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Still others said he was insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump, because he voted to certify the results of the 2020 election won by President Biden. Mr. Jeffries said Democrats would team with Republicans to elect a speaker only if they agreed to change House rules to allow “governance by consensus” — in other words, allowing bills with bipartisan support to come to the floor. The Rules Committee, which determines what legislation gets a vote, is now structured so Republicans are in complete control of what bills the House considers. That means Democratic priorities are almost always blocked, and the hard right effectively has veto power on what is considered and what is not. Following Emmer's withdrawal, the Republican conference began a fresh attempt to select a new speaker nominee. A candidate forum began on October 24 at 6 pm.[76] It then held a multi-ballot conference vote from which Johnson prevailed.
How the Senate Voted on Foreign Aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
Steve Scalise drops out of speaker’s race as House GOP faces leadership crisis - CNN
Steve Scalise drops out of speaker’s race as House GOP faces leadership crisis.
Posted: Thu, 12 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Representative Ken Buck of Colorado said that Mr. Johnson was not involved in postelection efforts to invalidate the results, even though Mr. Johnson was a critical player in those activities. In a speech that traced his ascent up the political ladder in Louisiana to Congress, Mr. Johnson pledged to try to “restore the people’s faith in this House.” He cited sending aid to Israel, fixing a “broken” southern border, and reining in federal spending as his top legislative priorities. 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.
Lead-up to first conference vote
WASHINGTON — Kevin McCarthy’s chaotic campaign for the speakership has become, for some in Washington, a spectacle to be consumed with the urgency of a major sporting event. The dramatic moment was captured on C-SPAN’s video cameras, which, lacking the typical restraints placed upon them in a House with a speaker, were free to show whatever moments from the floor its operators deemed newsworthy. After days of a bare stone wall, the Speaker McCarthy sign has been hung outside the office.
Trump declines to endorse this round, but has spoken with several of the contenders
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. "The people's House is back in business," Johnson told colleagues before being sworn in.

Stefanik to deliver nominating speech for Johnson
If the House speaker election has felt endless to you, take a second to imagine the experiences of the chamber’s reading clerks — the two people who have read out the names of every representative in attendance, and recorded their votes, 13 times now, with a 14th expected Friday night. Earlier Tuesday night, Ohio Rep. Max Miller suggested there was growing support for restoring McCarthy to the speakership. "I actually think that we may be on a merry-go-round," Miller told reporters. "Who knows, we might end up back at Speaker McCarthy. He's still got the most votes on anybody in that room." Some on the right opposed to Mr. Emmer cited his vote in favor of codifying federal protections for same-sex couples. Others railed against Mr. Emmer’s vote in favor of a stopgap spending bill put forward by Mr. McCarthy, the speaker at the time, to avert a government shutdown.
Johnson, who came in second, helping Emmer flip holdouts: "We are going to finish this tonight"
The presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard have already resigned. And last week, Columbia's president became the latest to testify before Congress. Speaking from the Capitol earlier this week, Johnson said providing aid to Ukraine was “critically important” and “the right thing” despite the potential power of his opponents to bring him down in yet another internal party coup. “This package will deliver critical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and other locations impacted by conflicts and natural disasters around the world; and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. The Israel bill includes about $4.4bn to replenish depleted US supplies given to Israel; $4bn for missile defense, including the much-vaunted Iron Dome, and $1.2bn for the Iron Beam; and $3.5bn to help Israel buy weapons. There are also provisions to make it easier to supply Israel with US munitions held in other countries.
h vote: 7:32 p.m. Thursday
After a spectacle of arm-twisting on the House floor, Kevin McCarthy won over just enough of the far-right rebels he needed to become speaker. He swore in the chamber’s members, ending days of paralysis at the start of Republican rule. The vote indicates that Emmer faces a tough road to securing the 217 votes needed to win the speaker's gavel.
And by the end of the day, with the majority of the detractors finally coalescing around Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Gaetz appeared to have softened his tone. In the second ballot, Jordan lost more ground than he gained, winning 199 votes, compared to the 200 he won on the first ballot. Jordan lost 25 Republicans in the third round of voting, falling short yet again with 194 votes, compared to 210 for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Twenty-five Republicans voted for various other candidates, including McCarthy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry. Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, who is serving his second term in Congress, also voted against certifying the election.

Trump lashed out at Emmer after he won the nomination, accusing him of being out of touch with GOP voters and calling a vote for him a "tragic mistake." The candidates were Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida, Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, Mark Green of Tennessee, Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Roger Williams of Texas. Majority Leader Steve Scalise threw his support behind Johnson late Tuesday, calling him a "dear friend" in a statement. "Due in large part to those usurpations, the election of 2020 has been riddled with an unprecedented number of serious allegations of fraud and irregularities," the House Republicans alleged. 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. Rep. Pete Aguilar , the Democratic caucus chair, will deliver the nominating speech for Jeffries.
The Democratic leader then took his place at the dais and delivered a speech cheering the work of House Democrats so far this Congress, while decrying the dysfunction that gripped the House over the last three weeks. Jeffries, the Democratic leader, presented him with the gavel, calling him a "family man, a hardworking man, a Baptist man, a Southern man, a son of a firefighter's household." "I think all the American people at one time had great pride in this institution, but right now that's in jeopardy," he said. "And we have a challenge before us right now to rebuild and restore that trust." Mr. Biden spoke to Johnson on the phone a short time later, the White House said, to offer his congratulations and express "that he looks forward to working together to find common ground on behalf of the American people." The measure includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine; $26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
He began the day with a scant victory, winning an internal party nominating contest by a vote of 117 to 97 over Mr. Johnson. He once shared the story with a mostly Democratic audience at a congressional hearing on slavery reparations, and he was surprised to hear boos as he spoke, he later recounted to the Council for National Policy, an assembly of conservative donors known for its strict secrecy. Mr. Johnson’s hallmark in Congress has been combining his hard-line views with a gentle personal style. That was on display on Wednesday, when he vowed to try to find common ground with Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader.
Mr. McCarthy, who rarely moved from his seat over the days of votes, approached Mr. Gaetz and Ms. Boebert in their seats and appeared to be pleading with them to change their votes, his signature smile wiped from his face. At one point, Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Alabama, had to be restrained after stepping toward Mr. Gaetz. The floor fight dragged on for the better part of a week, the longest since 1859, and paralyzed the House, with lawmakers stripped of their security clearances because they could not be sworn in as official members of Congress until a speaker was chosen.
There will also be some must-pass policy issues — like funding the government — that will test the ability of Republicans and Democrats to work together. In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with CNN ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy outlined his plans for power. Every new Congress must pass a new set of House rules, and doing so will be the top of the 118th Congress’ to-do list when the House reconvenes Monday. “I am humbled and honored to serve the American people as the @HouseDemocrats Whip for the 118th Congress,” added Clark, who ran unopposed. The state’s at-large House seat became vacant after Democratic incumbent Peter Welch — who was first elected in 2006 — decided on an ultimately successful Senate run to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, who was himself first elected in 1974.