How the House of Representatives elects a speaker Los Angeles Times

Table Of Content

• After scandal, movie producer Randall Emmett is flying under the radar with a new name
• Republican Leadership
• Mike Johnson elected House speaker with unanimous GOP support, ending weeks of chaos
• Tom Emmer won nomination only to drop out after opposition by Trump and far right
• Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected speaker. Here's what to know
• Chief Administrative Officer

Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, chairman of the Democratic caucus, rose to nominate Jeffries for speaker and accused Republicans of manufacturing a crisis that has lasted 22 days. Johnson won the speaker's gavel in a single round of voting, with the support of all Republicans in attendance. In a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House, President Biden welcomed news of Johnson's election. 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.

After scandal, movie producer Randall Emmett is flying under the radar with a new name

What happens next after Kevin McCarthy ousted as U.S. House speaker? - Reuters

What happens next after Kevin McCarthy ousted as U.S. House speaker?.

Posted: Wed, 04 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Though it was not certain he had the votes to be elected, he said he planned to call for a floor vote on Wednesday at noon. The House elects a new speaker by roll call vote when it first convenes after a general election for its two-year term, or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. As the office has developed historically, however, it has taken on a clearly partisan cast, very different from the speakership of most Westminster-style legislatures, such as the speaker of the United Kingdom's House of Commons, which is meant to be scrupulously non-partisan. The speaker in the United States, by tradition, is the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, outranking the majority leader.

Republican Leadership

A government shutdown is fast approaching, and the White House has requested a $106 billion emergency aid package for Israel, Ukraine and other priorities. Republicans have now spurned all three of their top leaders over the past few weeks. The chamber has been frozen for the better part of a month as Republicans feud over who should be in charge, even as wars rage overseas and a government shutdown approaches. In a secret-ballot vote on Tuesday night, Mr. Johnson got 128 votes, with 44 Republicans voting for nominees not on the ballot, including 43 for Mr. McCarthy, whom many view as unfairly ousted. Still, in a separate vote afterward, only a few Republicans indicated they would not back Mr. Johnson on the floor, while about 20 Republicans were absent. A social conservative, Mr. Johnson is a lawyer and the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

Mike Johnson elected House speaker with unanimous GOP support, ending weeks of chaos

It forced him to leave behind tough security measures to clamp down on migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. 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. The erstwhile speaker, who remains in touch with the ex-president, has been mentioned as a prospective recruit for a second Trump administration. He remains close to the many lawmakers he recruited and helped get in office and keeps in touch with a nationwide donor network built during years as one of the GOP’s top congressional strategists.

Tom Emmer won nomination only to drop out after opposition by Trump and far right

Instead, he waited until the end of the roll call to vote “present.” Republicans cheered, but it was not enough. By Friday afternoon, Mr. McCarthy had won over 15 of the 21 Republicans who had defected, and he pressed into the night for more converts, a remarkable turnabout for a man who only days before appeared to be headed for defeat. His path was narrow until the end; only a few of the six remaining holdouts were seen as open to negotiating further. Yet Mr. McCarthy, who was willing to endure vote after humiliating vote and give in to an escalating list of demands from his opponents to secure the post, denied that the process foretold any dysfunction. The durations mentioned below are calculated based on date differences; if one were to count by the number of calendar days, all the values would be one day longer.

Column: The Republican Party can still do what’s rational and right. Here’s the proof

Kevin McCarthy is ousted as House speaker in historic vote. What happens next? - The Associated Press

Kevin McCarthy is ousted as House speaker in historic vote. What happens next?.

Posted: Wed, 04 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Mr. Trump’s call may have played a role in Mr. Gaetz opting to continue with another round of balloting, along with a small group of other members who had been opposing McCarthy’s candidacy. 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. So much of what House Republicans want to do legislatively will go nowhere in the Democratic Senate, but the Republican majority will be able to conduct the investigations it has promised and McCarthy is emphasizing that point. The Democratic whip just sent out a note reminding members that they must be present on the House floor to be sworn in and reminding members to remain on the floor after McCarthy’s speech. Mr. McCarthy’s supporters have bemoaned the drawn-out process and even praised Democrats for staying united despite their ideological differences. The somber anniversary did not lead to comity on the House floor, as Mr. McCarthy’s fiercest holdout accused him in a bombastic speech of performing a fruitless exercise in vanity.

Rep. Mike Johnson voted new House speaker

The year was 1923, the last time the House required multiple days and repeated votes to settle on a new speaker before this week’s continuing stalemate over the candidacy of Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California. Mr. McCarthy still wins re-election in the district with two-thirds of the vote, but the passionate minority of the majority has become his Achilles’ heel, as it has been on the House floor this week. Upon hearing that a speaker had not been elected, shouts of disappointment filled the air. Last call came, before the Republicans voted to go to a 15th ballot instead of adjourning — an unexpected opportunity for another viewing party. Former President Donald J. Trump made a crucially timed call to Representative Matt Gaetz on Friday night after the Florida congressman voted “present” and sunk Kevin McCarthy’s 14th effort to be elected House speaker. With Mr. McCarthy elected, he immediately turned to swearing in the 434 members of the House to officially seat the 118th Congress.

Johnson was the party's fourth nominee for speaker in three weeks, having taken the place of Rep. Tom Emmer, whose candidacy lasted all of four hours on Tuesday. Two other previous candidates, Reps. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, withdrew their names from consideration earlier in the process after failing to unite the party's various factions. The podcasts, spanning 69 episodes, offer an extended window into Mr. Johnson's views and politics, as he co-hosts the program with his wife, a licensed pastoral counselor. In it, the man who has just been elected speaker, an evangelical Christian, talks at length about his vehement opposition to abortion rights, calls the Democratic agenda socialist, and rails against the prosecution of Mr. Trump for his efforts to interfere in the 2020 election.

"I made my decision based on my relationship with the conference," Emmer told reporters when asked whether Trump helped doom his candidacy. Republicans held a candidate forum Tuesday night with five members vying to be the next speaker-designee after Emmer withdrew. Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana won in a three-round vote late Tuesday to become the next speaker-designee — the fourth since Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California was ousted from the position on Oct. 3. Emmer began to lose support from conservative lawmakers shortly after Trump's missive, and he bowed out of the contest shortly after. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had asked the Supreme Court to block "the use of unlawful election results without review and ratification by" the four state legislatures and allow them to appoint a different slate of presidential electors.

He noted that Democrats provided support for legislation to raise the debt ceiling, avoid a government shutdown and provide disaster relief funding. 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." Johnson has laid out a tentative legislative schedule to approve new spending and take up other pieces of legislation, but things could change quickly as he confronts the realities of governing, especially given the fractious nature of the Republican conference.

The ACA has played an essential role in American families’ health, has made health care more affordable and has given life-saving protections to more than 130 million Americans living with pre-existing conditions. Speaker Emerita Pelosi met with President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen during her historic Congressional Delegation to Taiwan to honor America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s democracy and our solidarity with the people of Taiwan. Won a closed-door vote, beating six others vying for the Republican nomination for speaker. More details about the Members of the House of Representatives are available from the Clerk of the House. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the first day of the 117th Congress was modified to accommodate guidelines from the Office of Attending Physician, such as social distancing, reducing the number of guests and staff allowed in the chamber, and mask wearing. After she concluded, Speaker Pelosi then swore in the rest of the lawmakers, including 59 new freshman Members.

Mr. Emmer’s demise was the latest evidence of the seemingly unending Republican dysfunction. 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 has also opposed continued funding for the war in Ukraine, which has emerged as a bitter fault line in the G.O.P. and in the spending battles that any new speaker will have to navigate in the coming days. Representative Mike Johnson, a little-known social conservative from Louisiana, emerged on Tuesday night as the latest contender for the post after Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, dropped his bid only hours after securing the nomination.

The vote, in which Jordan failed to secure a majority of the full House, was a disappointment for Jordan’s allies who had expressed hopes that the number of holdouts would be in the single digits. Information about any legal expenses incurred by a candidate or current representative. Information about certain expenditures for all official foreign travel by representatives and staff. There’s a strong desire among Republicans to show a functioning House after being paralyzed for weeks following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It will need to come up as a suspension vote — an expedited process that requires a two-thirds majority for passage.

"The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now and I will not let you down," Johnson said. 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. Mr. Emmer had attempted to mollify Mr. Trump by calling him over the weekend and praising him, according to the former president. Only hours later, Mr. Emmer told Republicans in a closed-door meeting that he was dropping his bid, according to a person familiar with his decision who divulged the private discussion on the condition of anonymity.