Who is new House Speaker Mike Johnson and what can he accomplish? PBS NewsHour

Table Of Content

• House chamber mood is chipper and lively ahead of speaker vote
• Jeffries: Democrats will continue finding common ground with GOP "whenever and wherever possible"
• At least 16 people died in California after medics injected sedatives during encounters with police
• Republicans who opposed Jordan for speaker are now rallying behind Johnson

Tom Emmer of Minnesota wins the speakership nomination, making him the third to do so since Kevin McCarthy’s ouster. Shortly after the vote, Mike Johnson, the other finalist, endorsed Tom Emmer and encouraged the conference to coalesce around the party's nominee. Mike Garcia of California tells reporters that 20 members voted against Emmer and that five voted present in the roll.

House chamber mood is chipper and lively ahead of speaker vote

"Mike is a titan on the [House] Judiciary Committee and a dedicated member of the House Armed Services Committee, and as vice chair of our conference, he has united all of our members to speak clearly and boldly on behalf of the American people," Stefanik said. "A friend to all and an enemy to none, Mike is strong, tough, and fair, and above all, Mike is kind." Chalian noted that the last Republican candidate to win the speaker's gavel on the first vote was Paul Ryan in 2017. Rep. Mike Johnson, a key figure in failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election, seems to have enough votes to secure the gavel after weeks of GOP infighting left the House in chaos.

What’s next for Republicans in House speaker search after two failed bids - The Washington Post

What’s next for Republicans in House speaker search after two failed bids.

Posted: Mon, 23 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Jeffries: Democrats will continue finding common ground with GOP "whenever and wherever possible"

In April 2018, Ryan said he would not serve another term and left as the party was losing its majority that fall. About 10 Republicans continue to say they will not support Tom Emmer on the House floor, Representative Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania said, complicating Emmer's path to the speakership. Steve Womack of Arkansas said that in a roll-call vote of House Republicans held behind closed doors, Emmer “came up significantly short” of the 217 votes he would need to be elected on the House floor. Troy Nehls of Texas, who has been pushing Trump for speaker, tells reporters he voted “present” in the roll-call vote when it became clear that Tom Emmer had well short of 217 votes.

At least 16 people died in California after medics injected sedatives during encounters with police

The party settled on Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who had not sought the gavel but agreed to take it. 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. That's what the Democrats did when a motion to vacate the chair ousted the last Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, last fall. Greene had vowed to press her challenge after Johnson announced a strategy to pass $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan earlier this month.

NBC Select Deals

Shortly after 1 p.m., the House began voting for speaker, with Johnson as the Republican nominee and Jeffries as the Democratic nominee. He was the first candidate since McCarthy's ouster to face no opposition from his own party. Asked if he was worried Johnson might attempt to overturn the results of the 2024 election, Mr. Biden said he wasn't. Jeffries closed his remarks declaring, "Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. He's doing a great job under difficult circumstances and no amount of election denialism will ever change that reality. Not now. Not ever." Jeffries urged swift action on a package to provide aid to Israel, Ukraine and other U.S. allies, which the White House has requested.

WASHINGTON – After House Republicans voted to drop Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as their speaker nominee, a mad dash for the top job has started within the deeply divided House Republican conference. The California State Capitol Capitol doesn't generally work the way people think it does. We're following bills prompted by our reporting, to show you how things really work inside California's Capitol.

Gimenez, former chief of the City of Miami Fire Department, highlighted that both Johnson and McCarthy are the sons of firefighters. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the chair of the House Republican conference, will deliver the speech nominating Johnson for speaker, according to a Republican aide. If all 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats mark themselves present, Johnson will need 217 votes to win the gavel.

The vote makes Johnson the first speaker ever elected on the fourth ballot of an election. When speaker elections have gone to multiple ballots, no speaker has ever been elected on ballots four to eight. During the speaker battle, Trump proved more adept at hurting candidates than helping them win — his early endorsee, Jordan, flamed out on the floor. But Johnson's ability to avoid Trump's ire cleared a hurdle for him within the House GOP, which is attuned to the wishes of the "MAGA" base. A New York Times article last year called Johnson “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” on Jan. 6, 2021. His argument to colleagues was that certain states’ changes to their voting procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic were unconstitutional, an argument that became more palatable to lawmakers than the fabricated claims of mass fraud.

What is the controversy with Steve Scalise, David Duke and white supremacy?

Johnson won the speaker's gavel in a single round of voting, with the support of all Republicans in attendance. Before the vote in the House, Johnson said he had not spoken to the president, but said he assumed he would soon. The Democratic leader also vowed that his party will continue to support Ukraine to defeat Russia's aggression. "From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have been governing for the people," Jeffries said. "We continue to look forward to finding bipartisan common ground whenever and wherever possible."

Jim Jordan out as Republican nominee for House speaker: Highlights - NBC News

Jim Jordan out as Republican nominee for House speaker: Highlights.

Posted: Fri, 20 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

All 212 Democrats rallied behind their nominee, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. The California Republican’s narrow victory came on the 15th ballot — the fifth-longest speaker vote in American history by number of ballots, and the longest such vote in 164 years. Democratic lawmakers are not expected to lend their support to Jordan, or any other Republican candidate. They'll likely support a Democratic pick, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who won't garner any GOP support either. However, he's now considered to be a close ally of Republican leadership, having backed McCarthy during his pursuit of the speakership back in January. As a shutdown looked all but certain, McCarthy ultimately put forth a bipartisan stopgap bill on the House floor to fund the government just hours before a shutdown would have started.

At the time, one of the most important sources of the speaker's power was his position as Chairman of the Committee on Rules, which, after the reorganization of the committee system in 1880, became one of the most powerful standing committees of the House. Furthermore, several speakers became leading figures in their political parties; examples include Democrats Samuel J. Randall, John Griffin Carlisle, and Charles F. Crisp, and Republicans James G. Blaine, Thomas Brackett Reed, and Joseph Gurney Cannon. Additionally, since many speakers held office for multiple terms, often with non-consecutive periods, the time listed for each speaker represents the total length of their time as speaker. It is important to note that the period between the adjournment of one Congress and the convening of the next Congress is not included in the calculations.

At other times, more junior members may be assigned to preside to give them experience with the rules and procedures of the House. The speaker may also designate, with approval of the House, a speaker pro tempore for special purposes, such as designating a representative whose district is near Washington, D.C. 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. From early in its existence, the speaker's primary function had been to keep order and enforce rules. Furthermore, when no candidate received an Electoral College majority in the 1824 presidential election, causing the president to be elected by the House, Speaker Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams instead of Andrew Jackson, thereby ensuring Adams' victory.

In the Trump presidency, Johnson argued that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's move to rip up a copy of his State of the Union speech was a crime. “A lot of people have been talking about this the last 48 hours, and I did a little legal memo to point out to my colleagues that she actually committed a felony,” Johnson said on Fox News at the time. He unified the fractious Republican Conference, winning votes from right-wing detractors of McCarthy, R-Calif., as well as centrist Republicans who opposed Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Scalise had been the party's first nominee after McCarthy was ousted, but withdrew his name one day after winning the internal GOP vote. Emmer began to lose support from conservative lawmakers shortly after Trump's missive, and he bowed out of the contest shortly after. Rep. Carlos Giménez of Florida, who supported McCarthy over Jordan, called Johnson a "straightforward leader" who can unite the Republican conference in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

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. The next two Republican speakers would be John Boehner, elevated to the job by the GOP recapture of the House in the "Tea Party" election of 2010. Boehner worked hard to fashion budget deals with both a Democratic President Barack Obama and a Democratic Senate. But his efforts alienated some in his own ranks who in 2015 formed an insurgent group known as the House Freedom Caucus.

House GOP members have begun voting on who will be their fourth nominee for speaker in just three weeks — and their second in one day, according to House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee was eliminated in the first round of speaker votes, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik announced. Rep. Mark Green withdrew from the race after this happened and said that “games are being played here” and “we went from 2 'others' to 34 'others' in just a couple of hours,” according to a source familiar with the matter. And then Green endorsed Rep. Mike Johnson, who has been the top vote-getter on the past two ballots. Ferguson’s request comes amid growing distrust within the GOP ranks over their colleagues’ motivations, and some lawmakers fear McCarthy allies are trying to orchestrate a comeback for the deposed speaker. House speaker designee Mike Johnson survived a key roll-call vote Tuesday night to move him a step closer to clinching the gavel -- an abrupt shift after it had earlier appeared his bid was collapsing.