Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the House after a multi-day battle, securing the Republican majority. He pledged a 'member-driven' leadership style. Democrats remain in control of the Senate. Meanwhile, Vice President-elect JD Vance underwent minor sinus surgery and Rep. Virginia Foxx fell down a staircase but is okay.
Three Republicans initially defected from Johnson: Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Keith Self of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Norman and Self switched their votes to Johnson after briefly meeting with him.
Johnson also praised Trump as “the most powerful president, certainly of the modern era, maybe in all of American history” and added that his endorsement was a “big factor in this.”After attending the swearings-in of new senators today, Vice President-elect JD Vance went in for a “long-planned” surgery, a spokesperson for his team told NBC News.
“Thank you to everyone for your prayers — just a few small cuts and I’m doing just fine,” Foxx wrote.Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who initially voted against Johnson in the speaker race, talked about what flipped his vote to Johnson before the tally was announced. Rep. Keith Self, of Texas, initially a Republican holdout who ultimately voted for Johnson, referred to those concerns in explaining his frustrations with Johnson's leadership.
Some of Trump's other picks are likely to sail through the confirmation process, including Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Elise Stefanik as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said the new Republican-controlled Senate should move quickly to process Trump's Cabinet picks but also thoroughly vet them.
The demands included extending the House’s working calendar for this session, reversing several Biden administration policies “immediately” and ending stock trading by members of Congress.Rep. Keith Self, who originally voted for Rep. Byron Donalds to be speaker before switching his vote to Johnson, told reporters that he spoke with Trump over the phone “a couple of times today.” Self said that they shared a “lively discussion” but declined to elaborate further.
He also pledged that Democrats would fight hard to not have Social Security and Medicare benefits taken away.Now that Mike Johnson has been re-elected as speaker, he will be escorted to the chair and give a speech after being sworn in.Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., said in an interview on CNN that she believes that Johnson did not cut a deal with the two holdouts to win their support, but rather listened to their concerns.
"It is absolutely setting us back. It's time to move. It's time to vote and put Mike Johnson as speaker of the House," Strong said.Gov. Mike DeWine will appoint a replacement once Vance resigns his Senate seat — something that must happen before Vance and President-elect Donald Trump take office Jan. 20.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the primary, while Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., endorsed former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who also served as governor of Norman's home state. "I know Mike will be an integral part of this country’s comeback," McClain added."He will lead us through another successful Republican majority, as chairwoman of the unified House Republican Conference, I can say proudly that we are ready to govern."The House has finished its quorum call, taking the roll to see how many members are here today to vote. One Republican is missing — that's the empty seat just vacated by former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
One of those things includes creating"a working group comprised of independent experts — not corrupted by lobbyists and special interests — to work with DOGE and our committees on implementing recommended government and spending reforms to protect the American taxpayer." “This Congress, I am thrilled to serve as the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee,” Scott said in a statement. “My goal is simple: make America work for Americans.”Johnson said he hopes to win this speaker race on the first ballot and believes he has the votes to do so.Johnson told reporters he was willing to go through as many ballots as former Speaker Kevin McCarthy did .
Vice President Kamala Harris will be in the Capitol to swear in the senators, first on the Senate floor in alphabetical order in groups of four, and then again just for the cameras in the Old Senate Chamber one by one for photo op re-enactments. “I don’t make deals with anyone," Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill."There’s no quid pro quo here. I don’t do anything in exchange for a vote other than commit to make this institution work as effectively and efficiently as possible.”
Talking to reporters yesterday, Gallego was asked if Trump's picks should be fast-tracked in the wake of the New Year's Day terror attack."I think in light of what you saw yesterday, we want to make sure that you have the right national security nominees," he said."Just putting someone in place doesn't necessarily mean that you're actually going to have the type of collaboration intelligence sharing that you need.
Vice President Kamala Harris will be in the Capitol to swear in the senators, first on the Senate floor in alphabetical order in groups of four, and then again just for the cameras in the Old Senate Chamber one-by-one for photo-ops. "You can pull all my fingernails off, you can shove bamboo up them, you can start cutting off my fingers, I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow," Massie told Gaetz in an interview that aired last night."And you can take that to the bank."
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