Key events
If the House is unable to elect a speaker on the first ballot in the afternoon, then all business of the chamber shall cease until a leader is elected.
In October 2023, after the Republican Kevin McCarthy he was removed from the speaker’s chair, and took his elected place for weeks, leaving the House unable to consider legislation for most of the month.
A keynote speech is also given to the room for higher business this month. House members cannot be formally sworn in for a new session of Congress until a speaker is elected, and the chamber needs to announce the results of the presidential election in three days.
The House is to vote on a new speaker today
Welcome to the new session of Congress, live blog readers.
Today at 12pm ET House of Ambassadors he will begin the process of electing a new speaker, which could drag on for days if the leader resigns Mike Johnson Republicans cannot join the conference.
Johnson easily won the speaker’s nomination in November, but House Republicans’ narrow majority and recent, highly contentious negotiations over the government funding package have put his bid in jeopardy.
With the former representative Matt GaetzWith the seats already vacant, the Republicans have 219 seats to the Democrats’ 215 in the House. That is to say that, given every House member, in attendance and votes for the speaker candidate, Johnson can only afford one Republican defection and still hold on.
One Republican House Thomas Massie of Kentucky, has already indicated that he will not support Johnson in the primary ballot today.
“You can pull out all my nails; what yeast can you put into them; Massie said Gaetz, who is now a host for One America News, in an interview yesterday. “Not voting” Mike Johnson tomorrow, and you can take it to the bank.’
Now the question becomes whether one other Republican will join Massie. Dozens of Republicans, who voted to pass Johnson’s bipartisan effort, remain frustrated a lot of funding with popular support next month his victory is far from guaranteed.
Although national speeches have historically involved little drama in direct business, that all changed in 2023, when the election speeches of the new Congress lasted for days. He didn’t take it Kevin McCarthy Republican nominee for speaker 15 cards to take the stake, and it was I was pushed out from his station just nine months later.
But Johnson has one major advantage in the petitioner’s vote: whether the signatures of a Donald Trump. The president-elect threw his guard behind Johnson on Monday and doubled down on his signature runner in Social Truth this morning.
“The good fortune today is Speaker Mike Johnson, an excellent man of great ability, who is close to having 100% support,” Trump said. “A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party.”
Will Trump’s endorsements be enough to get Johnson across the finish line? The outcome remains uncertain, so he joins in the morning.