President-elect Donald Trump greets Elon Musk as he arrives to attend a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Amid the uproar over the spending bill, some are suggesting it’s time for a new House speaker. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, suggested on X that Republicans should replace Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who will head President-Elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., floated Musk as speaker, pointing out that the speaker of the House doesn’t have to be a member of Congress.
The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress . . .
Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it . . . nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’…
Musk has been critical of Johnson’s 1,500-page continuing resolution to fund the federal goverment.
The billionaire owner of X started his Wednesday by posting a photo of the spending bill in Congress with this question: “Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?”
By the afternoon, Trump declared his opposition. And within hours, Johnson pulled the bill he had unveiled just a day earlier.
“Elon just became the most powerful person in Washington, D.C., today,” social media influencer Wall Street Mav told The Daily Signal. “He proved he can flip enough votes in Congress to halt a spending bill.”
The continuing resolution, which would fund the government until March, was supposed to be lawmakers’ final vote before heading home for Christmas. Instead of a “clean” bill, however, Democrat and Republican negotiators loaded it with a hodge-podge of unrelated policy and additional spending, including a pay raise for members of Congress. That caught the attention of Ramaswamy, whose video Musk shared with his followers.
“Congress is about to pass a bill that blows away your taxpayer money, but they made it over 1,500 pages long so you wouldn’t read it,” Ramaswamy said. “And the worst part is, they didn’t want you to know about any of it. That’s why they made this a last-minute jam job.”
Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance threw another curveball into the government spending fight. They said in a statement they want the continuing resolution to address the debt ceiling and to “call [Democrats’] bluff” on a shutdown.
If Congress doesn’t pass a spending bill by Dec. 20, the government will shut down.
“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and [President Joe] Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief,” the statement says.
Trump and Vance just threw a MASSIVE curveball into the government spending fight.
Trump wants the continuing resolution (CR) to address the debt ceiling (suspension ends 1/1/2025) and to "call [Democrats] bluff" on a shutdown.
Trump told Fox News Digital that Johnson will “easily remain speaker” for the next Congress if he “acts decisively and tough” and eliminates “all of the traps being set by Democrats” in the spending package.
“Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible,” the president-elect said.
United States Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was elected House speaker with 220 votes on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier this month, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) led an effort to remove Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from speakership. McCarthy was elected House speaker earlier this year, but only after 15 rounds of voting. On October 3, for the first time in the nation’s history, lawmakers voted to remove a speaker. The following day, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) announced his plans to run for the position, but he failed to accumulate enough votes on Friday to secure a win.
Nine Republican lawmakers joined the race on Monday, including Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Byron Donalds of Florida, and Tom Emmer of Minnesota. Gaetz voiced support for Johnson, calling him a “good, godly man who’s going to advance Republicans.”
On Wednesday, three weeks after McCarthy was ousted, Johnson was elected House speaker with 220 votes.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to have been elected the 56th Speaker of the House,” Johnson wrote on X following the vote. “It has been an arduous few weeks, and a reminder that the House is as complicated and diverse as the people we represent. The urgency of this moment demands bold, decisive action to restore trust, advance our legislative priorities, and demonstrate good governance. Our House Republican Conference is united, and eager to work.”
“As Speaker, I will ensure the House delivers results and inspires change for the American people,” Johnson continued. “We will restore trust in this body. We will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden Administration, and support our allies abroad. And we will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of it. Let’s get back to work.”
The House of Representatives’ bid to elect a new speaker ended in another stalemate on Wednesday after 22 Republicans voted against front-runner Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
Wednesday’s vote marks the second in which enough Republicans defected to kneecap Jordan’s speakership bid. On Tuesday, 20 GOPers — including Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado, Don Bacon of Nebraska, and Jen Kiggans of Virginia — voted for House members other than Jordan. These members and many others also voted against Jordan in Wednesday’s vote.
As The Daily Caller reported, Jordan needs at least 217 votes to become speaker. Meanwhile, Democrats are casting their votes for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
BREAKING: Jim Jordan lost 22 votes on the second ballot for Speaker:
While the speaker’s gavel remains up for grabs, some moderate Republicans are reportedly floating the idea of colluding with Democrats to pass a resolution expanding the powers of the chamber’s interim speaker. According to Fox News, the effort is being spearheaded by Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, and has gained support from other establishment Republicans, such as Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida, and Rep. Nick LaLota of New York.
Gimenez and LaLota are among the nearly two dozen Republicans to vote against Jordan’s speakership bid.
Republicans Hate Their Base
While not perfect, Jordan as House speaker would be a major upgrade for GOP voters. Not only does he sport a more conservative voting record than former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., he’s also one of the founding members of the House Freedom Caucus.
So why, despite a groundswell of support among conservative voters, have a handful of Republicans decided to tank Jordan’s speakership bid? While anonymously sourced conspiracies are likely to dominate legacy media’s coverage of the issue, the real answer is likely much simpler: Many of these Republicans despise their voters.
Don’t take my word for it. Bacon admitted as much when complaining to reporters earlier this week about the “pressure campaign back home” for him to back Jordan as speaker. The Nebraska congressman went on to say the reason he opposed Jordan’s initial speakership bid was to stick it to the few House Republicans who ousted McCarthy and prevented Scalise from becoming speaker.
“You don’t have a process where I play by the rules and some people can’t — and they get what they wanted, and now I’m supposed to play by the rules,” Bacon whined.
So, to recap: A grown man serving in the U.S. Congress is actively defying the will of his voters to spite some of his colleagues.
As petty and pathetic as his actions are, Bacon is merely a symptom of the greater cancer that’s infected the GOP establishment for years. On the campaign trail, these Republicans make grandiose pledges to stand up for conservative values and “drain the swamp,” only to discard such promises once they get to Washington.
It’s not that they forget what they promised. It’s that they never intended to fight for their voters in the first place. Whether on religious freedom, illegal immigration, or federal spending, conservatives can always count on the Republican establishment to sell them out.
If Republicans like Bacon spent as much time fighting Democrats as they did stabbing their own voters in the back, the battle for America’s soul would look more like a fight between two rivals than the one-sided shellacking Democrats are dolling out on a weekly basis.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
Republicans rejected Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker on a first ballot Tuesday, as an unexpectedly numerous 20 holdouts denied the hard-charging ally of Donald Trump the GOP majority needed to seize the gavel. More voting is expected as Jordan works to shore up support to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy for the job but the House immediately went into recess as the firebrand leader of the GOP’s hard-right flank struggled to take a central seat of U.S. power.
After two weeks of angry Republican infighting since McCarthy was removed by hard-liners, the House vote quickly became a showdown for the gavel. Reluctant Republicans refused to give Jordan their votes, viewing the Ohio congressman as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency.
In all, 212 Democrats voted unanimously for their House leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, while 200 Republicans voted for Jordan and 20 for someone else. Jeffries has no chance of winning, and Jordan must pick up most of his GOP foes to win a majority.
The holdouts are a mix of pragmatists, ranging from seasoned legislators and committee chairs worried about governing to newer lawmakers from districts where their voters back home prefer President Joe Biden to Trump.
But with public pressure bearing down on lawmakers from Trump’s allies including Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, it’s unclear how long the holdouts can last. Jordan swiftly flipped dozens of detractors in a matter of days, shoring up Republicans who have few options left.
“Jim Jordan will be a great speaker,” the former president said outside the courthouse in Manhattan, where he is facing business fraud charges. “I think he’s going to have the votes soon, if not today, over the next day or two.”
The political climb has been steep for Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman and a founding member of the right-flank Freedom Caucus. He is known more as a chaos agent than a skilled legislator, raising questions about how he would lead. Congress faces daunting challenges, risking a federal shutdown if it fails to fund the government and fielding President Joe Biden’s requests for aid to help Ukraine and Israel in the wars abroad.
To seize the gavel, Jordan will need almost the full majority of his colleagues behind him in a House floor vote, as Democrats are certain to back their own nominee, Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. With the House Republican majority narrowly held at 221-212, Jordan can afford to lose only a few votes to reach the 217 majority threshold, if there are no further absences.
Jordan conferred immediately afterward with McCarthy, who fared nearly as badly in January, having lost almost as many votes on the first of what would become 15 ballots for the gavel.
As the somber roll call was underway, each lawmaker announcing their choice, the holdouts quickly surfaced. One, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a leader of the centrists, voted McCarthy, the ousted former speaker. Murmurs rippled through the chamber. Others voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was the party’s first nominee to replace McCarthy before he, too, was rejected by hardliners last week.
Making the official nominating speech was another top Trump ally, GOP conference chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who drew from the lessons of the Old Testament before declaring Jordan will be “We the People’s speaker.”
On the other side of the aisle, Democrat caucus chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar of California nominated Jeffries and warned that handing the speaker’s gavel to a “vocal election denier” would be “a terrible message” at home and abroad. Aguilar recited all the times Jordan voted against various measures — abortion access, government aid and others, Democrats chanting “He said no!”
Upset that a small band of hard-liners have upended the House by ousting McCarthy, Republicans have watched their majority control of the chamber descend into public infighting. All House business has ground to a halt.
After a late-evening meeting Monday at the Capitol turned into a venting session of angry Republicans, Jordan acknowledged: “We’ve got a few more people to talk to, listen to.”
One holdout, Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, said Jordan’s role in the runup to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his refusal to admit that Biden, a Democrat, won the 2020 election remained an issue.
“Jim, at some point, if he’s going to lead this conference during the presidential election cycle and particularly in a presidential election year … is going to have to be strong and say Donald Trump didn’t win the election and we need to move forward,” Buck said.
But Jordan can rely on Trump’s support as well as pressure on colleagues from an army of grassroots activists who recognize him from cable news and fiery performances at committee hearings. Republicans say it will be hard for rank-and-file lawmakers to oppose him in a public floor vote. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who engineered McCarthy’s ouster by a handful of hard-liners, publicly praised each lawmaker who has flipped to Jordan’s column — and berated those who have not.
“Thank you Rep. Ann Wagner!” Gaetz posted on social media, after the Missouri Republican announced her support.
One by one, others also announced their support. Still, it could take multiple rounds during House floor voting, not unlike in January when it took McCarthy 15 ballots to win the gavel.
Democrats have decried the far-right shift, calling Jordan the leader of the chaos wing of the GOP.
Jordan has been a top Trump ally.
Now the Republican Party’s front-runner to challenge Biden in the 2024 election, Trump backed Jordan to replace McCarthy early on and was working against the nomination of Scalise, who withdrew last week after colleagues rejected their own rules and failed to coalesce around him.use.
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By John GizziThursday, 12 October 2023 11:06 AM EDT Current | Bio | Archive
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., will not secure the 217 votes needed to become the chamber’s speaker, according to sources. The House conference has been delaying bringing the nomination to the floor for a full vote, as several members tell me Scalise cannot win.
“There are as many as 30 members opposing Scalise,” one source said, noting almost all are “Jordan and McCarthy supporters,” referring to Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who lost to Scalise on a secret ballot for nomination to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Reports say Jordan is supporting Scalise, but privately he told GOP conference members he would back Scalise only if he were to attain the 217 votes. Jordan, sources say, will reenter the race as soon as Scalise withdraws.
Scalise’s office told Newsmax Thursday he had no plans to withdraw.
House GOP Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., are also discussing plans to enter the speaker’s race after Scalise exits. Both are also preparing to challenge Jordan. Jordan lost the vote to Scalise among House Republicans Tuesday, 113-99.
Jordan then pushed for a motion that the House GOP’s nominee must win 217 votes before the matter is brought to the floor. That motion was rejected by the conference.
Hern appears to be the sleeper candidate. He’s solidly conservative, supports former President Donald Trump, and is liked by moderates who won’t back Jordan.
Emmer, meanwhile, is a moderate opposed by Trump, which likely would doom his bid for the leadership position.
Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern of Oklahoma are privately gauging support for potential speakership bids. Pictured: Scalise speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 27, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Update: Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has officially announced he’s running to be the next House speaker.
Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern of Oklahoma are privately gauging support for potential speakership bids after Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s ousting Tuesday, a person familiar with their actions told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The House voted to remove McCarthy from his leadership position after Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate the speaker following last week’s spending fight that resulted in a 47-day continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown.
Scalise and Hern have been floated as possible replacements for McCarthy, including by Gaetz, and the two top House Republicans are meeting with Texas’ congressional delegation Wednesday to gauge support, according to the person familiar.
A spokesperson for Hern confirmed the meeting to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Scalise did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Texas’ congressional delegation is comprised of 25 members, which could be a key voting bloc during the speakership election. GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas already threw his support behind Scalise in a tweet Tuesday evening, just hours after McCarthy was removed.
The House GOP will hold a candidate forum next Tuesday ahead of the speaker election on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry of North Carolina was named speaker pro tempore, and McCarthy announced he won’t run for the position again.
Eight Republicans joined with 208 Democrats to remove McCarthy, including Gaetz, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Ken Buck of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Eli Crane of Arizona, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, and Bob Good of Virginia, according to the House Clerk.
Several McCarthy allies who voted against the motion to vacate slammed Gaetz and the other conservatives for the move, criticizing them of ousting the speaker for personal reasons, with some hinting at expelling the Florida congressman.
A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country in various news outlets, including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump.
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