Ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is out for vengeance Los Angeles Times

Table Of Content

• Egypt sends delegation to Israel, its latest effort to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas
• GOP Rep. Bice considering running for Johnson's former leadership role
• Votes on the Foreign Aid Bills
• McHenry unsure if House will vote on Tuesday
• California holds the key to GOP power in the House. McCarthy’s retirement makes everything harder

Among other things, it wants committee members to directly elect their chairs and a requirement that a majority of House Republicans support any bill before it can be brought to the floor for a vote. Since then, McCarthy has worked to win over his party’s most conservative factions, including supporters of former President Trump. In a secret ballot Tuesday afternoon, a majority of the participating current House members and those just elected supported McCarthy. But while the GOP is on the verge of securing a narrow House majority, its surprisingly poor performance in last week’s midterm election forced McCarthy to scramble much harder than anticipated to keep his caucus united and behind him.

Egypt sends delegation to Israel, its latest effort to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas

More rounds of voting are expected as Jordan works to shore up support to replace McCarthy for the job and the leader of the GOP’s hard-right flank moves to take a central seat of U.S. power. 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. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the majority whip and the highest ranking Republican running for speaker, is one of the two who voted to certify the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6.

GOP Rep. Bice considering running for Johnson's former leadership role

Mainstream conservatives who backed Mr. Johnson said they hoped to quickly move to pull the House out of its funk. Almost immediately after Mr. Johnson was elected, lawmakers began debating a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel and condemning Hamas, which passed overwhelmingly. Democrats were scathing in their assessment of Mr. Johnson’s ascent to the speakership. Representative Pete Aguilar of California, the Democratic conference chairman, said that the speaker fight had devolved into a contest over “who can appease Donald Trump.” At that line, a handful of hard-right Republicans stood and applauded.

Votes on the Foreign Aid Bills

Ukraine’s defense once enjoyed robust, bipartisan support in Congress, but as the war enters its third year, a bulk of Republicans oppose further aid. Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) offered an amendment to zero out the money, but it was rejected. "I've said from the beginning I'm going to be responsible with this," Greene said. On Friday, a third Republican member signed onto the effort to remove Johnson as speaker.

House begins first round of voting for speaker

Although Tuesday’s first-round outcome wasn’t a surprise, the fact that McCarthy and his allies were not only unable to move votes his way but also lost ground on a subsequent ballot was startling — and potentially fatal to his diminishing path to the speakership. Arriving to the vote Tuesday, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters that he believes Jordan can clinch the gavel on the first ballot. The several times she ran for speaker, she faced a number of detractors in a closed-door conference vote but was able to clinch the gavel each time her nomination came to the floor vote. 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.

McHenry unsure if House will vote on Tuesday

By Friday afternoon, Mr. McCarthy had won over 15 of the 21 Republicans who had defected, and he pressed into the night for more converts, a remarkable turnabout for a man who only days before appeared to be headed for defeat. His path was narrow until the end; only a few of the six remaining holdouts were seen as open to negotiating further. Some hard-right Republicans consider themselves a distinct political party from their more mainstream, business-minded colleagues, whom they accuse of being in a “uniparty” with Democrats. By Tuesday evening, five more Republicans, none with a national profile, were vying for the nomination.

He and his allies, however, are working hard behind the scenes to shore up support. He beat back an 11th-hour challenge from House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who received 31 votes to McCarthy’s 188. But it demonstrated that McCarthy has yet to convince all his party’s members. Ciscomani was one of at least a dozen Republicans who had yet to throw their support behind Jordan. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., a first-term member, said that after having several conversations with Jordan, he’s decided to vote for him on the floor.

Rep. Mike Johnson Secures House Speaker Vote - News On 6

Rep. Mike Johnson Secures House Speaker Vote.

Posted: Wed, 24 Apr 2024 23:32:56 GMT [source]

California holds the key to GOP power in the House. McCarthy’s retirement makes everything harder

"I want to say to the American people on behalf of all of us here, we hear you. We know the challenges you're facing. We know that there's a lot going on in our country, domestically and abroad, and we're ready to get to work again to solve those problems and we will," he said. "Our mission here is to serve you well, to restore the people's faith in this House in this great and essential institution." "The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now and I will not let you down," Johnson said. By the same token, Mr. Biden noted that the nation expects House Republicans to work across the aisle with him and Senate Democrats to address "urgent" national security needs and grow the economy. In a statement distributed by the White House, President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden extended their congratulations to Johnson, and the president reiterated his commitment to working with him "in good faith" for the American people.

Stefanik nominates Johnson for speaker

The chamber has been frozen for the better part of a month as Republicans feud over who should be in charge, even as wars rage overseas and a government shutdown approaches. House Republicans chose and then quickly repudiated yet another of their nominees for speaker on Tuesday and rushed to name a fourth, pressing to put an end to a remarkable three-week-long deadlock that has left Congress leaderless and paralyzed. On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson was toiling to help Republicans turn the page from the chaos of the past few weeks. He said there would be none of the typical celebrations that accompany the election of a new speaker.

The House passed a long-stalled foreign aid package on Saturday that gives funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, with a majority of lawmakers backing money for American allies across the globe. The package, which now goes to the Senate, is almost certain to become law. Johnson’s hold on the speaker’s gavel has also grown more tenuous in recent days as three Republicans, led by Greene, supported a “motion to vacate” that can lead to a vote on removing the speaker.

Rep. Kevin Hern, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, told reporters that he decided to forgo his candidacy for speaker and is instead supporting Rep. Mike Johnson. Johnson, a former radio host from Louisiana, was first elected to Congress in 2016. Johnson, who was first elected to Congress in 2016, voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results. 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. The vote for a new speaker comes on the heels of the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, which took place days after he struck a deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.

Rep. Pete Aguilar , the Democratic caucus chair, will deliver the nominating speech for Jeffries. "Today is the day that House Republicans will humbly look in our hearts and elect Mike Johnson as speaker of the People's House," she said. Turning to Jeffries, Aguilar said the Democratic leader has "never turned his back on the will of the American people."

Republicans held a candidate forum Tuesday night with five members vying to be the next speaker-designee after Emmer withdrew. Johnson won 128 votes, and Donalds received 29 votes, and there was a vote of "present." McCarthy, who was not a nominee, received 43 votes. Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana won in a three-round vote late Tuesday to become the next speaker-designee — the fourth since Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California was ousted from the position on Oct. 3. Emmer began to lose support from conservative lawmakers shortly after Trump's missive, and he bowed out of the contest shortly after. Democrats will nominate Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and they are being urged to vote for him, according to a notice from Democratic whip Katherine Clark's office.

Nineteen Republicans voted for candidates other than McCarthy on the first and second ballots. Twenty Republicans voted for Jordan on the third ballot, leaving McCarthy 16 short of the 218 votes needed to secure the post he has long sought. Republicans appeared to take Donalds’ advice, as the chamber moved to adjourn until Wednesday at noon. McCarthy, however, huddled in the speaker’s office, where reporters spotted pizzas being delivered, signaling that it would be a long night for the GOP leader.

The vote indicates that Emmer faces a tough road to securing the 217 votes needed to win the speaker's gavel. "One of the things that I think won a big round of applause inside the room was that Tom Emmer said, 'Listen, we're not gonna do this shell diplomacy," Johnson told reporters. "We're not gonna break up in small rooms. I'm not gonna say one thing to you differently than what I'm gonna say to you." Emmer told GOP colleagues he won't strike any secret deals to become speaker, Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson told reporters. "I've supported every Republican nominee to be Speaker of the House so far, but I will not vote for Tom Emmer on the House floor," he said. House Republicans are planning to hold another candidate forum at 6 p.m., now that Emmer has dropped out of the race, Republican members told reporters.

In an effort to win them over, Mr. McCarthy has offered to give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in the process of writing spending bills. One official briefed on that emerging compromise said if a lawmaker took issue with a certain earmark, they could force such a vote. Proponents of earmarks argue that they allow rank-and-file lawmakers to deliver for their constituents and smooth the process of keeping the government running, by giving members of Congress a tangible reason to vote in favor of spending bills. But Mr. McCarthy’s detractors, hard-line Republicans who have railed against federal spending, have demanded a commitment to crack down on the practice as a prerequisite for supporting him. The year was 1923, the last time the House required multiple days and repeated votes to settle on a new speaker before this week’s continuing stalemate over the candidacy of Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California.