“We have an opportunity to take our country back with Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate majority leader John Thune and President Donald J Trump in charge,” McClain said, garnering applause from her Republican colleagues.
social media post.
“Republicans have a real opportunity in the next two years to make meaningful spending reforms to eliminate trillions in waste, fraud, and abuse, and end the weaponization of government. Along with advancing President Trump’s America First agenda, I will lead the House Republicans to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, hold the bureaucracy accountable, and move the United States to a more sustainable fiscal trajectory.”
Johnson’s promises included the creation of a working group to collaborate with the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to identify potential areas of waste and the publication of a report examining government spending based on existing audits of federal agencies.
The promises may mitigate the concerns of hard-right lawmakers who expressed outrage over Johnson’s efforts to craft a bipartisan funding deal with Democrats last month.
predicted to Politico that Johnson “will not get it” in the initial vote.
The warning comes after Johnson met Thursday with the House Freedom Caucus amid growing uncertainty over his bid. Norman revealed GOP lawmakers held discussions with Johnson last night about his leadership plans and strategy for managing their narrow majority.
While no serious challenger has emerged, Norman indicated earlier this week he and other GOP lawmakers are seeking assurances on several issues, particularly budget cuts, before lending their support.
undergoing hip replacement surgery last month.
Pelosi sufferd a fall last month while on a trip to Luxembourg with fellow members of Congress. Her Democratic colleagues greeted her with robust applause as she entered the House chamber today.
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, Johnson said Donald Trump has privately spoken with members to convince them to support the speaker nominee.
Asked whether he would press on if he did not win the speakership on the first vote, Johnson said he would.
“We have to get this job done and unify the Congress,” Johnson said. “I’m here for the long haul.”
said this morning. “People might like or dislike that. I’m just reporting the news.”
Gaetz won reelection in November but then resigned his House seat after being selected as Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee. Gaetz dropped his bid to become attorney general amid fallout over sexual misconduct allegations.
said Wednesday that he remained “undecided” on whether to support Johnson and again demanded changes to the appropriations process moving forward.
But a handful of Johnson skeptics have indicated that they would be more inclined to support his speakership bid if he made Roy the chair of the influential rules committee.
Asked about the idea of elevating Roy, Johnson told reporters this morning, “I’m not making deals with anybody.”
It’s worth noting that Roy has developed a reputation as somewhat of a bomb thrower within the Republican conference, so such a deal could alienate as many members as it appeases.
Representative Don Bacon, a Republican of Nebraska, told a reporter for NOTUS this morning, “Putting Chip Roy in charge of the rules committee is like putting Stalin in charge of amnesty and diplomacy.”
Mike Johnson must overcome to win the speakership today:
Assuming all 434 current House members participate (there is one vacancy), Mike Johnson needs 218 votes to win. With Democrats expected to unite behind their leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and Thomas Massie planning to vote against him, Johnson starts with exactly 218 potential votes – the bare minimum needed. Any additional defection would deny him a majority and force a second ballot.
However, members can vote “present” instead of naming a candidate, which would lower the threshold needed for victory by reducing the total number of votes cast for candidates.
Several prominent Republicans remain noncommittal, including Texas representative Chip Roy, Arizona representative Andy Biggs, Pennsylvania representative Scott Perry, Indiana representative Victoria Spartz and House Freedom caucus chair Andy Harris from Maryland – despite Johnson receiving Donald Trump’s endorsement earlier this week.
Johnson’s team has reportedly been working frantically behind the scenes, conducting last-minute negotiations with various Republican factions to secure their support.
House of Representatives will begin the process of electing a new speaker, which could drag on for days if incumbent leader Mike Johnson cannot unify the Republican conference.
Johnson easily won his conference’s speaker nomination in November, but House Republicans’ narrow majority and the recent, highly contentious negotiations over a government funding package have imperiled his bid.
With former representative Matt Gaetz’s seat remaining vacant for now, Republicans have 219 House seats to Democrats’ 215. That means that, assuming every House member is in attendance and voting for a speaker candidate, Johnson can only afford a single Republican defection and still keep the gavel.
One House Republican, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, has already indicated he will not support Johnson on the first ballot today.
“You can pull all my fingernails out; you can shove bamboo up in them; you can start cutting off my fingers,” Massie told Gaetz, who is now a host for One America News, in an interview yesterday. “I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow, and you can take that to the bank.”
Now the question becomes whether one other Republican will join Massie. Given the dozens of Republicans who remain outraged over Johnson’s attempt to pass a bipartisan funding deal with Democratic support last month, his victory is far from guaranteed.
Although speakership races have historically been straightforward affairs with little drama involved, that all changed in 2023, when the speakership election of the new Congress stretched on for days. It took Kevin McCarthy, Republicans’ speaker nominee, 15 ballots to capture the gavel, and he was ousted from his post just nine months later.
But Johnson has one major advantage heading into the vote: an endorsement from Donald Trump. The president-elect threw his support behind Johnson on Monday, and he doubled down on the endorsement in a post on Truth Social this morning.
“Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support,” Trump said. “A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party.”
Will Trump’s endorsement be enough to get Johnson across the finish line? The outcome remains unclear, so stay tuned.
