young California assemblyman to minority leader of the U.S.

Column: Kevin McCarthy may win the House speakership. But he can’t control the clown caucus

Republicans, both those supportive of and frustrated by Johnson, also acknowledge he won't be easy to replace. McCarthy can cut the Gordian knot by calling the bluff of the rabble-rousers by giving them the responsibility they claim to crave. The House Freedom Caucus wants him to agree to re-empowering members and committees, restoring committee jurisdiction, among other things. McCarthy could instead agree to relinquish much of the power the speaker historically never had in the first place. Aside from excellent sound, the Echo Studio responds to hundreds of voice commands, like creating calendar events, or getting real-time news and sports scores. The speaker’s design also showcases bass and treble control knobs, allowing you to customize your sound however you want.

Marjorie Taylor Greene to call for vote on Speaker Johnson's ouster next week - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Marjorie Taylor Greene to call for vote on Speaker Johnson's ouster next week.

Posted: Wed, 01 May 2024 15:29:09 GMT [source]

Harris calls push for reproductive rights 'a fight for freedom' in Florida speech

It is your power that will send Joe Biden and me back to the White House,” Harris said. Prior to the GOP's 40-year sentence as the minority party, several of its speakers had risen to the top rung largely on their personal popularity among their colleagues. One was Joseph Martin of Massachusetts, who led the party in the House during two brief interludes of majority status after World War II. Both lasted only the minimum two years, the first ending with Democratic Harry S. Truman's surprise White House win in 1948. Martin was back four years later when Eisenhower was first elected president in 1952, but that tour at the top was cut short by his party's sharp losses two years later.

Republicans Elect Mike Johnson as House Speaker, Ending Party Chaos

If it is introduced as a “privileged” resolution, the House must consider it at some point, although it could be delayed with procedural votes. Earlier this morning, Joe Biden hammered Donald Trump as Florida’s strict abortion ban went into effect, saying the former president “ripped away the rights and freedom of women in America”. “This is a fight for freedom, the fundamental freedom to make decisions about one’s own body and not have their government tell them what they’re supposed to do,” the vice-president said. Greene faults Johnson for his work in securing foreign aid bills benefitting Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and for working with Democrats earlier this year to secure a $1.2 trillion spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Johnson became speaker in October after Republicans ousted McCarthy using the same procedure that Greene has threatened to use against Johnson.

The Republican leadership vacuum was fueling the infighting just as Mr. Scalise was working to quell it. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana narrowly scraped together enough Republican support on Wednesday to become his party’s choice to lead the House, but deep divisions in the G.O.P. ranks threatened to complicate his election as speaker. McCarthy and other Republicans approached Gaetz after his vote, seemingly pleading with him to change it and end the speakership fight. But Gaetz remained unmoved, and the vote closed without electing a speaker. Before finally securing the gavel, McCarthy lost his 14th ballot for speaker Friday evening in the most dramatic fashion possible, falling a single vote shy of the outright majority he needed.

Presiding officer

We’re kicking the day off with a press conference from far-right Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who yesterday suffered a serious setback in her campaign to remove Mike Johnson as speaker of the House. The chamber’s top Democrats announced that they would oppose Greene’s effort, a reversal from just a few months ago, when the party was more than happy to lend its votes to the GOP insurgency that booted Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s chair. She yesterday accused Johnson of making a “slimy back room deal” for Democratic support, and hinted she might put her motion up for a vote anyway. In 1997, several Republican congressional leaders tried to force Speaker Newt Gingrich to resign. However, Gingrich refused since that would have required a new election for speaker, which could have led to Democrats along with dissenting Republicans voting for Democrat Dick Gephardt (then minority leader) as speaker.

McCarthy team makes an offer to conservative opponents who are reviewing it now

As minority leader last year, he introduced a tepid and unimaginative “Commitment to America” that was meant to echo, but lacked the boldness of, former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” in 1994. His attempts to appease them — McCarthy has often been accused by moderates of indulging hard-liners — made him appear to be a leader without convictions, until suddenly the man Trump called “my Kevin” was in peril. “All I can tell you is that we had a productive meeting,” he said after leaving Rep. Tom Emmer’s office with several Republicans. McCarthy said no deal has been reached yet, but said progress is being made as talks are ongoing. Ahead of the evening session, McCarthy said does not want another vote for speaker tonight.

The Main Street Caucus, like the conference overall, had members on both sides of the race for speaker, with some aligned with Mr. Jordan and some aligned with Mr. Scalise. She is part of a group of lawmakers who view themselves as pragmatic centrists, but who are now lining up behind Mr. Jordan, whose right-wing bent, combative style and close alliance with former President Donald J. Trump have little in common with them. "We need to make sure we’re sending a message to people all throughout the world that the House is open and doing the people’s business," Scalise said.

Leadership’s position can be influential on lawmakers, but it’s ultimately up to each member of Congress to decide. In the days to come, we can expect to hear from various House representatives about where they fall on this issue. “Today at the stroke of midnight, another Trump abortion ban went into effect here in Florida,” the vice-president will say in a speech in Jacksonville.

Says “he is the reason we are in this majority today,” a nod to his political skills. “We went through a lot to get here, but we are ready to govern and that will begin right away,” Johnson says in his first news conference as speaker. The vote put him second in line to the presidency, capping an extraordinary period of twists and turns on Capitol Hill. It marked a victory for the far right that has become a dominant force in the Republican Party, which rose up this month to effectively dictate the removal of an establishment speaker and the installation of an arch-conservative replacement.

The Supreme Court ultimately rejected the suit, but not before Mr. Johnson persuaded more than 60 percent of House Republicans to sign onto the effort. He did so by telling them that the initiative had been personally blessed by Mr. Trump, and that the former president was “anxiously awaiting” to see who in Congress would defend him. A social conservative, Mr. Johnson played a leading role in recruiting House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the results. After the leak of the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion in May of last year, the Johnsons hosted an episode that explored the “future of life in America,” while also sharing their personal jubilation about the news of the pending decision. Mr. Johnson has opposed continued funding for the war in Ukraine, which has emerged as a bitter fault line in the G.O.P. and in the spending battles that he will have to navigate in the coming days. Mr. Johnson immediately faces a host of challenges that dogged his predecessor, Mr. McCarthy.

He is confronting a mid-November deadline to pass a measure to fund the government to avert a shutdown. And he will need to lead a conference deeply divided over foreign policy as Congress considers the Biden administration’s $105 billion funding request for Israel, Ukraine and the southern border. “Judge me by my enemies,” the now–former speaker said, maybe trying to sound defiant.

Johnson’s speakership hangs in the balance as ouster threat looms - CNN

Johnson’s speakership hangs in the balance as ouster threat looms.

Posted: Mon, 29 Apr 2024 23:57:00 GMT [source]

As a concession to Gaetz and the 19 other Republicans who initially opposed his speakership, McCarthy altered House rules to enable any member to call for a snap vote on his ouster—which ultimately led to his failure to keep the position. On the eve of the Jan. 6 votes, Mr. Johnson had honed his arguments undermining the election to be more palatable. He presented colleagues with arguments they could use to oppose the will of the voters without embracing conspiracy theories and the lies of widespread fraud pushed by Mr. Trump. Mr. Johnson instead faulted the way some states had changed voting procedures during the pandemic, saying it was unconstitutional.

At one point, Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Alabama, had to be restrained after stepping toward Mr. Gaetz. Despite the divisions on display, Mr. McCarthy also emphasized the theme of unity in a speech after taking the speaker’s gavel, pledging open debate and an open door to both Republicans and Democrats. Party leaders said their members would join an effort to table any attempt to remove the Republican speaker after he allowed House passage of military aid to Ukraine. When asked who could replace Johnson, Greene said she wouldn't name names.