Table Of Content
- ‘Rivers in the sky’ have drenched California, yet even more extreme rains are possible
- Members of the 117th Congress Sworn In
- Some of the Republicans who supported 2020 election lies have led the charge against Kevin McCarthy.
- Ambition keeps him loyal to Donald Trump. But what does Kevin McCarthy stand for?
- Government Accountability Office
- Granderson: Arizona’s indictment of Trump allies follows a sordid, racist history

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. Greene could launch a bid to evict Johnson from the speaker’s office, should she call it up for a vote, much the way Republicans booted Kevin McCarthy from the position last fall. Jeffries, the Democratic leader, remained noncommittal to helping Johnson keep the speaker’s gavel, though some Democrats have suggested they would be inclined help defeat the motion to vacate through procedural maneuvers. The focus right now, Aguilar added during a press conference, is passing foreign aid.
‘Rivers in the sky’ have drenched California, yet even more extreme rains are possible
The power of the speaker was greatly augmented during the tenure of the Republican Thomas Brackett Reed (1889–1891, 1895–1899). Reed, however, declared that members who were in the chamber but refused to vote would still count for the purposes of determining a quorum. Through these and other rulings, Reed ensured that the Democrats could not block the Republican agenda.
Members of the 117th Congress Sworn In
The No. 2 Republican at the time did not have the votes, and the No. 3 declined to run. The chairman of the Appropriations Committee was nominated by the party conference but withdrew after a magazine story accused him of marital infidelity. The 30-year saga began with Gingrich of Georgia, who was the first member of his party to gain "the big gavel" since the early 1950s and the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Gingrich had been a backbench rabble-rouser since coming to the House in 1978 and built up a cadre of supporters until he won the party's No. 2 power position as minority whip in 1989. Two colleagues had spoken up to say they would join Greene in such a vote, giving her enough to defeat the speaker if all the chamber's Democrats voted to do the same.
Some of the Republicans who supported 2020 election lies have led the charge against Kevin McCarthy.
The most important development for the party in all of this is that the rest of the caucus has realized that going along with the arsonists — all of whom have safe seats and would be happy to throw their bombs from the House minority — amounts to politically suicidal appeasement. 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. In 1994, two years into the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton, Gingrich organized a campaign around a 10-item agenda called the "Contract with America." It provided a unified message for the party's nominees, who flipped more than 50 seats and stormed into the majority. With one of the most narrow House majorities in modern times, Johnson can only afford to lose a single vote or two from his Republican ranks to pass any bill. That dynamic has thrust him into the arms of Democrats as he searches for votes to pass the package.
Ambition keeps him loyal to Donald Trump. But what does Kevin McCarthy stand for?
Mr. McCarthy watched as the hard-right flank of that majority ran John A. Boehner of Ohio from his speakership in 2015 and blocked his own first attempt at securing the job, after 40 of its members announced that they would not support him, questioning his conservative credentials. Under pressure to step aside when there appeared to be no chance that he could clinch the speaker’s gavel, he hung on anyway. WASHINGTON — For days as hard-right lawmakers voted again and again to block him from becoming speaker, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California sat on the House floor with a grin plastered to his face. But after flipping their votes to Mr. McCarthy on Friday, some of the former holdouts said they had been assured by an emerging framework, which is expected to cap the size of government funding bills, call for spending cuts and allow for amendments on the House floor.
Second GOP lawmaker backs ousting House speaker, putting Johnson's job in peril
After months of delay, the House worked slowly but deliberately once Johnson made up his mind this week to plough ahead with a package that matches, with a few alterations, what the Senate passed in February. President Joe Biden sent a swift endorsement of the speaker’s plan and, in a rare moment, Donald Trump, the Republican presumed presidential nominee who opposes most overseas aid for Ukraine, has not derailed the speaker’s work. It was a victory for the strategy Johnson set in motion this week after he agonized for two months over the legislation. Still, Johnson has had to spend the past 24 hours making the rounds on conservative media working to salvage support for the wartime funding, particularly for Ukraine as it faces a critical moment battling Russia, but also for his own job as the effort to remove him as speaker grew. McCarthy is a political animal down to his marrow and the speakership is a job he coveted much of his career. His tenure — less than nine months — lasted barely long enough to pose for the portrait that will someday hang in the Capitol.
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. The 118th version of the Senate did the same this week, convening for a celebratory induction of new members and the swearing in of re-elected senators on Tuesday, then quickly fleeing the capital for three weeks to allow the House to occupy the political stage alone. Unable to overcome the opposition from a band of progressive Republicans, supporters of Mr. Gillett kept pushing the House into adjournment to allow back-room talks about how to resolve the stalemate, another tactic being employed this time around as the vote tallies remain inconclusive. Two Republicans who were absent for personal reasons from votes earlier in the day, Ken Buck of Colorado and Wesley Hunt of Texas, were expected to be back in time for the vote. That would mean Mr. McCarthy needs just two more in his column, and potentially just one if two or more of his opponents do not vote or vote present.
House remains paralyzed with no end in sight for speakership battle after Jordan’s exit - CNN
House remains paralyzed with no end in sight for speakership battle after Jordan’s exit.
Posted: Sat, 21 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Granderson: Arizona’s indictment of Trump allies follows a sordid, racist history
On the other hand, when the speaker and the president belong to opposite parties, the public role and influence of the speaker tend to increase. As the highest-ranking member of the opposition party (and de facto leader of the opposition), the speaker is normally the chief public opponent of the president's agenda. In this scenario, the speaker is known for undercutting the president's agenda by blocking measures by the minority party or rejecting bills by the Senate.
At a Capitol Hill bar, the prolonged fight for a speaker becomes a drinking game.

Ryan also had a strained relationship with then-President Donald Trump, with whom he had a falling out during the fall 2016 campaign. In April 2018, Ryan said he would not serve another term and left as the party was losing its majority that fall. Eight Republican lawmakers joined 208 Democrats in toppling the former Bakersfield congressman, the first time in history a House leader has been voted out. It’s now been two weeks of high-stakes chaos over the speaker’s gavel following the unprecedented ouster of Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The House’s slim margin is what led to McCarthy’s removal at the hands of a band of eight GOP rebels – and now a similarly sized group of House Republicans could block Jordan’s ascension, too. Information about all receipts and expenditures of representatives, committees, leadership, and officers of the House.

The reference was to allegations that Gaetz paid for sex, including relations with an underage girl, while in Congress. The Justice Department investigated the Florida lawmaker and decided not to bring charges. He’s traveling the country giving six-figure speeches, playing pundit and elder statesman on TV, holding forth at high-brow political forums and, not least, plotting vengeance against those behind his unceremonious ouster as House speaker. The vote has not yet been scheduled, but Jordan’s team has vowed to force another floor vote today. There’s one main thing to know about Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who does not yet have the votes to become speaker of the House of Representatives.
This is the most recent election in which a Speaker was elected on the first ballot. Pelosi helped to secure 53% of the total cost of the Central Subway, over $1 billion in federal funds, which will provide a direct transit connection between Chinatown, Downtown and the T-Third line. Scalise had been the party's first nominee after McCarthy was ousted, but withdrew his name one day after winning the internal GOP vote. The brief claimed that the officials and courts in each of the battleground states unconstitutionally usurped the power granted to state legislators by changing election rules in 2020.
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 protracted fight foreshadowed how difficult it would be for him to govern with an exceedingly narrow majority and an unruly hard-right faction bent on slashing spending and disrupting business in Washington. The speakership struggle that crippled the House before it had even opened its session suggested that basic tasks such as passing government funding bills or financing the federal debt would prompt epic struggles over the next two years. On the floor of the House, the presiding officer is always addressed as "Mister Speaker" or "Madam Speaker", even if that person is serving as speaker pro tempore.
Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, had declined yet again to vote for Representative Kevin McCarthy of California on a 14th ballot, helping sink McCarthy’s chances at speaker that round. Congratulations to @GOPLeader on his election as the Speaker of 🇺🇸 House of Representatives. We’re counting on your continued support and further U.S. assistance to bring our common victory closer. This is the first time Hal Rogers of Kentucky swears in the speaker, following the death of Don Young of Alaska in 2022. After days of a bare stone wall, the Speaker McCarthy sign has been hung outside the office.
Democrats this time however, could rescue Johnson from right-wing fury depending on how Johnson presents foreign aid to allies including Ukraine and Israel. Johnson at a weekly leadership news conference, was defiant and said he will not resign. WASHINGTON – House Speaker Mike Johnson is drawing closer to peril after another conservative hardliner publicly came out in support of forcibly removing the Republican leader from his job. Jordan and McCarthy were seen huddling on the floor Tuesday, and Jordan, after losing a floor vote on the first ballot, decamped to the former speaker’s suite. Kevin McCarthy — who was ousted as House speaker earlier this month — has been counseling Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan on strategy for his own speakership bid, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. GOP Rep. Mario Diaz Balart, who voted against Rep. Jim Jordan for speaker on Tuesday's first ballot, sent a letter to interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry demanding an immediate second vote on electing a new speaker.
The speaker is responsible for ensuring that the House passes legislation supported by the majority party. In pursuing this goal, the speaker may use their influence over the Rules committee, which is in charge of the business of the House. The roles of the parties reversed in 1994 when, after spending forty years in the minority, the Republicans regained control of the House with the "Contract with America", an idea spearheaded by Minority Whip Newt Gingrich. Speaker Gingrich would regularly clash with Democratic President Bill Clinton, leading to the United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996, in which Clinton was largely seen to have prevailed. Gingrich's hold on the leadership was weakened significantly by that and several other controversies, and he faced a caucus revolt in 1997.
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