Table Of Content
- In Johnson, House Republicans Elevate One of Their Staunchest Conservatives
- Scalise will not run for speaker again
- Ukraine, Israel aid advances in rare House vote as Democrats help Republicans push it forward
- National Politics
- The fourth nomination — Mike Johnson wins
- Legal Experts: Expect More Delays Following SCOTUS Hearing on Trump’s Immunity
Washington — Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, won election as the new speaker of the House on Wednesday, ending three weeks of chaos since Rep. Kevin McCarthy's historic ouster. At best, Johnson has been able to carve up a Senate-passed version of the bill into separate parts, as is the preference among House Republicans, and the final votes will be on distinct measures — for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies. Rep. Eli Crane, a hardline conservative from Arizona, also said he was “open” to joining the move to oust Johnson. Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said that he spoke with Johnson on Thursday night to ensure the bill would clear the Rules Committee.
In Johnson, House Republicans Elevate One of Their Staunchest Conservatives
After roughly two and a half hours, the GOP House speaker candidate forum has wrapped. “Obviously, overwhelmingly, there's a viewpoint that we do get that the American people are frustrated with the processes that we've gone through. I would say back to the American people that I think that these few weeks have given us a better chance to learn about each other,” Sessions said. After roughly two and a half hours, the GOP House speaker candidate forum has ended. The speaker explained they either try to pass the package as he is proposing or risk facing a discharge petition from Democrats that would force a vote on their preferred package — the Senate approved measure.
US elections 2024: Eleven House races to watch - Reuters
US elections 2024: Eleven House races to watch.
Posted: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 19:49:00 GMT [source]
Scalise will not run for speaker again
The third nominee, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, dropped out of the Republican race for speaker just four hours after he was elected Tuesday. He failed to persuade far-right members of the conference to support him on the floor. 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.
Ukraine, Israel aid advances in rare House vote as Democrats help Republicans push it forward
Republican candidates are leading in several battleground races in which CBS News has not projected a winner. Asked whether she plans to move forward with her motion to vacate Johnson’s speakership, she said, “It’s coming regardless of what Mike Johnson decides to do." “It’s absurd that he’s getting kicked out for doing the right thing, for keeping the government open. … The idea that he would be kicked out by these jokers is absurd,” centrist Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-New York) said late last month when Greene submitted her motion to vacate order. In October, such a vote was used to remove former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, followed by a number of failed votes for several days afterwards in the efforts to replace him.
Gingrich managed to restore many of the powers of the speakership but clashed repeatedly with Clinton and even with Republican leaders in the Senate. In 1997, in his second Congress as speaker, he barely survived a largely covert challenge from within his own leadership team. And just shy of his fourth anniversary in the job, he was voted out by the full House Republican conference in December 1998.
The second nomination — Jim Jordan wins
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.
“This affirms the path that we took,” Representative Bob Good of Virginia, one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tells reporters. “We went through a lot to get here, but we are ready to govern and that will begin right away,” Johnson says in his first news conference as speaker. “From an outside point of view these last few weeks probably look like total chaos, confusion, no end in sight," he said. "But from my perspective, this is one of the greatest experiences of the recent history of our republic." The vote put him second in line to the presidency, capping an extraordinary period of twists and turns on Capitol Hill.
The fourth nomination — Mike Johnson wins
Johnson will need to rely on Democrats again Friday to clear the next procedural vote and turn back amendments Republicans have offered that could kill the package. One from hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene would reduce spending for Ukraine to zero. A crowd of students, swelling as Johnson and his colleagues began speaking, intermittently laughed and yelled that they couldn’t hear the congressman or his colleagues. The students booed the speaker, chanted in support of Palestine, including “Free Palestine,” “Stop the genocide” and “From the river to the sea,” a phrase that some say constitutes antisemitic speech. CBS News estimates the GOP will win at least 216 seats and Democrats will control at least 211.
Legal Experts: Expect More Delays Following SCOTUS Hearing on Trump’s Immunity
Mr. Johnson’s abrupt rise to the speaker post this week in the depressed and divided House Republican conference underscores the rightward lurch of the G.O.P., which dumped his more mainstream predecessor, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California. Mr. Johnson said Mr. Jordan called him when he was running for office, because “he knew I was a conservative,” contributed money to his campaign and invited him to Washington for a meeting with him and other Freedom Caucus members. On the eve of the Jan. 6 votes, Mr. Johnson had honed his arguments undermining the election to be more palatable. He presented colleagues with arguments they could use to oppose the will of the voters without embracing conspiracy theories and the lies of widespread fraud pushed by Mr. Trump.
Two days before her interview on that network, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) announced he would back Greene’s motion to vacate order against Johnson, becoming the third Republican overall to back the call to oust the speaker. Republican House members told CNN that their constituents back home are angry about the dysfunction in Washington as the lawmakers expressed renewed fears that the chaos could cost them their House majority. The Pennsylvania Republican said he hasn't decided whether he will endorse a candidate.
Emmer's victory was a surprise, since the predicted "red wave" in the midterm elections never materialized under his leadership of the NRCC. McCarthy was tapped as the nominee in an internal meeting of the Republican conference by a secret-ballot vote of 188 to 31, multiple sources in the meeting confirmed to CBS News. McCarthy first ran for speaker in 2015 to succeed Speaker John Boehner, who was retiring. But he abruptly withdrew from the race, a sign he recognized he didn't have the votes. He went on to serve as House Speaker Paul Ryan's No. 2 at the leadership table, and since then has developed close relationships with many of the conservatives who derailed his initial bid for the top slot. McCarthy is regarded as skilled at developing personal relationships across his conference after years of criss-crossing the country campaigning and raising money for GOP candidates.
"The American people's business is too urgent in this moment. The hour is late. The crisis is great." Johnson now faces a daunting list of challenges, with a fast-approaching government shutdown chief among them. The House is staring down a deadline of Nov. 17, when current government funding expires. In his blueprint for the next few months, Johnson said a stopgap measure extending funding until January or April may be needed to approve more spending and avoid a shutdown.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, another co-sponsor, suggested others could follow before the House breaks next week to pressure Johnson to step down. First elected to the House in 2006, McCarthy has worked his way up the ranks of Republican leadership, serving a majority whip and majority leader under former House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan. He took over as the top Republican in the lower chamber in 2019, when Democrats gained the House majority. If the motion is brought to the floor, the three Republican votes supporting it could be enough for passage if they are joined by all Democrats in the chamber.
