House tees up votes on Ukraine and Israel aid as Speaker Johnson defies his right flank

Table Of Content

• Republican House speaker Johnson again threatens universities dealing with pro-Palestinian protests
• Ambition keeps him loyal to Donald Trump. But what does Kevin McCarthy stand for?
• Column: Kevin McCarthy wants vengeance. Now he’s free to pursue it
• Jordan took two steps forward, four steps back in his bid for the speakership.
• McCarthy counseling Jordan on speaker strategy, sources say

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., says his votes against Jordan for speaker have resulted in death threats. Jordan's meeting with the 22 GOP members who voted against him yesterday has broken up nearly an hour-and-a-half after it started. If there are no more votes, McHenry will still need to go to the floor to adjourn the House for the day. Multiple members said they opposed the idea of giving McHenry more power as the speaker drama plays out, with several telling CBS News that the proposal "is dead" and "will not come to the floor." Tensions came to a head in Thursday's meeting of the House GOP conference, and several Republicans leaving the meeting voiced their opposition to the plan to elevate McHenry in lieu of a permanent speaker.

Statement by Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill on House Speaker Vote Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill - Mikie Sherrill

Statement by Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill on House Speaker Vote Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill.

Posted: Wed, 18 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Republican House speaker Johnson again threatens universities dealing with pro-Palestinian protests

As night fell before the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election, Democrats said it was time to get serious. The divisive speaker’s fight only underscored the fragility of American democracy exposed by that assault. The contours of an agreement with holdouts from the conservative Freedom Caucus began to take shape, including several of the key rules changes they have been seeking for months. Those changes would shrink the power of the speaker’s office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in drafting legislation. Jordan fell short yesterday of the 217 votes needed to be elected speaker, the second such failure in two days and a serious blow to the Donald Trump-backed candidate’s chances of seizing the prized gavel. Jordan told reporters a few minutes ago that House Republicans will huddle behind closed doors at 11 a.m.

Ambition keeps him loyal to Donald Trump. But what does Kevin McCarthy stand for?

As Rep. Jim Jordan meets with a number of allies in hopes of swaying key holdouts to his speakership bid, GOP sources say his opposition could grow if the votes continue over multiple rounds of ballots. Jordan fell significantly short of winning the speaker’s gavel on a first ballot Tuesday, leaving the House in paralysis after 20 Republicans opposed the Ohio congressman. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan's loss on his first ballot for House speaker Tuesday and his effort to win the gavel despite facing 20 holdouts from within his party, has begun to expose cracks forming within the leadership of the House GOP. Representative Nick LaLota, a New York Republican who opposed Mr. Jordan for a second time on Wednesday, told reporters that the latest failed vote “absolutely” served as evidence that the House should explore empowering Mr. McHenry.

Column: Kevin McCarthy wants vengeance. Now he’s free to pursue it

Bipartisan groups of lawmakers have been floating ways to operate the House by giving greater power to McHenry or another temporary speaker. The House had never ousted its speaker before McCarthy, and McHenry could tap the temporary powers that were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to ensure continuity of government. Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman, made an unusual plea for party unity — almost daring his colleagues to put forward the alternative proposal for a temporary speaker. The House came to another abrupt standstill, stuck now 15 days without a speaker — a position of power second in line to the presidency — since the sudden ouster of Kevin McCarthy.

Jordan’s allies were hoping that Scalise supporters would help whip fellow Scalise allies who voted against Jordan. But Scalise’s allies feel like they did far more to rally around Jordan than Jordan did when Scalise initially won the nomination last week. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik have been working behind the scenes to help Jordan flip votes this afternoon, multiple sources familiar tells CNN. But Majority Leader Steve Scalise has decided not to get actively involved – illustrating how the current top Republican leaders are taking different approaches to the speakership drama, with emotions still raw inside the conference. After the first vote, the House recessed and Jordan shuffled between the speaker’s office and the majority whip’s office holding meetings.

In order to win the speakership, a member must receive a majority of votes. In 2018, 15 Democrats defected from Pelosi but she can only afford to lose a few in 2021. After losing a dozen seats in 2020, House Democrats are likely to control around 222 seats next term.

Lesko also said she had "real doubts" about a proposed resolution to expand the powers of interim Speaker Patrick McHenry. Several House Republicans said earlier that Jordan backed the proposal to empower McHenry until January as the speaker designee worked to shore up support for his own bid. Lesko, who announced earlier this week that she is retiring at the end of this Congress, said there was "a lot of tension between the members" at the closed-door meeting of the House GOP conference earlier today. Meanwhile, one of the Republicans who voted against Jordan told members during a closed-door meeting today that they had to have a law enforcement officer stationed at their daughter’s school because of threats this member has been getting.

Republicans who voted against him early in the round included Reps. Don Bacon, Vern Buchanan, Rep. Ken Buck, Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Anthony D'Esposito, all of whom voted against Jordan in earlier votes. The somewhat longer answer is that Republicans are meeting on Capitol Hill at 1 p.m. With his support eroding, he could drop out of the race and Republicans could go back to square one to find a new nominee. Or he could keep running, and keep trying to convince his detractors that they should support him. "The eight of us have said that we are willing to accept censure, sanction, suspension, removal from the Republican Conference. We of course will remain Republicans," Gaetz said.

Donalds, who is Black, is seen as an emerging party leader and a GOP counterpoint to the Democratic leader, Jeffries, who is the first Black leader of a major political party in the U.S. What started as a political novelty, the first time since 1923 a nominee had not won the gavel on the first vote, has devolved into a bitter Republican Party feud and deepening potential crisis. With McCarthy’s supporters and foes locked in stalemate, the House cannot fully open for the new session, essentially at a standstill, unable to swear in elected members and conduct official business. And feelings of boredom, desperation and annoyance seemed increasingly evident on Thursday. The House is expected to vote on a resolution in support of Israel on Wednesday afternoon, according to a notice from the House Democratic whip. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a major Jim Jordan supporter, said Thursday that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has not offered to give a nominating speech for Jordan, as the speaker designee struggles to lock down Scalise's allies.

Buck went on to say that he will not change his vote against Jordan in future ballots, adding that "at some point, we need to move on and find the 217 votes for a plan." There could still be another speaker vote, but no decision has been made, according to McHenry. Gaetz said he expressed that having a "speaker-lite" is a bad idea, referring to McHenry, and he's still supporting Jordan. Jordan told colleagues Thursday he would support a proposal to allow Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry to oversee the House until January, while he remained in the race and tried to muster support. The speaker designee made the case that the House has important work to do, like passing more funding for Israel. Jordan said the House can't properly evaluate the request President Biden is sending to Congress for aid to Ukraine and Israel if it's not open, and the House can't be open without a speaker.

The House cannot continue with any other business until a speaker is elected — including swearing in of new members. Sources said the talks Wednesday between McCarthy allies and holdouts have been the most productive and serious ones to date. And in one sign of a breakthrough, a McCarthy-aligned super PAC agreed to not play in open Republican primaries in safe seats -- one of the big demands that conservatives had asked for but that McCarthy had resisted until this point.

A university in Portland, Oregon will “pause” accepting donations from Boeing after students called on the school to cut ties with the manufacturer amid the war in Gaza. This post has been corrected to note that Paul Gosar is also supporting the motion to remove Mike Johnson as speaker. When the House gets back to work today, may find out whether Marjorie Taylor Greene’s push to remove Mike Johnson as speaker has any momentum.

McCarthy won the majority of the Republican vote in a closed-door November meeting. Weeks later, Democrats unanimously chose Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to become their leader as the party transitions into the minority. Jordan’s supporters are confident that the public floor vote will force the remaining holdouts to flip their way. Kevin McCarthy narrowly won the speakership in January on the 15th round of balloting, after five excruciating days. After Scalise dropped out of the race and Jordan went on to become the nominee last week, Scalise immediately committed to voting for Jordan and encouraged his supporters to do the same. But, Scalise rebuffed a request from Jordan to give a nominating speech on the floor on Tuesday.