Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced on social media Tuesday that he’s co-sponsoring a motion to vacate the chair against House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
In doing so, Massie joined the motion to vacate push against Johnson launched by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in March. Massie is the first other Republican to back Greene in the effort.
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Virginia State Senator-elect John McGuire, who announced on Wednesday he is launching a primary challenge against against Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05), was described as a “prominent surrogate” for Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) in 2021.
McGuire, a former U.S. Navy SEAL who is currently finishing his term as a Delegate in the Virginia House before he moves to the Virginia Senate, was described by The Washington Post as “a prominent surrogate for Youngkin” who “often” introduced him at campaign events when Youngkin was campaigning in 2021.
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The House Freedom Caucus (HFC) is urging Republican leadership to keep its members in Washington, D.C., until a new speaker is elected, according to a Monday press release obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The House has been without a speaker since Kevin McCarthy was ousted on October 3, and has since failed to elect two GOP nominees — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan. With nine House Republicans in the running for the position, the HFC is asking for no more recess until someone secures the gavel “with all possible speed and determination,” according to the press release.
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Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said Sunday that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is “just a front man,” and that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “still rules with an iron fist,” during an appearance on Newsmax.
Gaetz made the comment while explaining why Republicans have had more public infighting than the Democrats. His recent motion to vacate led to the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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Historian and national political analyst Neil W. McCabe joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Wednesday to share his insights and predictions into why he says Steve Scalise will be the next Speaker of the House. McCabe details the coming twists and turns, and lays out the history of the players and the game underway today in Foggy Bottom.
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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Oh.) has had multiple colleagues endorse him to be the next House Speaker, following the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
“The next Speaker of the House must be someone who can unite our conference,” Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) posted on X Friday. “@Jim_Jordan is that person. He is a strong leader, principled, respected, and a champion of conservative values. That’s why I fully support him as the next Speaker of the House.”
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The 15th vote was the charm for U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). But Wisconsin’s Republican House members had the new Speaker’s back from the first vote.
As McCarthy finally claimed enough votes for his narrow victory early Saturday morning (on the 15th ballot), U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Janesville) tweeted a photo of himself holding the last tally with the celebratory message, “McCarthy Wins!”
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Even though U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-55) would win the House Speaker’s race, it may have been overshadowed by an incident moments earlier on the U.S. House of Representatives floor involving U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL-03) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01). Throughout the week, Gaetz had been the figurehead for the opposition to McCarthy’s bid, which kept McCarthy from reaching the required majority to earn the role.
Rogers had emerged as one of McCarthy’s most staunch allies in the ordeal by taking an aggressive tack against the 20-something holdouts led by Gaetz. At one point, Rogers called for stripping the holdouts of their committee assignments, which drew the ire of U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21).
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As of January 3, 2023, the Republicans were supposed to control the United States House of Representatives by a slim majority. On that date, many expected that the task of electing a new Speaker and moving forward with the business of “the people” in the House would start under Republican party control. But as of January 6, 2023, those elected to serve in the House have not selected a Speaker and so the House has not been organized nor undertaken regular operations. National news reports indicate that the presumptive Republican Speaker so far has fallen short in getting the required number of votes in part because approximately 20 Republicans who were elected in November have refused to vote for McCarty and no other individual has demonstrated enough votes to get the position.
One of the issues that is being discussed is whether any of those who have refused to support McCarthy in the 11 votes taken as of January 5th have broken a promise, perhaps a campaign promise, to do so. It is an active discussion over what was promised and whether there are any valid justifications for withholding support if a promise was made. Indeed, at least in Nashville, the talk radio shows are expending a great amount of time reviewing this issue because there is a Congressman-elect from Tennessee who is part of the story.
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President Joe Biden sparked controversy for pushing through Congress increased federal funding for 87,000 new IRS employees to audit Americans, but Republican leadership has pledged to overturn that expansion if they win the majority.
House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., pledged at a Pennsylvania event to “repeal” the IRS expansion.
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As Democrats ramp up hearings and secure a second Trump advisor’s arrest for contempt, Republicans are finally launching a counteroffensive to the Jan. 6 committee designed to portray the investigation as “unconstitutional and illegitimate” and to put a focus on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s failures in protecting the Capitol.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the third ranking lead in the House gave a preview of the strategy during a radio interview with Breitbart News on Saturday.
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President Joe Biden has stumbled, mumbled, and bumbled his way through his first year in office. While many of his gaffes leave us laughing, much of what comes out of his mouth isn’t just nonsense, it’s outright lies. Here’s a look at Biden’s Top 10 Lies of the past year.
Georgia election reforms
Biden claimed “Georgia’s new law ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote.”
Even the Washington Post called Biden out for this lie (after the paper repeatedly repeated it for months!)
Biden repeatedly condemned a new Georgia election law that imposed new restrictions on voting, but one of his complaints was simply false: “It ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote after their shift is over.” Many listeners might assume he was talking about voting on Election Day. But Election Day hours were not changed. The law did make some changes to early voting. But experts say the net effect of the new early-voting rules was to expand the opportunities to vote for most Georgians, not limit them.
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The Supreme Court could decide as soon as Friday whether to take up a lawsuit brought by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to address the practice of proxy voting in the lower chamber.
House members from both parties have cited the pandemic as the reason they have failed to recently vote in person, though many of them vote in absentia for reasons that seemingly have nothing to do with the virus. Campaigning with high-profile candidates has often taken precedence over appearing in person to vote for certain members. For others, taking care of sick family members or attending to newborn babies have been reasons to vote by proxy.
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“I didn’t even know the Chamber was around anymore.”
That was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) response to Punchbowl News’ question about the Chamber of Commerce being kicked off GOP strategy calls on Capitol Hill.
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U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02), an Iraqi War veteran, is calling Democrats out over the House’s passage of two measures to hamper President Donald Trump’s war powers toward Iran and Iraq.
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Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy easily won an internal party election Wednesday to take over the shrunken House GOP caucus, handing the seven-term Californian a familiar role of building the party back to a majority as well as protecting President Donald Trump’s agenda. With current speaker Paul Ryan retiring and the House majority gone, the race for minority leader was McCarthy’s to lose. But rarely has a leader of a party that suffered a major defeat — Democrats wiped out Republicans in GOP-held suburban districts from New York to McCarthy’s own backyard — been so handily rewarded. After pushing past a longshot challenge from Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, McCarthy will be tested by Republicans on and off Capitol Hill who remain angry and divided after their midterm losses and split over how best to move forward. “We’ll be back,” McCarthy promised, claiming a unified front for the Republican leadership team. He won by 159-43 among House Republicans. McCarthy, who has been majority leader under Ryan, acknowledged Republicans “took a beating” in the suburbs in last week’s national elections, especially as the ranks of GOP female lawmakers plummeted from 23 to 13. The GOP…
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