House Republican Leadership News Conference December 12, 2023

Table Of Content

• Rep. Bacon says the GOP conference is not here to accommodate the 8 hardliners who voted to oust McCarthy
• Unlikely alliance clears way for House vote on Israel and Ukraine aid
• Majority Leader Scalise Speaks About Cancer Treatment
• Expelled former Rep. George Santos ends his independent bid for Congress
• House Republicans Are Demanding That Joe Biden Immediately Take Action To End The Biden Border Crisis
• October 24, 2023 - Rep. Mike Johnson selected as next speaker nominee

Emmer, the House majority whip, said in a letter to his colleagues shared on Saturday that he was seeking the speakership with the goal of delivering “historic change.” Kevin McCarthy backed the Minnesota Republican for speaker, which delivered an early boost for his candidacy. Meuser told CNN "there are some holdouts" to Emmer’s speaker bid, and that there are "around 10" members opposed to him in the closed-door roll call vote currently underway. There are about 10 "no" votes in the House GOP conference against Rep. Tom Emmer, the speaker designee, according to Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania. “Whoever the conference picks I'm going to support,” McCarthy said on NBC News Now. "Let the conference decide that. ... I'm not going to be a player in that." Moderate Rep. Don Bacon said that he thinks some members will nominate McCarthy for speaker tonight and argued that no one else in the conference has as much support as the former speaker, who was ousted last week.

Rep. Bacon says the GOP conference is not here to accommodate the 8 hardliners who voted to oust McCarthy

“I think it’s real important that we go to the floor with 217 votes, 218 votes,” Jordan told CNN. When pressed on whether the eight rebels who voted last week to oust McCarthy understand the urgency, McCaul said if the attacks against Israel don't "wake up members of my conference, then I don’t know what else will." “I would prefer to have that vote within the family before we go to the floor and not have a repeat of the 15 ballots," the Texas Republican said, referring to the protracted floor fight in January that ended with Kevin McCarthy winning the gavel. "I think that just projects weakness. Another Republican state representative, Jacqueline Parker, decried the GOP votes for repeal, calling abortion "akin to slavery."

Unlikely alliance clears way for House vote on Israel and Ukraine aid

Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas, who is backing Rep. Steve Scalise as speaker, said the world is looking at the House with concern, adding that the crisis in Israel has put more pressure on lawmakers to unite. And Republican Rep. Tim Burchett, one of the hardliners who voted to oust McCarthy, defended himself against those who have called for kicking the eight off committees. Rep. Kevin McCarthy has so far not arrived at the House Republican conference meeting Monday night, as some members urge him to return to the top role. Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry is limited to help Israel in the midst of war — meaning the House can’t pass any legislation until a new speaker is chosen.

Majority Leader Scalise Speaks About Cancer Treatment

Never mind that Senate Republicans let the former president off the hook each time. Of course, that’s the opposite of the achievement they promised two years ago, ahead of the midterm elections that gave them control of the House. Back then, some chest-beaters were vowing to impeach President Biden as well as members of his Cabinet, starting with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the administration’s border security czar, and sweeping up Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray (a Donald Trump holdover, by the way), Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Lord knows who else.

Expelled former Rep. George Santos ends his independent bid for Congress

Joe Biden’s failed Far Left open border policies are attracting individuals with heinous convictions, including rapes of incapacitated children to the United St... "Trust is something people are looking for," Norman said, adding that "Tom's honest." Emmer's total is still short of the 217 total needed to win the speakership on the House floor. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota has emerged as the House Republicans' latest speaker nominee after GOP members conducted a multi-round secret ballot voting session Tuesday morning, according to Rep. Elise Stefanik.

“Anyone who endorses Jordan and any member who votes for him is affirmatively voting for a coup plotter, an election denier and a foe of American democracy,” the ad said. House Republicans have struggled to pick a leader since eight Republicans on Oct. 3 led a vote, joined by Democrats, to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield from the speaker’s chair. The congressman also said that Ukraine and Israel aid must be weighed by Congress in two separate votes, rather than being linked. "No," Norman responded when asked by Hunt if he feels pressure to select a speaker today. He argued the position is too important to rush and that the American people are more concerned about issues like gas prices and the border, while the speaker's battle isn't their "highest concern." "All these votes go into the equation, but Tom is an honest man," the South Carolina Republican said when pressed about Emmer's vote to certify the 2020 election.

House GOP feuds as hard-right members threaten Johnson's job over Ukraine aid - Spectrum News NY1

House GOP feuds as hard-right members threaten Johnson's job over Ukraine aid.

Posted: Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:00:00 GMT [source]

Many months after opening an inquiry oddly based on nothing more than to-be-determined charges, Republicans have no hard evidence of an impeachable offense by the president. Voters who are paying very close attention may recall that the GOP refused to empower McHenry to get business done while the speakership race continues. Garcia is the only one of the five Californians in question who voted against certifying some election results. The proposal to grant him more power, which would probably need buy-in from Democrats, fell flat Thursday when it became clear Republicans were overwhelmingly against it, leaving the lower chamber foundering as it’s set to enter its fourth week without a permanent leader. McCarthy officially launched his campaign for House speaker last week, telling his Republican colleagues that he would be a "listener" and strive to "build consensus from the bottom-up rather than commanding the agenda from the top-down."

Mitch McConnell says Tucker Carlson and Trump's waffling delayed crucial Ukraine aid

Duarte and Garcia’s races are considered “toss-ups,” Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, noted on Friday. Cook rates Valadao and Steel’s races as leaning Republican, and Kim’s as likely to go Republican. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan ended his bid to lead the lower chamber Friday after facing stiff opposition from moderates and other lawmakers in key districts. McCarthy fended off an 11th-hour challenge for the nomination from Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who was involved in efforts both within Congress and at the state level to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Biggs announced his bid Monday night, telling Newsmax in an interview that "we have a new paradigm here, and I think the country wants a different direction from the House of Representatives." - Speaker McCarthy after being sworn in as the 55th Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Congress

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. House Republicans are no closer to coalescing around a speaker nominee and a path forward as they debate potential rules changes and figure out who is best positioned to lead their conference, according to indications from lawmakers leaving a closed-door meeting Monday night. Jordan, who voted not to certify many election results, “was a significant player in President Trump’s efforts” to stay in power, the House Jan. 6 committee noted in its final report on Trump supporters’ 2021 attack on the U.S. “I have worked in good faith to be part of the solution and support our conference’s nominees, but it’s clear no candidate has the votes to be Speaker at this time,” she told The Times in a statement Friday. Republicans have proven unable to secure a simple majority to elect a speaker who can call floor votes on critical legislation, including bills to respond to the conflicts engulfing Israel and Ukraine and to avert a government shutdown by mid-November. South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman told CNN's Kasie Hunt that he voted for fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida for speaker three times this morning but did not rule out supporting GOP Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota in the future.

As a result, Johnson and his predecessor, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, have seen several rules fail on the floor, largely over objections from the right flank of the party. Ahead of the vote, Democratic leaders had not committed to supporting the rule, as text was not yet available. But they said they were open to the possibility and they were committed to getting foreign aid passed.

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. "The rules are the rules, and practice and custom in our conference has always been make your case, get a majority of the majority, become the nominee. ... That's the way it should be. And I would hope that's the way it will be this week," Womack said.

The loss of McCarthy from upper leadership could have especially dire consequences for California’s state Republican party, which has long relied on him to keep money coming into the Golden State, said Mike Madrid, an anti-Trump Republican consultant who’s become a critic of the party. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster is the first of those challenges. McCarthy’s fundraising allies have said they will work with Johnson to ensure the money continues to pour into Republicans’ coffers. But Johnson is relatively unproven as a fundraiser, and McCarthy, who pulled in more than $500 million last election cycle, rose to the top of his party in part because of his ability to rake in dough. House Republicans have all but folded the Big Top on the Biden impeachment circus.

The looming fight over tying military aid for Israel and Ukraine together is the latest in a series of complicated questions a new speaker will have to navigate as the narrow Republican majority grapples with its future. “I do think the McCarthy supporters would probably rally behind one or the other two if it meant unity within the conference for a speaker,” he added. McCaul added that enemies can take advantage of dysfunction and urged the conference to work behind the scenes to pick a speaker before going to the floor.

House Republican infighting getting worse after foreign aid vote - The Washington Post

House Republican infighting getting worse after foreign aid vote.

Posted: Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:46:00 GMT [source]

It’s also not clear whether a future speaker —knowing the bitter divide over the Ukraine issue — would be willing to move a joint package on the House floor. The White House has yet to formalize a request for additional aid to Israel — it is expediting weapons already purchased first — but briefers on a call with lawmakers Sunday night underscored that there would be an eventual need as Israel burns through munitions. Rep. Steve Womack, a senior GOP appropriator, likened the conference to a “scattergram” as Republicans continue to debate the way forward.

Rep. Bob Good, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, said that although he disagrees with Johnson, he doesn't think it's in Republicans' interest to remove him as speaker. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed the motion to vacate resolution nearly a month ago, in part over disputes with the speaker on how he handled a $1.2 trillion appropriations package. “Californians demand relief from the surging cost of living, gas prices and violent crime fueled by extreme left-wing policies in D.C. And Sacramento,” Ben Petersen, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement.

On a less high-minded note, how delicious was it to see Ms. Greene on the steps of the Capitol on Saturday, raving about Mr. Johnson’s various “betrayals” and proclaiming him “a lame duck,” even as she hemmed and hawed about when she would move to oust him? All in good time, she said, insisting she felt moved to let her colleagues first “go home and hear from their constituents” over this week’s House recess. “I said from the beginning I’m going to be responsible with this,” she said, in what may be her most laughable line in weeks — a high bar for the House member known for her keen insights on Jewish space lasers. "Even though it's not the perfect legislation, it's not the legislation that we would write if Republicans were in charge of both the House, the Senate, and the White House, this is the best possible product that we can get under these circumstances," Johnson said after the vote. Several members of the Republican conference had called for a Thursday rule to include changing the threshold to bring a motion to remove the speaker — which currently is just one member.