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Jordan lost 20 Republican votes, well more than the three he could spare to win the speaker’s gavel. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican and Jordan ally who has resisted party leadership in the past, said the holdouts on the House speaker vote would now be put through a “meat grinder” of pressure. Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida was among 20 Republicans who voted for alternatives to Jordan in Tuesday’s House speaker vote, dooming his bid on the first round of balloting. Gimenez cast his vote for McCarthy, who was ousted from the job two weeks ago.
Mike Johnson becomes the next GOP speaker-designee
The dissidents praised the protracted debate that spotlighted their party’s rifts, made it impossible for legislative business to be conducted and threatened the timely issuance of paychecks on Capitol Hill. The somber anniversary did not lead to comity on the House floor, as Mr. McCarthy’s fiercest holdout accused him in a bombastic speech of performing a fruitless exercise in vanity. Instead, he waited until the end of the roll call to vote “present.” Republicans cheered, but it was not enough.
Democratic support may not help Johnson
Representative Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who had voted “present” in previous ballots, also voted for Mr. McCarthy in the 12th vote. But Democrats said the effort was less about Mr. Johnson and more about beating back the right fringe. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, has filed such a measure and threatened to call a snap vote on it, a threat she renewed on Tuesday after Democrats made clear their intentions. But it's not clear whether Johnson could stay on as speaker with the help of Democrats. Conservatives and several other House Republicans have doubts publicly and privately at the prospects of a Republican speaker staying in power with Democratic support. Johnson has given personal reasons for why he's supportive of aiding Ukraine, noting his son is set to begin at the U.S.
The House speaker election, in three charts
Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, who ran for speaker as a protest candidate against Jordan in the House GOP conference, also voted to certify the 2020 election. The news came one day after House Democratic leaders issued a statement indicating they would vote to table, or kill, Greene’s motion to vacate if it came up for a vote. In the statement, Democratic leaders cited Johnson’s successful effort to shepherd a foreign aid package through the House last month to justify blocking Greene’s motion.
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, elected to Congress in 2016, is an attorney and a former radio host. "We're looking at a lot of people, and you know I'm sort of trying to stay out of it as much as possible," Trump said. Emmer remained the top vote-getter, with 107 votes, according to McMorris Rodgers, followed by Johnson with 56 votes. Johnson said Emmer is "putting on a master class in there, about how to stand in the fire, answer questions in front of a room of 200, frankly, very opinionated members, and I think he's winning converts." "We are going to finish this tonight," and will meet "for as long as it takes," Johnson said.
Another Republican joins effort to oust Johnson, putting the speaker in real peril - NBC News
Another Republican joins effort to oust Johnson, putting the speaker in real peril.
Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Conservatives have been mounting an intense pressure campaign to persuade the final holdouts to support him. Hours before a floor vote, one of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s most loyal supporters threw his support behind Jordan after days of hesitation. Jordan typically skips a suit jacket, but he was donning one Tuesday as his colleagues prepared to vote on whether to elect him House speaker. For now, it denies Jordan the speaker’s gavel, but votes can still be changed while the roll is being called. The Jordan holdouts are a mix of pragmatists, ranging from seasoned legislators and committee chairs worried about governing to newer lawmakers from districts where their voters back home prefer President Joe Biden to former President Donald Trump. He predicted they would cave and support Jordan by the end of the week after pressure from conservative voters who are being told to call member offices and close friends.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE CHAMBER?
“I feel confident,” he said Tuesday while trailed by a scrum of reporters in the Capitol. Jordan says he’s been picking up support every day and feels good ahead of the vote for House speaker. He was abruptly appointed as speaker pro tempore last week following the unprecedented ouster of Kevin McCarthy from the top spot. With one Republican absent today, Jordan cannot afford to lose more than three GOP votes. With one Republican absent Tuesday, Jordan cannot afford to lose more than three GOP votes.
out of 8 speaker candidates voted to decertify 2020 election
At one point, she displayed a hat bearing the letters “Muga”, standing for “Make Ukraine Great Again”, and she placed it on top of a photo of Johnson. With Democrats opposing the effort, Greene does not have the votes to advance her motion. Only two other House Republicans – Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona – have said they would back the motion, leaving Greene hundreds of votes short of a majority. This year’s speaker elections have seen a number of protest votes, like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., voting for former President Donald Trump. Trump has not endorsed any of the several candidates running to be the third speaker nominee, though he said ahead of the candidate forum that he had spoken with several. Donalds told reporters his feeling about the conference is that "we need to get back to work, secure our border, fund our government responsibly, and hold this administration accountable. And last but not least, our members, we've got to be focused on purpose and mission."
Tom Emmer won nomination only to drop out after opposition by Trump and far right
House passes Ukraine, Israel aid bills after long struggle - The Associated Press
House passes Ukraine, Israel aid bills after long struggle.
Posted: Sun, 21 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
He was the first candidate since McCarthy's ouster to face no opposition from his own party. "There are many throughout this country who are understandably alarmed at the turbulence of the moment, at the chaos, the dysfunction and the extremism that has been unleashed in this chamber from the very beginning of this Congress," he said. The comment was a reference to Johnson's work to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Jeffries urged swift action on a package to provide aid to Israel, Ukraine and other U.S. allies, which the White House has requested. "Our commitment to Israel's security is ironclad and Israel has a right to defend itself under the international rules of war against the brutal terror unleashed on its citizens by Hamas," Jeffries said.
"But I've spoken to just about all the candidates, there are quite a few of them. And they're terrific people." Emmer is one of two speaker candidates who voted to certify the 2020 election results. House Republicans have begun voting on the first ballot for their speaker nominee after convening to elect a fourth candidate just hours after Emmer, who won the conference's nomination earlier Tuesday, withdrew his candidacy amid growing opposition. Rep. Jim Jordan lost 20 Republican votes Tuesday in his first round of balloting for House speaker, creating an uphill climb to win the gavel. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise on each of the three ballots during House voting last week, said he plans to back Johnson when the lower chamber convenes to elect a new speaker. The new speaker has been in Congress since 2017 and has no experience in the House leadership.
The last time the House did not elect a speaker on the first ballot was 1923 when the election stretched for nine ballots. Even if McCarthy is able to secure the votes he needs, he will emerge as a weakened speaker, having given away some powers, leaving him constantly under threat of being voted out by his detractors. But he would also be potentially emboldened as a survivor of one of the more brutal fights for the gavel in U.S. history. While Jordan said he didn't want the job, other Republicans called for Rep. Steve Scalise as a compromise candidate to appeal to the hardline members of the caucus who refuse to vote for McCarthy. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Wednesday that she would move to force a vote next week on removing her fellow Republican Mike Johnson as House speaker, even though the measure appears certain to fail. But that has become harder to get in recent years, as more closely divided Houses have left the majority party with fewer votes to spare.
Trump seemed to acknowledge his role in killing Emmer's quest for the gavel, as he shared on his social media platform an article from Politico about how the former president "torpedoed" the bid. Emmer began to lose support from conservative lawmakers shortly after Trump's missive, and he bowed out of the contest shortly after. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had asked the Supreme Court to block "the use of unlawful election results without review and ratification by" the four state legislatures and allow them to appoint a different slate of presidential electors.
After the Republican conference meeting ended, Johnson spoke briefly to reporters and said that his intention is to go the House floor Wednesday for a noon vote. He did not disclose the tally of the roll call vote in the conference to gauge support for his nomination, but said he was "very confident" he could win the 217 GOP votes he needs to win the speaker's gavel on the House floor. He also helped to lead Mr. Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In a joint statement after a closed-door party meeting, the three top Democrats said they would side with Republicans supportive of Mr. Johnson and vote to table any motion to vacate him from the speaker’s chair, blocking it from coming up. Greene first introduced her motion to vacate in late March, following the passage of a government funding package that was supported by Johnson and most Democrats.
But Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, a McCarthy ally who is in line to become the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, took it to another level when he stepped toward Mr. Gaetz and had to be restrained. Probing “the weaponization of the F.B.I.” as McCarthy just mentioned, was a big priority of the hard-right flank of defectors. “The motion to vacate is accountability,” he added, referring to the measure allowing a snap vote to remove the speaker. Those compromises delivered a breakthrough for Mr. McCarthy, who in votes on Friday afternoon won support from a sizable chunk of the Republicans who had consistently refused to back him — though he remained short of the majority to win. Mr. Gaetz refused to budge, and Mr. McCarthy’s allies moved to adjourn the House until Monday, crestfallen after a defeat they had not anticipated.
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