October 17, 2023 Jim Jordan fails to win House speakership on first ballot

Table Of Content

• Scalise will not run for speaker again
• McCarthy’s GOP foes dig in before House speaker vote: ‘No principles,’ ‘part of the problem’
• Stefanik to deliver nominating speech for Johnson
• Historic 9th vote not enough to decide House speaker
• Democrats were told not to leave Washington, according to a House staffer
• Rep. Spartz switches from 'present' to McCarthy
• After opposing Emmer bid for speaker, Trump says his "strong suggestion" is to support Johnson

Through six votes in two days, GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy has not been able to get a majority of votes needed to win the speakership. McHenry, the interim speaker, said Republicans will gather again on Monday evening for a candidate forum, where those hoping to win the party's nomination will make their case to members. He said the party will meet on Tuesday morning to vote for a nominee, with the goal of holding a floor vote later that day.

Scalise will not run for speaker again

The congressman then went on Fox News and CNN Wednesday morning to describe his logic. The House Democratic leadership team is holding its weekly press conference as the chamber enters the third day of the 118th Congress without an elected speaker. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., offered more concessions to members of the House Freedom Caucus opposing his bid for speaker late Wednesday, but cautioned to reporters ahead of the chamber gaveling in that votes are likely to remain the same. The House failed to reach a majority in two speaker votes Thursday, bringing the total failed votes to eight over the past three days. The 1923 speaker election took nine votes over three days to re-elect Speaker Frederick Gillett, R-Mass. Punchbowl reported McCarthy insisted it is unlikely the House adjourns for an extended period of time until a speaker is elected.

McCarthy’s GOP foes dig in before House speaker vote: ‘No principles,’ ‘part of the problem’

Kevin McCarthy narrowly won the speakership in January on the 15th round of balloting, after five excruciating days. As a quick refresher, any nominee needs a simple majority to win the speakership. Republicans have a slight majority, with 222 members, but 21 have consistently voted for other candidates or not at all. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and someone Mr. Johnson has described as a mentor, was the next member to be elected speaker designate in a secret ballot. He had Mr. Trump and the far right in his corner, but ultimately failed to win over more centrist members of his party who steadfastly refused to support him. As House Republicans gathered earlier in the week to select their third nominee for speaker, Trump vowed to remain on the sidelines of the race.

Stefanik to deliver nominating speech for Johnson

Members were still missing two votes on the final tally and it appears McCarthy is a single vote shy of winning. EST, followed four days of discord, division, and deliberations before Republicans mostly united behind McCarthy. But with only 432 votes cast, the McCarthy needed 217 to clinch it, and fell short by a single vote. This change of vote likely followed discussions between McCarthy, Matt Gaetz, and others as Republicans now believe they have enough votes to successfully elect McCarthy.

Dozens of Dems Say They'll Vote Against Motion to Vacate Speaker Mike Johnson - Truthout

Dozens of Dems Say They'll Vote Against Motion to Vacate Speaker Mike Johnson.

Posted: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 16:14:10 GMT [source]

This, Gaetz said, included committee appointments and a measure that allows just one motion to spark a vote to remove the speaker. Rep.-elect Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, tweeted Thursday a deal with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is not complete. When asked if he has the votes Thursday before the House reconvened, McCarthy stated, "Look, look you're going to go in here, we're gonna have votes, nothing is going to change. What we're doing is we're having really good progress in conversations..." Republicans opposed to Kevin McCarthy becoming speaker have nominated Rep.-elect Donalds to the position. Rep.-elect Cori Bush, D-Mo., claimed in a tweet on Wednesday that Rep.-elect Donalds is a "prop" who "supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy." The result means a ninth vote, and possibly others, will be needed before a speaker can be found.

In recent weeks, Mr. Johnson has repeatedly vowed to ensure that the House moves to assist Ukraine. He has been searching for a way to structure a foreign aid package that could secure a critical mass of support amid stiff Republican resistance to sending aid to Kyiv and mounting opposition among Democrats to unfettered military aid for Israel. "The world is watching what the Congress does. Passing this legislation would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal moment," the White House budget office said in a statement Friday endorsing the House package. "The Administration urges both chambers of the Congress to quickly send this supplemental funding package to the President’s desk." Six Republicans voted for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted on Oct. 3. Several others voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who withdrew his name from consideration last week, and former Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Trump ally who didn't run for reelection in 2022 when he ran for governor in New York.

It came after a historic fight that began when the hard right ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3, and raged on as the divided House G.O.P. nominated and then quickly discarded three other candidates to succeed him. But after former President Donald J. Trump placed phone calls to a group of key holdouts, and a frenzied round of haggling on the House floor, Mr. McCarthy was broadly grinning again. WASHINGTON — They helped lead the efforts to keep former President Donald J. Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election. They spread lies that helped ignite a mob of Trump supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Even as some lawmakers have grumbled about the revival of earmarking, neither House nor Senate Republicans have issued a binding ban against including them in spending bills. Several Republicans in both chambers joined Democrats in securing earmarks in the roughly $1.7 trillion government funding package that became law last month, with more than 7,200 projects in the bill.

House Republicans were expected to try to adjourn Thursday after this ninth vote and take up the 10th attempt on Friday. The result means a 10th vote will be needed, and lawmakers began right away by nominating members again. "The whole, you know, some of these things are reasons why I'm supporting Kevin McCarthy," Greene continued. Despite the slight increase in support, the size of the anti-McCarthy group has remained the same in the contest for House speaker. Rep.-elect Patrick McHenry said a deal has been written and is being reviewed now.

As the voting dragged on, it became clear that Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who has emerged as Mr. McCarthy’s chief adversary, would become the deciding vote. And when Mr. Gaetz voted “present,” depriving Mr. McCarthy of the majority support he needed, the California Republican blanched, stood up from his seat and walked across the House floor to speak to Mr. Gaetz himself. Talking with reporters, he gamely brushed off the notion that his historic and humiliating slog to election — the most protracted such contest since 1859 — foretold any troubles ahead for him in governing with an unruly and narrow majority. Such steps, however, would inevitably prolong the process of approving spending bills. When Representative Chip Roy of Texas, then a freshman and now one of Mr. McCarthy’s most vocal opponents, forced roll call votes on every amendment in spending bills in 2019, the process of approving them dragged on for two weeks.

Mr. Emmer’s downfall followed a swift backlash from the right, including former President Donald J. Trump, that left his candidacy in shambles and the G.O.P. as divided as ever. Instead, he moved quickly to bring up a resolution expressing solidarity and support for Israel. His next order of business, he said, would be addressing what he called the country’s “broken border” with Mexico. He made no mention of the impeachment inquiry into President Biden, or of the impending government shutdown that will begin next month if Congress fails to pass legislation to keep the government funded.

Republicans control 222 votes in the House and can only lose four of those votes if one of their candidates is going to win the minimum 218 votes needed to secure a majority and win the speaker’s gavel. McCarthy failed to garner the 218 necessary votes to become speaker in six ballots between Tuesday and Wednesday. About 20 members of the House Freedom Caucus have so far refused to support the GOP leader. Until Republicans agree on a speaker, they cannot pass a rules package to determine how the House will operate, consider legislation, or begin the oversight of the Biden administration that candidates promised on the campaign trail.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are gearing up for a potentially long night as Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is expected to wear down his opposition with multiple votes in his bid for Speaker on Tuesday. Kevin McCarthy will seek to wear down his Republican opponents to win the speakership Tuesday. McCarthy needs 218 votes from his Republican colleagues to secure the position. The vast majority of the conference has fallen in line behind him, but roughly a dozen detractors remain to be convinced.

Rep-Elect Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., the House Democrats' conference chair, did not say whether Democrats would oppose the motion when asked at a press conference this morning. And a spokesman for House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep-Elect Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News, "we won't back down." "A big part of the reason this is playing out is because the election was disappointing," Cruz said. "The election — we did a lot less — Republicans did a lot less in the election than we should have. We should have a majority in the Senate. We should have a big majority in the House."