House Aid Package Is Latest Example of Bipartisanship Forged Out of Necessity The New York Times

Table Of Content

• Biden spoke with McCarthy this afternoon, White House says
• Newly sworn-in congresswoman says House speaker vote unfolded "just as it should"
• The divisions playing out in the Capitol this week have posed problems for Kevin McCarthy at home, too.
• Keep up with today's most important news
• Republicans Elect Mike Johnson as House Speaker, Ending Party Chaos
• In Johnson, House Republicans Elevate One of Their Staunchest Conservatives

A welcome winter rain has tamped down the Central Valley dust, but high winds have sent tumbleweeds bounding down the city’s wide boulevards. “I think it’s great that Matt Gaetz has a group up there that’s bringing attention to what’s wrong,” said William Paulovitz, 78, referring to the firebrand Florida Republican who has been one of the far-right rebels blocking Mr. McCarthy’s bid for speaker. Mr. Paulovitz, a retired businessman, dismissed his representative’s run for speaker in a place that representative knows all too well — outside Luigi’s, a popular lunch eatery that has long been a piece of Mr. McCarthy’s self-spun Bakersfield lore. Ms. Cole previously served as a clerk on the House Financial Services Committee and was appointed as the House reading clerk in 2007 by John Boehner, who was then the House minority leader, according to Roll Call. Reading clerks, who are often described as the “voice of the House,” are responsible for reading bills, resolutions, motions and more on the House floor, and for reporting the chamber’s legislative actions to the Senate.

Biden spoke with McCarthy this afternoon, White House says

“She doesn’t have a grasp of the issues and doesn’t spend the time to learn,” this person said. The revelation of Dunn’s plan is likely to make for awkward workplace dynamics, the first source said, but is unlikely to result in Jean-Pierre’s departure. “There’s a huge diversity issue and they’re afraid of what folks are going to say,” added this source, who said they learned of the effort from multiple people briefed by Dunn and confirmed at least one person from outside the administration did speak with Jean-Pierre. The source also told The Post that Dunn had claimed White House chief of staff Jeff Zients knew about and supported the cloak-and-dagger scheme to push Jean-Pierre out of the West Wing. Most of the money goes to U.S. weapons manufacturers to build back depleted U.S. weapons supplies, and about 20 percent of that goes directly to the country in the form of a loan.

There's Still No House Speaker. What Happens Now? - The New York Times

There's Still No House Speaker. What Happens Now?.

Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Newly sworn-in congresswoman says House speaker vote unfolded "just as it should"

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson - NPR

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Posted: Fri, 22 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Mr. Johnson has 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 he will have to navigate in the coming days. Democrats were scathing in their assessment of Mr. Johnson’s ascent to the speakership. Representative Pete Aguilar of California, the Democratic conference chairman, said that the speaker fight had devolved into a contest over “who can appease Donald Trump.” At that line, a handful of hard-right Republicans stood and applauded.

The divisions playing out in the Capitol this week have posed problems for Kevin McCarthy at home, too.

De facto White House communications chief Anita Dunn, 66, the wife of Biden personal attorney Bob Bauer, told colleagues she had decided to call in prominent Democrats to explain to Jean-Pierre, 49, that the time was ripe to move on, sources told The Post. WASHINGTON — Top aides to President Biden secretly hatched a plan this past fall to replace White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre by recruiting outside allies to nudge her out the door, The Post has learned. But Johnson refused Thursday to raise the threshold of the number of Republicans needed to oust him from his job. Each bill, because they will be voted on separately, will have a different coalition of members supporting them. A second bill would provide about $17 billion in offensive and defensive weapons for Israel, as well as just over $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza and elsewhere. The third bill would provide $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region to deter China, and a fourth bill is full of Republican priorities, including banning TikTok and seizing Russian assets.

After days of a bare stone wall, the Speaker McCarthy sign has been hung outside the office. The dissidents praised the protracted debate that spotlighted their party’s rifts, made it impossible for legislative business to be conducted and threatened the timely issuance of paychecks on Capitol Hill. Mr. McCarthy’s supporters have bemoaned the drawn-out process and even praised Democrats for staying united despite their ideological differences. The prolonged election prompted tension and uncertainty in the Capitol, where lawmakers in both parties had grown impatient and bored awaiting the outcome of a high-stakes struggle that seemed at once monumental and absurd.

Republicans Elect Mike Johnson as House Speaker, Ending Party Chaos

"Our commitment to Israel's security is ironclad and Israel has a right to defend itself under the international rules of war against the brutal terror unleashed on its citizens by Hamas," Jeffries said. "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." "From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have made clear that we will find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues wherever and whenever possible for the good of the American people, and House Democrats have repeatedly done just that," Jeffries said. 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.

But it did hand him a much-needed surge of momentum as members closely watched to see whether his support would fall or rise as the impasse dragged on. The intraparty standoff paralyzed the House of Representatives, preventing all 434 members from being sworn in, bills from being voted on and committees from being formed. Some lawmakers lamented they had lost their security clearances and could not receive classified briefings. "There was great hope and then crashing down and resuscitation," Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a former member of McCarthy's leadership team who nominated him earlier in the day, told reporters of the "roller coaster" ride. As the voting dragged on, it became clear that Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who has emerged as Mr. McCarthy’s chief adversary, would become the deciding vote. And when Mr. Gaetz voted “present,” depriving Mr. McCarthy of the majority support he needed, the California Republican blanched, stood up from his seat and walked across the House floor to speak to Mr. Gaetz himself.

news Alerts

They didn’t provide the votes Friday morning for the procedural vote until it became overwhelmingly clear Republicans could not pass the rule on their own. “We won’t let it fail,” said one senior Democratic aide, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to outline internal strategy. Johnson’s plan is to put the four votes on the floor Saturday, with voting starting midday. It is still unclear if or when such a vote would be triggered, but the effort picked up a critical third ally Friday. Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.), who was huddling with Greene on the floor, formally backed the motion after the House passed the foreign aid rule. With Republicans’ two-seat House margin, Gosar’s signature means the speaker could be ousted unless Democrats decide to rescue Johnson.

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. Johnson said his first priority would be to pass a resolution denouncing Hamas for the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel that left more than 1,400 people dead. Israel is said to be preparing for a ground offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and lawmakers have been anxious to show support for the key U.S. ally as the speaker's fight dragged on.

"I had more debate this week in Congress — more meaningful debate — more intermingling," Burchett told CNN's Jim Acosta Saturday, saying he was chatting with everyone from the prominent progressive lawmakers known as The Squad to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "And at a time when everyone is elbowing each other and trying to get ahead and it is very much an Alpha-male-type-dominated situation, he is very quietly rallying people, acting as that beacon that we can all rally around." Johnson's election represents a temporary cease-fire in a GOP civil war that began when Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and seven other GOP rebels teamed with Democrats to oust Republican Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s office. House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik nominated speaker designee Mike Johnson on the House floor Wednesday as the GOP looks to elect a speaker after failing to fill the vacancy for three weeks. Chalian noted that the last Republican candidate to win the speaker's gavel on the first vote was Paul Ryan in 2017.

Rayburn's successor, Democrat John W. McCormack (served 1962–1971), was a somewhat less influential speaker, particularly because of dissent from younger members of the Democratic Party. During the mid-1970s, the power of the speakership once again grew under Democrat Carl Albert. The Committee on Rules ceased to be a semi-independent panel, as it had been since 1910. Moreover, in 1975, the speaker was granted the authority to appoint a majority of the members of the Rules Committee.

That's what the Democrats did when a motion to vacate the chair ousted the last Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, last fall. On October 25, 2023, Congressman Mike Johnson (LA-04) was elected as the Speaker of the House. As a Congressman, Speaker Johnson represents the northwest and western regions of Louisiana. Prior to his election to Congress in 2016, Speaker Johnson was an attorney and served in the Louisiana State Legislature from 2015 to 2017. The speakership reached its apogee during the term of Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon (1903–1911).

Prior to that, the last Republican speaker had been Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, who died in 1931. Technically, he died as speaker, but his party lost its majority before the next Congress convened and elected a Democrat to the job. The well-respected No. 2 Republican, Eric Cantor of Virginia, had lost his primary in 2014. The No. 3, McCarthy, soon ran aground over remarks in a TV interview and lacked the votes to be speaker. The party settled on Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who had not sought the gavel but agreed to take it.

However, Gingrich refused since that would have required a new election for speaker, which could have led to Democrats along with dissenting Republicans voting for Democrat Dick Gephardt (then minority leader) as speaker. After the 1998 midterm elections where the Republicans lost seats, Gingrich did not stand for re-election. The next two figures in the House Republican leadership hierarchy, Majority Leader Richard Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay chose not to run for the office. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Bob Livingston, declared his bid for the speakership, which was unopposed, making him speaker-designate. It was then revealed, by Livingston himself, who had been publicly critical of President Bill Clinton's alleged perjury during his sexual harassment trial, that he had engaged in an extramarital affair. He opted to resign from the House, despite being urged to stay on by House Democratic leader Gephardt.

A majority of those opposed to Mr. Emmer were members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and loyal to Mr. Trump. He also opposed legislation to mandate federal recognition for same-sex marriages — a bill that passed with strong bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. He said that millions of unborn children had lost their lives because of what he called a “legal fiction that the Supreme Court foisted upon this country” and said that “God will bless us” for the court’s decision. “Experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic,” he wrote in one such article in 2004. Mr. Johnson came to Congress in 2017 with support from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, though he has never joined the group. “The slates of electors were produced by a clearly unconstitutional process, period,” he said.

During the mid-to-late 19th century a series of ever larger greenhouses were built on the west side of the house, where the current West Wing is located. The East Wing, which contains additional office space, was added to the White House in 1942. Among its uses, the East Wing has intermittently housed the offices and staff of the first lady and the White House Social Office. Rosalynn Carter, in 1977, was the first to place her personal office in the East Wing and to formally call it the "Office of the First Lady". The East Wing was built during World War II in order to hide the construction of an underground bunker to be used in emergencies.