List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives Wikipedia

Table Of Content

• Biden, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador discuss migration in latest call
• Some of the Republicans who supported 2020 election lies have led the charge against Kevin McCarthy.
• Punishing their own but passing few laws, a Congress in chaos leaves much to do in 2024
• House recesses ahead of vote on Israel resolution
• Most Recent Votes
• Rogers storms out of GOP meeting, rips 'eight traitors' who voted to oust McCarthy

It is easier to find detractors on his far-right flank than die-hard supporters, in what should be friendly home turf for California’s top Republican — one of the reddest cities in one of the bluest states in the country. Upon hearing that a speaker had not been elected, shouts of disappointment filled the air. Last call came, before the Republicans voted to go to a 15th ballot instead of adjourning — an unexpected opportunity for another viewing party. The dramatic moment was captured on C-SPAN’s video cameras, which, lacking the typical restraints placed upon them in a House with a speaker, were free to show whatever moments from the floor its operators deemed newsworthy. The vitriolic attack on the top candidate for speaker from a member of his own party led some of Mr. McCarthy’s supporters to walk off the House floor while he spoke.

Biden, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador discuss migration in latest call

Still others said he was insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump, because he voted to certify the results of the 2020 election won by President Biden. On Nov. 8, 2020, Mr. Johnson was onstage at a northwest Louisiana church speaking about Christianity in America when Mr. Trump called. Mr. Johnson had been in touch with the president’s team on his myriad legal challenges seeking to overturn the results, “to restore the integrity of our election process,” according to a Facebook post by Mr. Johnson recounting the exchange.

Some of the Republicans who supported 2020 election lies have led the charge against Kevin McCarthy.

One of the most influential speakers in history was Democrat Sam Rayburn.[48] Rayburn had the most cumulative time as speaker in history, holding office from 1940 to 1947, 1949 to 1953, and 1955 to 1961. He helped shape many bills, working quietly in the background with House committees. He also helped ensure the passage of several domestic measures and foreign assistance programs advocated by Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

Punishing their own but passing few laws, a Congress in chaos leaves much to do in 2024

But hours after Emmer won the nod in a closed-door vote by the conference Tuesday morning, the former president lambasted the Minnesota Republican, writing on Truth Social that "voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake." "Therefore, the Honorable Mike Johnson of the state of Louisiana, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected speaker of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress," McHenry, the interim speaker, announced after reading the final vote tally. "We need to move swiftly to address our national security needs and to avoid a shutdown in 22 days. Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can," the president said. "This is a time for all of us to act responsibly, and to put the good of the American people and the everyday priorities of American families above any partisanship." In 2021, after President Trump incited a violent insurrection targeting the U.S.

'We're not going to let her take out the speaker': Moskowitz rips Greene again - POLITICO

'We're not going to let her take out the speaker': Moskowitz rips Greene again.

Posted: Sun, 28 Apr 2024 17:06:36 GMT [source]

The power of the speaker was greatly augmented during the tenure of the Republican Thomas Brackett Reed (1889–1891, 1895–1899). Reed, however, declared that members who were in the chamber but refused to vote would still count for the purposes of determining a quorum. Through these and other rulings, Reed ensured that the Democrats could not block the Republican agenda.

What unfolded yesterday in the battle for speaker

If Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio was the most prominent public face of the congressional effort to fight the results of the 2020 election, his mentee, the newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, was a silent but pivotal partner. “We are unified and so proud to have elected Mike Johnson as speaker of the People’s House,” Elise Stefanik says to kick off a news conference on the Capitol steps. While Republicans are celebrating finally electing a speaker, across the Capitol, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, chimes in with a reminder of the impending mid-November government shutdown looming unless Congress can pass legislation to keep it funded. “I look forward to meeting with Speaker Johnson soon to discuss the path forward to avoid a government shutdown,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement.

Two Republicans who were absent for personal reasons from votes earlier in the day, Ken Buck of Colorado and Wesley Hunt of Texas, were expected to be back in time for the vote. That would mean Mr. McCarthy needs just two more in his column, and potentially just one if two or more of his opponents do not vote or vote present. The House is back to the floor for its 14th vote for speaker, and the one that Representative Kevin McCarthy is saying will finally clinch the deal for him. After Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who ending up holding the deciding vote, said “present,” most seated at the bar fell quiet. Even before the votes had been secured, many at the bar seemed convinced that electing a speaker was inevitable as the vote drew closer to a close.

House speaker calls for Columbia University president's resignation amid ongoing protests - CBS News

House speaker calls for Columbia University president's resignation amid ongoing protests.

Posted: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 00:07:33 GMT [source]

This time around, that will be Pelosi, the California Democrat who held the gavel for the last four years. Historically, the magical number has been 218 out of the 435 members of the House. But many previous speakers, including outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have ascended to the dais with fewer votes than that, as some members voted present instead of calling out a name. Every lawmaker voting “present” lowers the overall tally needed to reach a majority. The candidate to become speaker needs a majority of the votes from House members who are present and voting.

“We went through a lot to get here, but we are ready to govern and that will begin right away,” Johnson says in his first news conference as speaker. A bloc of Republicans had objected to the speaker bid of Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the hard-right co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, because of his role in helping lead Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. In the end, it was Mr. Johnson who was able to bring together both the party’s hard-right and mainstream flanks that had taken turns sinking speaker candidates. But the unity was in part a product of burnout among House Republicans, who in spite of their differences grew eager to put an end to the weekslong spectacle of mass dysfunction and paralysis that many said had left their constituents distraught. The vote put him second in line to the presidency, capping an extraordinary period of twists and turns on Capitol Hill. It marked a victory for the far right that has become a dominant force in the Republican Party, which rose up this month to effectively dictate the removal of an establishment speaker and the installation of an arch-conservative replacement.

He said there would be none of the typical celebrations that accompany the election of a new speaker. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and someone Mr. Johnson has described as a mentor, was the next member to be elected speaker designate in a secret ballot. He had Mr. Trump and the far right in his corner, but ultimately failed to win over more centrist members of his party who steadfastly refused to support him. Mr. Johnson was only able to emerge as his party’s nominee for speaker this week after three other G.O.P. nominees before him were unable to rally enough support. In the years before he arrived in Congress in 2017, Mr. Johnson worked as an attorney and spokesman for the anti-abortion-rights and anti-gay group Alliance Defense Fund — now called the Alliance Defending Freedom. During that time, he expressed some of his hard-line views in editorials in the local newspaper in his hometown of Shreveport, La.

But because nine Republicans are running for the job, that internal election may take longer than usual. Conference rules mandate that the party nominee must capture a simple majority of votes. If no one captures a majority on the first ballot, the candidate who received the fewest votes will be kicked off the second ballot and lawmakers will vote again.

He began the day with a scant victory, winning an internal party nominating contest by a vote of 117 to 97 over Mr. Johnson. But by late Tuesday night, Mr. Johnson appeared to have put together a coalition that brought him closer to capturing the speakership than any candidate has been since hard-right rebels deposed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy three weeks ago. Though it was not certain he had the votes to be elected, he said he planned to call for a floor vote on Wednesday at noon. On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson was toiling to help Republicans turn the page from the chaos of the past few weeks.

Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana won election on Wednesday to become the 56th speaker of the House of Representatives, as Republicans worn down by three weeks of infighting and dysfunction turned to a little-known conservative hard-liner beloved by the far right to end their paralysis. Nolan D. McCaskill is a former staff writer who covered Congress for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times in September 2021, he spent nearly seven years at Politico, where he covered breaking news, Congress, the Trump White House, the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and race and policy. He is an alumnus of Florida A&M University and serves as deputy chair of the National Assn. of Black Journalists’ Political Task Force. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond.

Choosing a speaker will be the first vote the House will take before new and returning lawmakers are even sworn into office on Tuesday. As set out under the Constitution, the session will begin at noon Jan. 3, with all the lawmakers seated on the House floor and members from both parties joining in the vote for speaker. It’s a journey the lawmaker from Bakersfield took once before in 2015, fruitlessly, facing the same opposition from the right flank of the party he is expected to meet this week.

"We spend more time getting together and actually electing a speaker and at this point, I care less who that person is, and more that they’re willing to get policy to the floor," he said. “The bottom line is we have a very fractured conference, and to limit ourselves to just getting 217 out of our conference, I think, is not a wise path,” Rogers said, adding that Republicans may “absolutely” need some Democratic votes to elect a speaker. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said the fight to name a speaker is so divisive that one Republican member said they didn't think "Lord Jesus himself" could get the 217 votes needed to win. The House is expected to adjourn tonight without a vote on speaker, according to a notice sent to all Democrats by Whip Clark.