Tag Archive for: speaker of the house

Mike Johnson Still In Jeopardy As Some House Republicans Remain Unconvinced After Trump Endorsement

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson may not be in the clear yet despite getting a reelection endorsement from Donald Trump, with several House Republicans saying they still haven’t decided if they’ll support him.

Since Johnson mishandled a government shutdown fight two weeks ago, he’s had to gain back the trust of several members of his own party. Johnson will have a 219-215 majority for the Speaker’s election, meaning he can only lose one vote to keep his job. While he has the support of all House Republican leadership, there are still some Republican members who say Johnson will need to do more to earn their votes.

After Trump’s endorsement of Johnson Monday morning, the Daily Caller reached out to nearly a dozen House Republicans who had previously been undecided on Johnson’s future.

Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs’ office told the Caller that he is “not committing yet.” Texas Rep. Michael Cloud’s office said he had no comment at this time, and Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert’s office gave the same answer.

Meanwhile, Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz issued a statement, saying although Trump’s endorsement is important, she still needs “assurances” that Johnson will not “sell us out to the swamp.”

“President Trump will be able to save America only if we have a speaker with courage, vision and a plan — also public commitment to the American people how he will help deliver President Trump’s agenda to drain the swamp,” Spartz added.

Spartz has claimed Johnson often doesn’t even talk to Republicans during legislative negotiations and has questioned his leadership. She recently made headlines for saying she will not participate in the House Republican Conference or be a part of its committees.

Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett, Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison, Arizona Rep. Eli Crane, Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles, Florida Rep. Greg Steube, Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde and Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry are among the other Republicans still on the fence about Johnson.

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie publicly said Dec. 18 that he would oppose Johnson’s bid to remain Speaker and would vote for another candidate. He doubled down on the decision even after Trump’s endorsement.

If just one more House Republican joins Massie and votes against Johnson, he will not get the gavel.

AUTHOR

Henry Rodgers

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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Mike Johnson’s Broken Promises On CR May Have Just Cost Him The Speakership

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is facing serious blowback from those in his own party for trying to push through a continuing resolution filled with unnecessary spending. Sources on Capitol Hill, including both lawmakers and their staff, told the Caller Johnson may have cost himself the Speaker’s job with the poorly-received gambit right before Christmas.

“Mike Johnson spent a lot of time fundraising off of selfies with President Trump, and then betrayed him right before the inauguration. He’ll have to answer for that in January,” a senior House Republican staffer told the Caller.

The 1,574-page spending measure will receive votes from both Democrats and Republicans, but Johnson broke several promises in the process of putting forth the bill. Johnson said in September that he has “no intention of going back” to the “terrible tradition” of a Christmas omnibus.

A senior house aide told the Caller that House Republicans have lost trust in Johnson and that it will be hard to recover from.

“It’s not a competence or leadership question for some folks now. It’s a trust question. That’s gonna be tough to come back from,” the senior house aide said.

The speaker says by passing the CR, “we’re clearing the decks and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the America First agenda.” However, it is being opposed by Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who will be running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as well as President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance themselves.

Johnson also promised that the spending bill would be written by committee leaders in an open process and members would have at least 72 hours to read it before voting, but in reality, the new CR was negotiated behind closed doors by leadership.

“On every important issue this majority has faced, the Speaker has shown himself to be inapt and outsmarted by Biden and Schumer and is too easily willing to surrender,” one House Republican lawmaker told the Caller.

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie was the first House Republican to say he would oppose Johnson’s bid for Speaker, saying Wednesday: “I’ll vote for somebody else.” When asked who he would vote for instead he said: “I’ve got a few in mind. I’m not going to say yet.”

“There’s a cognitive disconnect among my colleagues who hated Speaker Johnson’s CR, but still plan to vote for Speaker Johnson in 2 weeks. That 1557 page bill was a product of the swamp that uniparty Johnson was happy to facilitate. He couldn’t understand why we didn’t lap it up,” Massie tweeted Thursday morning.

No other House Republicans have said they plan to challenge Johnson for the Speakership. Notably, Republicans’ razor-thin House majority in the next Congress would give even a small anti-Johnson group significant leverage over who becomes the next Speaker.

Johnson’s office declined to comment for this piece.

AUTHOR

Henry Rodgers

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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EXCLUSIVE: Gold Star Families Had Trouble Getting Trump Into Arlington Until House Speaker Intervened

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Arlington National Cemetery told gold star families that they could only be there for a specific time that did not work for everyone’s schedule and were also told the president could not join them at their children’s gravesites, the family told the Caller.

Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul explained to the Caller that he was contacted by Gold Star parents Darin Hoover and Kelly Barnett, the parents of SSGT Taylor Hoover, who told him that Arlington Cemetery was giving them and some of the other parents of the U.S. servicemembers killed at Abbey Gate a hard time about coordinating a ceremony with Trump on the anniversary of their deaths. The Caller is told that the Cemetery said they could only be there for a specific time that did not work for everyone’s schedule and were also told the president could not join them at their children’s gravesites. McCaul immediately reached out to Johnson to ask for his assistance with the matter and the Caller is told he continued to track it until it was fixed.

“When Darin and Kelly contacted me, I was furious to hear their request to have President Trump join them to commemorate the anniversary of Taylor’s death was being stymied, along with several of the other family members of U.S. servicemembers killed at Abbey Gate. I immediately asked what I could do to help and reached out to Speaker Johnson to see what he could do. Thankfully, Speaker Johnson and his team acted quickly and were able to get the situation resolved. But something like this should never have happened. Gold Star families have already suffered enough,” McCaul told the Caller.

California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa has called on Biden to meet with these Gold Star families on multiple occasions, his office told the Caller. He was present for the ceremonies on Monday and had been in contact with Arlington National Cemetery leading up to the anniversary, his office said.

“This administration absolutely interfered with the tributes to the 13 fallen. In its war on Trump, it made the Gold Star families collateral damage,” Issa told the Caller.

“Our office worked with Arlington National Cemetery to move the time of the event, to a time that would accommodate the attendance of President Trump. That was done as a request by the families to this office, as they were not receiving that assistance from Arlington National Cemetery,” two sources close to the discussions told the Caller.

Another source familiar with the conversations between the Gold Star families and Arlington National Cemetery said that after Johnson’s phone call, the entire situation changed.

“The Speaker of the House had to get involved. Reps Issa, Mast, and Chairman Mike McCaul were instrumental in assisting in the Gold Star families. After the Speaker’s call, the situation shifted significantly. It was only three days before the ceremonies, and Arlington National Cemetery waited until the last minute to confirm key components of the event with the families.”

“Arlington Cemetery officials claimed the families didn’t want any media, photography, or videography at Section 60, contradicting what the families had actually requested. The families were fine with the media, designated by the Trump team, but Arlington kept pushing back, obstructing the process,” the source continued. “This would have not happened without Speaker Johnson.”

Hoover told the Caller in an emotional phone call that he and other Gold Star family members were the ones who called Trump and asked for him to show up and criticized the Biden administration for not contacting them for the past three years.

“We, WE extended the invitation to President Trump. We are the ones that asked him to come. We are the ones that asked him to assist in laying a wreath for our son, and for the shooting for, Sergeant Canals and for Cole. We’re the ones that asked that. President Trump didn’t come to us. His team didn’t come to us and say, hey, this would be good for business. Business? No. President Trump has stood by us from day one. He has been compassionate. He has been loving. He’s been understanding. He’s taking the mantle of our outrage a little bit. Because to be quite honest with you, being very frank, we haven’t heard diddly squat from the current administration in three years,” Hoover said.

The Caller reached out to the Biden White House for details on why these families were having trouble with Arlington National Cemetery on agreeing to terms with Trump present. The White House referred the Caller to Arlington National Cemetery, saying: “this is a matter between the Arlington National Cemetery and the Trump campaign, not a White House matter.”

The Caller also contacted Arlington National Cemetery about these claims. The cemetery did not immediately respond.

AUTHOR

Henry Rodgers

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter

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‘All In’: Speaker Mike Johnson Endorses Donald Trump For President

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson endorsed former President Donald Trump during a Tuesday morning television appearance, saying he is “all in” for Trump to be the 2024 GOP nominee.

Johnson was asked on CNBC who he would be endorsing as the Republican nominee for 2024. He did not hold back his support for Trump.

“I have endorsed him wholeheartedly. Look, I was one of the closest allies that President Trump had in Congress. He had a phenomenal first term those first two years, as you all know, we brought about the greatest economic numbers in the history of the world, not just the country, because his policies worked and I’m all in for President Trump,” Johnson said.

WATCH: 

“I expect he’ll be our nominee. Yeah. And he’s gonna win it and we have to make Biden a one-term president,” he added.

Johnson served on Trump’s impeachment defense team and has been a staunch supporter of the former president.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is Republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Mike Johnson Wins Speakership On First Vote

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Republican Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana secured the gavel on the first vote Wednesday after the House had been without a speaker for three weeks.

Johnson was the House GOP’s fourth speaker nominee since Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the role on Oct. 3. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise both withdrew from the race prior to a floor vote, and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan failed to receive enough support after three rounds of voting.

“It is the honor of a lifetime to have been elected the 56th Speaker of the House,” Johnson wrote in a tweet. “Thank you to my colleagues, friends, staff, and family for the unmatched support throughout this process. It has been an arduous few weeks, and a reminder that the House is as complicated and diverse as the people we represent. The urgency of this moment demands bold, decisive action to restore trust, advance our legislative priorities, and demonstrate good governance. Our House Republican Conference is united, and eager to work.”

Every House Republican voted for Johnson, and all House Democrats supported Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York gave Johnson a nominating speech ahead of the vote and praised the congressman for being a “servant leader” who has the ability to unite GOP members.

Johnson was one of nine House Republicans vying for the conference’s nomination on Tuesday, which originally elevated Emmer for the position. After Emmer withdrew from the race hours later, Johnson won the nomination against Republican Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida, Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, Mark Green of Tennessee and Roger Williams of Texas.

Emmer, Jordan and Scalise all threw their support behind Johnson for speaker. While former President Donald Trump didn’t officially endorse Johnson, he urged House Republicans to vote for the congressman ahead of the floor vote Wednesday.

Johnson is in his fourth term in Congress and serves as the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference. The congressman sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Armed Services Committee.

“As Speaker, I will ensure the House delivers results and inspires change for the American people,” Johnson wrote. “We will restore trust in this body. We will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden Administration, and support our allies abroad. And we will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of it. Let’s get back to work.”

AUTHOR

MARY LOU MASTERS

Contributor.

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Jim Jordan Fails To Become Speaker of the House In Second Round Of Votes

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House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan failed to receive enough votes Wednesday to become the next Speaker of the House.

After the second round of votes, Jordan was shy of the necessary 217 to win the Speakership. The final quorum call put the House attendance at 432, meaning 217 remains the majority threshold unless members voted “present” during the roll call vote for Speaker.

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole gave Jordan’s nomination speech on the House floor before the vote.

Ahead of the vote, Jordan told reporters: “I think we gotta decide today. Are we going to have a Republican Speaker?”

22 Republicans ended up voting against Jordan during the second ballot.

Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon was the first House Republican to vote against Jordan, placing his vote for McCarthy. The second no-vote for Jordan came from Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan. Colorado Rep. Ken Buck then voted against Jordan, placing his vote for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.

Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer voted for McCarthy instead of Jordan. New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito voted for New York GOP Gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin. Florida Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart was the sixth no-vote for Jordan, placing his vote for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson also voted for Scalise instead of Jordan. New York Rep. Andrew Garbarino voted for Zeldin. Florida Rep. Carlos Giménez was the 10th no-vote for Jordan, voting for McCarthy. Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales voted for Scalise. Texas Rep. Kay Granger voted against Jordan, placing her vote for Scalise.

Michigan Rep. John James ended up voting for former Michigan Rep. Candace Miller instead of Jordan. Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly voted for former Speaker of the House John Boehner. Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans voted for McCarthy. New York Rep. Nick LaLota voted for Zeldin. New York Rep. Mike Lawler voted for McCarthy. Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks ended up voting for Granger.

Florida Rep. John Rutherford voted for Scalise. Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson also voted for Scalise, making him the 20th no-vote against Jordan.

Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber voted for Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman. Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack voted for Scalise.

Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced Monday he would endorse Jordan to become the next Speaker. Many other Republicans followed after McCarthy’s endorsement.

Jordan lost the first ballot for Speaker on Tuesday, with 20 Republicans voting against him.

Conservative donors told the Daily Caller on Monday night they are pledging to withhold funding from Republican House members who refuse to support Jordan for Speaker.

The House went into recess after the vote, as Republicans will now have to figure out how to get to 217.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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House Republicans Nominate Steve Scalise For Speaker In Secret Ballot Vote

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House Republicans nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise to be the next speaker of the House by a margin of 113 of the 212 votes cast in a secret ballot vote Wednesday.

Behind closed doors, House Republicans debated who should lead their caucus, as the party was not unified behind a candidate before the meeting. Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, who received the other 99 votes, is also seeking the gavel, while recently ousted speaker Kevin McCarthy had support from several members but told colleagues not to re-nominate him, according to multiple reports.

Scalise will need 217 votes on the floor to be elected as speaker of the House.

Reps. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, Erin Houchin of Indiana and Mike Carey of Ohio delivered nominating speeches at the meeting on behalf of Jordan.

Scalise received nominating speeches from Reps. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, Ashley Hinson of Iowa and John James of Michigan.

Both Scalise and Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said they were running for House speaker just one day after Kevin McCarthy was ousted on Oct. 3. After losing the speakership, McCarthy said he is leaving the position “with a sense of pride [and] accomplishment.” He later dismissed rumors that he planned to resign from Congress and announced his intention to seek another term.

The U.S. House voted to remove McCarthy as speaker after Democrats joined with eight House Republicans to vote for a motion to vacate the chair.

Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz filed the motion, which gained support from Democrats after McCarthy refused to make concessions in return for their votes.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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Rep. Matt Gaetz announces plans to oust Speaker McCarthy

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Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz announced his plan Sunday to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from leadership on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Gaetz told CNN’s Jake Tapper he will file a motion this week to remove McCarthy from his seat over a lack of trust. The motion would force a House vote on whether to vacate McCarthy’s seat.

“Speaker McCarthy made an agreement with House conservatives in January and since then he’s been in brazen, repeated material breach of that agreement,” Gaetz said Sunday. “This agreement that he made with Democrats to really blow past a lot of the spending guardrails we’d set up is a last straw.”

The Florida representative said there will be enough Republican votes to oust McCarthy, which will lead the speaker to strike a deal with the Democrats in Congress. He vowed to refuse to cut any deals with Democratic members of Congress.

“The only way Kevin McCarthy is Speaker of the House at the end of this coming week is if Democrats bail him out. Now, they probably will. I actually think that when you believe in nothing, as Kevin McCarthy does, everything’s negotiable and I think he’ll cut a deal with the Democrats,” he said.

If McCarthy does strike a deal with Democrats, Gaetz said, the current Republican leader “will be serving at the pleasure of the Democrats.”

“I’m done owning Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz continued. “We made a deal in January to allow him to assume the speakership, and I’m not owning him anymore because he doesn’t tell the truth. And so if Democrats want to own Kevin McCarthy by bailing him out, I can’t stop them, but then he’ll be their speaker, not mine.”

Gaetz has reportedly been approaching Democrats about potential replacements if he files the motion to vacate, CNN reported. The tension between Gaetz and McCarthy escalated after President Joe Biden signed a short-term, McCarthy-supported bill Saturday to keep the government open until mid-November. The bill was signed into law just minutes before the federal government’s funding for fiscal year 2023 was slated to expire by midnight.

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a separate Sunday interview with Tapper she would “absolutely” vote in favor of vacating McCarthy’s seat, according to CNN.

“I think Kevin McCarthy is a very weak speaker. He clearly has lost control of his caucus. He has brought the United States and millions of Americans to the brink, waiting until the final hour to keep the government open, and even then only issuing a 45-day extension,” she said.

AUTHOR

NICOLE SILVERIO

Media reporter. Follow Nicole Silverio on Twitter @NicoleMSilverio.

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Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, Ilhan Omar To Officially Be Kicked Off Intelligence, Foreign Affairs Committees

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Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy confirmed Monday night that Democratic California Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell will be removed from the House Intelligence Committee and the House will vote on the removal of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

In February, McCarthy told the Daily Caller that if he is elected Speaker that he intends to strip Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee and Swalwell and Schiff from the Intelligence Committee. On Monday, McCarthy confirmed to The Associated Press (AP) that he would be moving forward with that decision, saying both Swalwell and Schiff should not have seats on the committee.

McCarthy has said Swalwell’s reported relationship with a Chinese spy and Schiff’s defense of the Steele dossier are some of the reasons they should be removed from the committee. McCarthy has said Omar’s anti-Semitism is a reason she should be removed from Foreign Affairs.

“Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government security clearance. Schiff has lied to the American public…,” McCarthy told The AP.

In 2021, Democrats stripped Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments.

The Daily Caller contacted Swalwell, Schiff, and Omar’s offices about McCarthy’s decision to move forward and have them removed from committee assignments to which they did not immediately respond.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief nationals correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

House Passes Rules Package. Here’s What Conservatives Won

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Twenty House Republicans who initially opposed a Kevin McCarthy speakership extracted a slew of concessions from the Californian in exchange for their votes, devolving power away from chamber leadership and back toward rank-and-file members as well as themselves personally.

On the 12th and 13th speaker ballots, 15 Republicans flipped to support McCarthy. They cited negotiations between the Californian’s allies and some of the holdouts that will give members of the House Freedom Caucus representation on key committees, cut spending, and schedule key bills for votes. The complete terms of the agreement have not been fully released, although bits and pieces have been made public. The process has rankled some members of the Republican conference who argue that the agreement gives the Freedom Caucus an unfair level of influence in the lower chamber.

The official House rules package, which all but one Republican voted for, passed Monday. It includes a single member motion to vacate the chair as well as a requirement that tax increases receive 60% support before becoming law. The rules also require that legislation have only one subject, and give members 72 hours to read bills. Republicans are also creating a new Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government under the House Judiciary Committee.

“You are going to have to trust the people that are put on this committee, and I’ll tell you what, if there’s something fishy going on, I’ll come out of the SCIF and tell you, but a lot of it will be behind closed doors, it will be classified information. If we find anything illegal or unconstitutional, we will bring it forward,” Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie told Tucker Carlson of the committee.

However, most provisions negotiated by the leadership team and the GOP holdouts are not included in the rules package voted on by members.

“It has to do with personnel, how members of the conference will be appropriately distributed to key committees. It is about policy imperatives. There are critical issues that we must address,” North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop told reporters Friday.

McCarthy named Florida Rep. Byron Donalds to the GOP Steering Committee over the weekend, making him the second Freedom Caucus member, along with Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko, on the panel. The Steering Committee doles out committee assignments to the Republican conference writ large. The Steering Committee chose Tennessee Rep. Mark Green, also a member of the Freedom Caucus, to lead the House Homeland Security Committee on Monday. Green beat out Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a McCarthy ally and staunch critic of the Freedom Caucus, for the gavel.

“They should be represented like all the other caucuses, but they shouldn’t have more than other members have. We should have equal representation on these committees,” New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told The Dispatch of Freedom Caucus committee appointments. “I think that’s probably where a lot of members will draw the line.”

Another provision, intended to balance the federal budget within 10 years, would freeze the Fiscal Year 2024 budget at FY2022 levels. This could lead to steep defense cuts, since the FY 2022 budget included $782 billion in defense spending, while the FY2023 budget raised that number to $858 billion. Key Republicans like incoming Appropriation Committee chairwoman Kay Granger of Texas are pledging to oppose any defense cuts, although the plank still has some members nervous.

“We don’t want to go back to sequestration. That would be very damaging to our military in a very dangerous world,” incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul of Texas told the Daily Caller.

“What we need to have conversations on is how that breaks down into defense and non-defense. Those still have to be had. I can tell you it won’t be on the backs of our troops,” Florida Rep. Mike Waltz added.

Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales cited the possibility of defense cuts in a Sunday interview explaining his lone GOP opposition to the rules package.

“When you have aggressive Russia and Ukraine, you’ve got a growing threat of China in the Pacific, you know, I’m going to visit Taiwan here in a couple of weeks, how am I going to look at our allies in the eye and say, I need you to increase your defense budget, but yet America is going to decrease ours,” he told Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.”

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Here’s Why 15 Republicans Flipped Their Support To Kevin McCarthy

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Republican opponents of Rep. Kevin McCarthy flipped to support him on the twelfth and thirteenth speaker ballots, giving the Californian renewed hope of ascending to the gavel.

Conservatives led by Texas Rep. Chip Roy negotiated a rules package that would devolve power away from the Speaker and back to committees and individual members. Although the details have not been made public, reports indicate that the deal between McCarthy and his detractors includes plum committee assignments, baseline spending promises, and a one vote threshold for the motion to vacate the chair. Maryland Rep. Andy Harris flipped to support McCarthy on the 13th ballot.

“I can’t get into details about what the agreement contains, but if I were to characterize it in general, it is that it contains provisions both related to, you know we’ve been working on rules a long time, and we’ve done some more there. It has to do with personnel, how members of the conference will be appropriately distributed to key committees. It is about policy imperatives. There are critical issues that we must address,” North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop told reporters.

Roy, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, and incoming House Financial Services Committee chairman Patrick McHenry of North Carolina negotiated the rules package on Thursday night and into Friday morning. Provisions include the motion to vacate threshold at one vote, a vote on a term limits constitutional amendment, and a plan to balance the federal budget over a ten-year period.

“It involves some leaps of good faith to see to it that it is implemented,” Bishop acknowledged.

It’s “about how to make this place work for the American people, and so that’s what you’ve seen happen here today. That’s what we’re continuing to work toward. I think we’ll be able to get there,” incoming Oklahoma Rep. Josh Brecheen added.

Republican Maryland Rep. Andy Harris flipped his vote to support McCarthy on the 13th ballot. He is angling to chair the Health and Human Services subcommittee on Appropriations.

Even if McCarthy gains the speaker’s gavel, the House will still need 218 votes to pass the rules package instituting the agreement. If the package does not pass, the McCarthy skeptics could defect.

“If the framework blows up, I’m out,” Perry said.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

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UPDATE: McCarthy Loses Sixth Speaker Vote As Conservatives Stand Strong

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UPDATE: House delays seventh speaker ballot until Thursday following raucous vote to adjourn

No sooner had lawmakers reconvened to vote for the seventh time for speaker of the House than Republicans put forward another motion to adjourn to keep negotiating with the conservative hard-liners keeping Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from winning the gavel.

Democrats objected in a voice vote, asking for a roll call vote on whether to adjourn. The contentious vote ended with 216 votes in favor of adjourning and 214 against, while two lawmakers from each party did not vote. The body will reconvene at noon Thursday.

The four Republicans who joined Democrats in trying to force another vote Wednesday night were Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ), Lauren Boebert (CO), Eli Crane (AZ), and Matt Gaetz (FL). The clerk’s attempts to end the vote were met with yelling as lawmakers apparently took their time deciding which way they would vote. Democrats hollered “One more vote!” as the clerk tried several times to end the count after time ran out.

Kevin McCarthy lost a fourth speaker ballot Wednesday after GOP leadership considered filing a motion to adjourn.

The House initially adjourned Tuesday night until noon on Wednesday, following three unsuccessful speaker ballots. McCarthy was 16 votes short on the third ballot, as 20 fellow Republicans supported Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. After a night of negotiations, Republicans considered adjourning the House again, but did not move to do so after Democrats whipped against the move.

After voting for Jordan on Tuesday, anti-McCarthy conservatives coalesced behind Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds. Donalds received 20 votes, with all of his supporters previously voting for Jordan on the third ballot.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries again received all 212 Democratic votes, while McCarthy garnered 201. Republican Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz, who previously supported McCarthy, voted “present.”

“There’s an important reason for nominating Byron. And that is, this country needs a change. This country needs leadership that does not reflect this city, this town, that is badly broken,” Texas Rep. Chip Roy said in a floor speech nominating Donalds. “We’re not at the place where we need to be to guarantee that we stand up to the swamp that steps over the American people on a daily basis.”

Donalds mounted an insurgent campaign against New York Rep. Elise Stefanik for Republican conference chair. He received 74 votes at the November conference meeting.

McCarthy supporters maintain that he is the only Republican who can get the necessary votes to ascend to the speakership.

“I am a retired Navy SEAL enlisted guy. I’ll let you in on a few universal truths. Rocks are heavy. Trees are made of wood. Gravity is real. No other Republican can pull 218,” incoming Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden told the Daily Caller.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

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