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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. A majority of those present and voting is required to get the speakership, which is usually 218 lawmakers. But if enough people skip the vote or vote “present,” the number of votes required for a majority can drop. Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted as speaker two weeks ago, voted for the member of his party seeking to replace him, Rep. Jim Jordan, during a first round of floor voting Tuesday. Rep. Jim Jordan does not appear to have the votes to win the gavel so far as voting wraps up on the House floor, and 20 Republicans appear to have voted against him. When the 118th Congress convenes Tuesday, the first item on the House's agenda will be choosing a new speaker.
Speaker pro tempore
The outgoing speaker will usually join the successor at the speaker's chair, where they will pass the gavel as a nod to the peaceful transition of power from one party leader to another. Once a speaker candidate won a majority of the vote, the clerk will announce the results of the election. In recent years, that has meant legislation has gone through the committee precooked, with few amendments accepted inside the room and no ability to alter bills by rank-and-file members once they hit the floor. Faced with a similarly small majority in 2021, Rep. Nancy Pelosi also won her final speakership with 216 votes.
Find Your Representative
The number of representatives with full voting rights is 435, a number set by Public Law 62-5 on August 8, 1911, and in effect since 1913. In modern speaker elections, the person who wins the gavel is usually already in their party’s leadership ranks. This is one reason California Republican Kevin McCarthy, the current GOP majority leader, is the frontrunner to replace House Speaker Pelosi. The historic ouster of McCarthy earlier this month and the failure of the House Republican conference to elect two different speaker nominees has resulted in the mad dash among GOP lawmakers seeking the top job in the lower chamber. On the other hand, when the speaker and the president belong to opposite parties, the public role and influence of the speaker tend to increase.
You need to win a majority vote.
On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson was toiling to help Republicans turn the page from the chaos of the past few weeks. He said there would be none of the typical celebrations that accompany the election of a new speaker. Mr. Johnson’s hallmark in Congress has been combining his hard-line views with a gentle personal style. That was on display on Wednesday, when he vowed to try to find common ground with Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader.
There's been a history of hard landings
James K. Polk is the only speaker of the House who was later elected president of the United States. In 1997, several Republican congressional leaders tried to force Speaker Newt Gingrich to resign. However, Gingrich refused since that would have required a new election for speaker, which could have led to Democrats along with dissenting Republicans voting for Democrat Dick Gephardt (then minority leader) as speaker. After the 1998 midterm elections where the Republicans lost seats, Gingrich did not stand for re-election. The next two figures in the House Republican leadership hierarchy, Majority Leader Richard Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay chose not to run for the office.

They don’t think McCarthy is conservative enough or tough enough to battle Democrats. It’s reminiscent of the last time Republicans took back the House majority, after the 2010 midterms, when the tea-party class ushered in a new era of hardball politics, eventually sending Speaker John Boehner to an early retirement. Democrats enthusiastically nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-.N.Y., who is taking over as party leader, as their choice for speaker — a typically symbolic gesture in the minority but one that took on new importance as Republicans were in disarray. The candidate to become speaker needs a majority of the votes from House members who are present and voting.
When the House resolves itself into a Committee of the Whole, the speaker designates a member to preside over the committee, who is addressed as "Mister Chairman" or "Madam Chairwoman". The presiding officer also rules on all points of order but such rulings may be appealed to the whole House. The speaker is responsible for maintaining decorum in the House and may order the Sergeant-at-Arms to enforce House rules.
Mike Johnson elected House speaker with unanimous GOP support, ending weeks of chaos
Once he had Boehner's job, however, he experienced much the same internal strife. Ryan also had a strained relationship with then-President Donald Trump, with whom he had a falling out during the fall 2016 campaign. In April 2018, Ryan said he would not serve another term and left as the party was losing its majority that fall. Massie suggested that a vote to oust Johnson could result in Republicans ending up in the minority; the balance of power is so close in the House that it wouldn't take much movement to elect Jeffries as speaker. Voting to remove Johnson would lead the House to hold vote after vote "sometimes two times, three times a day," Massie noted.
Some hard-right Republicans consider themselves a distinct political party from their more mainstream, business-minded colleagues, whom they accuse of being in a “uniparty” with Democrats. By Tuesday evening, five more Republicans, none with a national profile, were vying for the nomination. Mr. Johnson won after multiple rounds of ballots, beating out Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, a member of the Freedom Caucus. Only hours later, Mr. Emmer told Republicans in a closed-door meeting that he was dropping his bid, according to a person familiar with his decision who divulged the private discussion on the condition of anonymity.
New Speaker Mike Johnson projects unity after 3 weeks of chaos, expects 'aggressive' House schedule - ABC News
New Speaker Mike Johnson projects unity after 3 weeks of chaos, expects 'aggressive' House schedule.
Posted: Wed, 25 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
At other times, more junior members may be assigned to preside to give them experience with the rules and procedures of the House. The speaker may also designate, with approval of the House, a speaker pro tempore for special purposes, such as designating a representative whose district is near Washington, D.C. In this week’s leadership vote, McCarthy received 188 votes from 219 returning Republican representatives, newly-elected members and candidates in uncalled races, overcoming a symbolic challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. The deciding vote in January is typically a party-line vote, so no Democrats are expected to back McCarthy. That means with Republicans winning a narrow majority in the House, McCarthy can only afford to lose a small handful of Republican votes.
They spent the weekend publicly and privately lobbying each of his critics to drop their opposition and become a “team player”. They say the party’s grassroots base pressure could prove decisive in the vote. Jordan, a darling of the party’s hardline rightwing base, still faces opposition from some members of the conference who doubt his ability to lead. House of Representatives, the party has begun the process of choosing who will wield the speaker’s gavel.
The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Bob Livingston, declared his bid for the speakership, which was unopposed, making him speaker-designate. It was then revealed, by Livingston himself, who had been publicly critical of President Bill Clinton's alleged perjury during his sexual harassment trial, that he had engaged in an extramarital affair. He opted to resign from the House, despite being urged to stay on by House Democratic leader Gephardt. The Republicans retained their majorities in the 2000, 2002, and 2004 elections.
The two men were expected to appear together later in the week in the GOP leader’s home state of Kentucky to celebrate federal infrastructure investment in a vital bridge that connects Kentucky and Ohio. It was all in stark contrast to the other side of the Capitol, where Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell will officially become the chamber’s longest-serving party leader in history. Lawmakers convened in a new era of divided government as Democrats relinquish control of the House after midterm election losses. While the Senate remains in Democratic hands, barely, House Republicans are eager to confront President Joe Biden’s agenda after two years of a Democratic Party control of both houses of Congress. There is finally, however, a speaker of the House, and Speaker McCarthy addressed the House shortly after midnight today. The last time the House did not elect a speaker on the first ballot was 1923 when the election stretched for nine ballots.