Proof that Republicans can still do what's rational and right Los Angeles Times

Table Of Content

• “I personally like Tim Burchett": McCarthy says he never meant to offend lawmaker's religion
• Goldberg: For Israel and Ukraine alike, U.S. support is proving unreliable and inadequate
• Representatives
• Column: MAGA Mike sings a chorus of ‘Kumbaya’ with the Democrats, but for how long?
• October 3, 2023 - Kevin McCarthy ousted as Speaker of the House

There are more questions about how Mr. Rosendale and Mr. Crane may behave in the next round. Mr. Rosendale has signaled there are rules changes that could win him over, although it’s not clear what’s left to give him to appease him. Mr. Gaetz, Mr. McCarthy’s chief antagonist, has accused the G.O.P. leader of selling his soul to lobbyists and of pursuing the speakership because of his own vanity. 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.

“I personally like Tim Burchett": McCarthy says he never meant to offend lawmaker's religion

Lawmakers call out the name of their choice for speaker from the floor, a rare and time-consuming roll call that heightens the drama. Members often liven up the proceedings by shouting or standing when casting their vote. In the 111th Congress, Speaker Pelosi led the House passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to rescue the nation from the depths of the financial crisis, helping create or save millions of American jobs. Her leadership in enshrining the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law helped restore the ability of women to fight pay discrimination in the courts and ensure they too could participate in the economic recovery. Pelosi also led the Congress in enacting the historic Dodd-Frank reforms to rein in big banks and create strong protections for consumers, seniors and Servicemembers.

Goldberg: For Israel and Ukraine alike, U.S. support is proving unreliable and inadequate

When the witness, Dr. Yashica Robinson, a board member for Physicians for Reproductive Health, responded that such a situation had never occurred, Mr. Johnson only doubled down. When Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana wanted to make the case against abortion rights last year during a Capitol Hill committee hearing, he grilled a witness in graphic fashion. Mr. Johnson came to Congress in 2017 with support from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, though he has never joined the group. Over a year later, on “Truth Be Told,” the Christian podcast he hosts with his wife, Kelly, Mr. Johnson continued to argue that he and his colleagues had been right to object to the election results. Evoking his evangelical Christian faith, Mr. Johnson repeatedly referred to scripture in his speech from the House floor.

Representatives

“That remains an issue to be resolved,” said Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, as he shuttled between meetings on Thursday. She told The Hill shortly after starting the job that she had taken diction classes to prepare and had done a three-minute audition that involved reading out a resolution, amendment, handwritten amendment, presidential message and bill. 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.

Column: MAGA Mike sings a chorus of ‘Kumbaya’ with the Democrats, but for how long?

According to him, embracing and leveraging its pluralism would propel Nigeria towards a more unified and prosperous future where the collective strengths of its diverse population would be fully harnessed. Tajudeen, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, said Nigeria’s pluralism and its vast diversity in ethnicity, language, and religion remain a valuable asset to the nation. Biden urged Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from retaliation against Iran even though its attack appeared to defy the president’s own warning after Oct. 7. One faction, comprising an overwhelming majority of the House GOP caucus, is interested in accomplishing the possible.

The Senate had quietly slipped out of the city while insurgents in the House demanded more power as the nation watched anxiously. Ms. Alli and Ms. Cole work under the clerk of the House of Representatives, Cheryl L. Johnson, who is charged with keeping lawmakers in order until a new speaker is elected. 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.

California holds the key to GOP power in the House. McCarthy’s retirement makes everything harder

“The door to the speaker’s office now is open to the members and to the constituents, not just the lobbyists,” Rep. Matt Rosendale told reporters. But the speech infuriated Mr. Trump, and Mr. McCarthy quickly worked to get back in the former president’s good graces, traveling to his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, three weeks later to meet with him. They also were unhappy that he had suggested in an interview on Fox News that the House committee investigating the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, had the political aim of damaging Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Yet that style has appeared uniquely ill-suited to the challenge Mr. McCarthy faces of corralling a restive group of ideologically driven House Republicans that is obsessed with legislative details and skilled at procedural disruption.

Kevin McCarthy ousted as House Speaker in historic vote - Reuters

Kevin McCarthy ousted as House Speaker in historic vote.

Posted: Wed, 04 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Johnson Outlines Plan for Ukraine Aid; House Could Act Within Weeks

“I think the House is in a lot better place with some of the work that’s been done to democratize power out of the speakership, and that’s our goal,” he said. Mr. McCarthy agreed to allow a single lawmaker to force a snap vote at any time to oust the speaker, a rule that he had previously refused to accept, regarding it as tantamount to signing the death warrant for his speakership in advance. Mr. McCarthy, who rarely moved from his seat over the days of votes, approached Mr. Gaetz and Ms. Boebert in their seats and appeared to be pleading with them to change their votes, his signature smile wiped from his face.

October 3, 2023 - Kevin McCarthy ousted as Speaker of the House

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. In a speech that traced his ascent up the political ladder in Louisiana to Congress, Mr. Johnson pledged to try to “restore the people’s faith in this House.” He cited sending aid to Israel, fixing a “broken” southern border, and reining in federal spending as his top legislative priorities. “You have this moment in time where McCarthy wants it so badly and has just been raked over the coals for an awesome four days,” exulted Russ Vought, the president of the right-wing Center for Renewing America, as he listed the concessions the Republican leader had offered. 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. The 118th version of the Senate did the same this week, convening for a celebratory induction of new members and the swearing in of re-elected senators on Tuesday, then quickly fleeing the capital for three weeks to allow the House to occupy the political stage alone.

Speaker Gingrich would regularly clash with Democratic President Bill Clinton, leading to the United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996, in which Clinton was largely seen to have prevailed. Gingrich's hold on the leadership was weakened significantly by that and several other controversies, and he faced a caucus revolt in 1997. After the Republicans lost House seats in 1998 (although retaining a majority) he did not stand for a third term as speaker. His successor, Dennis Hastert, had been chosen as a compromise candidate since the other Republicans in the leadership were more controversial. Hastert played a much less prominent role than other contemporary speakers, being overshadowed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and President George W. Bush.

Unable to overcome the opposition from a band of progressive Republicans, supporters of Mr. Gillett kept pushing the House into adjournment to allow back-room talks about how to resolve the stalemate, another tactic being employed this time around as the vote tallies remain inconclusive. 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. The Republican divisions obstructing Mr. McCarthy’s decade-long ambition of becoming speaker of the House have been playing out on both the national stage in Washington and a far smaller though equally telling one in his hometown and home district. 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.

Mr. McCarthy still wins re-election in the district with two-thirds of the vote, but the passionate minority of the majority has become his Achilles’ heel, as it has been on the House floor this week. Former President Donald J. Trump made a crucially timed call to Representative Matt Gaetz on Friday night after the Florida congressman voted “present” and sunk Kevin McCarthy’s 14th effort to be elected House speaker. 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.

Those eight years actually made Hastert the longest-serving Republican speaker in history. But any luster left after 2006 was lost when he went to prison for bank fraud charges stemming from hush money payments he had made to a former student he admitted to having sexually abused decades earlier. Even a glance at the history of Republican speakers since World War II would tell him that. A member of a joint program between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia, he was in the crowd watching Johnson speak.

No credible evidence has ever emerged to support the conspiracy theories about Dominion and another voting machine firm having helped to ensure Mr. Trump’s defeat. In April, Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit by Dominion over reports broadcast by Fox that Dominion machines were susceptible to hacking and had flipped votes from Mr. Trump to Mr. Biden. The election on Wednesday of Mr. Johnson, 51, to the post second in line to the presidency has focused new attention on his behind-the-scenes role in trying to overturn the election results on behalf of former President Donald J. Trump. Johnson praises former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, unceremoniously deposed three weeks ago. Says “he is the reason we are in this majority today,” a nod to his political skills.