Posted on 01/02/2025 8:30:03 PM PST by SeekAndFind
With the nation's focus rightly on the terrorist attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, and with what appears to be a gang shootout at a nightclub in Queens, the vote for the first domino to fall in a series of changes from the outgoing Biden administration to the incoming Trump administration takes place at Noon Eastern on Friday.
Sure, Inauguration Day is on the 20th, and that promises to a Day One for the ages. But don't forget January 6th, which is when the House certifies the election results, putting President-Elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-Elect J.D. Vance on the glide path for the 20th. But tomorrow, January 3rd, is when the new Congress and Senate constitute.
There will not be any fireworks in the upper chamber, as South Dakota Senator John Thune will now run things instead of Chuck Schumer, which is a grand thing. In the House, however, nothing happens until they have a Speaker. Mike Johnson is the only person who has or wants the job, but is not a lock to win the required 217 votes. The Republican caucus will send 219 members. He can lose two and no more to become Speaker.
Kentucky's Tom Massie, who is the new leader of the Knucklehead Caucus now that Matt Gaetz has retired from the chamber, has steadfastly maintained that he will vote for someone else besides Johnson. Who that person is remains unknown. Everyone else in the caucus has to line up.
Donald Trump has been working the phones already this morning, and will continue to do so, in order to shore up support for Johnson and avoid a protracted speaker fight that delays the election certification vote on Monday.
Johnson, who represents a district in Louisiana, appeared on Fox and Friends Thursday morning, and after updating on the terror attack in his home state, said he's increasingly confident that he'll have the votes tomorrow.
The attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans was horrific. The prayers for the victims and their families need to be fervent and sustained. After hearing Alethea Duncan, the FBI deputy special agent in charge initially say that this was not a terrorist attack...
she reversed course a couple hours later once pictures surfaced online of FBI agents photographing the ISIS flag laying in the street that the truck was flying.
Nobody, no one, trusts the FBI to conduct this investigation above board, now that we know the name and religious identity of the man who mowed down all those people celebrating the New Year in the French Quarter. There is someone waiting in the wings to take the helm of the FBI and restore confidence. His name is Kash Patel. He can't get a confirmation hearing unless the House elects a speaker and certifies the election. His nomination to run FBI is moot until the formality of recognizing the results of the election take place.
The need for the new team to get to Washington couldn't be more graphic, and the feeling around D.C. is that the recalcitrant House members trying to showboat are really playing with fire now. If the Trump base doesn't get to see the shock and awe of the first 100 days of the Trump administration because of two or three Republican House members, the world is going to come down on their heads in primary challenges.
Cory Mills understands what's at stake with this vote.
Sarah Ferris and Alayna Treene write up the current stand-off at CNN today. Here's a couple interesting parts.
Even so, many GOP lawmakers and senior aides feel that Johnson has done the best he could in a difficult situation and say there is not widespread sentiment to push him out. That’s particularly true given it’s unclear who, if anyone, could win the job if Johnson bowed out.
“To beat a horse, you need a horse,” one GOP source said. “Once the president came out, it took the wind out of any opposition sail.”
Even the former chairman of the Knucklehead Caucus, the aforementioned Matt Gaetz, has weighed in on the vote for Speaker, and even he is on board for Mike Johnson, for what it's worth.
Even former Rep. Matt Gaetz — who has previously clashed with Johnson and his leadership team — suggested his colleagues should back the current speaker rather than risking Trump’s election.
“We could never have held up McCarthy two years ago for concessions if a Trump certification hung in the balance. Now, it does,” Gaetz said on X, calling resistance to Johnson “futile.”
If Johnson can't perform as Speaker, there will remain a point of leverage to be used six months, a year, or 18 months down the road. The 2-seat majority will still be there, and a motion to vacate the chair, an option I believe shouldn't be there, remains an option. It is nothing short of lunacy for Republicans to take the results of the election in November, having unified control of government, and punt it away while getting nothing in return. Put this card in your pocket and save it for when you really want something either passed or blocked.
Massie, unfortunately, cannot be reasoned with. He's playing marbles on a chessboard. The sooner he gets primaried, the better. He should be tossed off House Rules and treated like the obstructionist he is. I'm all for a big tent in the Republican Party, but every tent has flaps. If Massie consistently will not remain in the tent long enough to establish the tent, he's useless. Everyone else claiming they're on the bubble about Johnson, whether it be Chip Roy, Andy Biggs, Tim Burchett, or Victoria Spartz, needs to figure out they've got to dance for a while with the person that brought them to the threshold of unified government.
We see how serious the times are in which we live. We've witnessed how unserious the current administration is, and we know how good the next administration promises to be based upon the vast majority of nominations Donald Trump has already made. It's high time we get on with the business of governing. If you reside in a district represented by one of the members of the Knucklehead Caucus, you might want to call them up and let your opinion be known.
It's go time. It's time to govern, not grandstand.
i would like to see the new doj take a look at some of those house races
especially in ca
Mike Johnson DOES NOT have the votes to be Speaker despite Trump’s endorsement.
Thomas Massie is the key vote and he remains obstinate as of this writing.
There are many pols who would rather gripe and snipe as “the opposition” rather than do the hard wok of actually governing and legislating.
If Johnson clearly lacks enough votes, and they know it now, can’t the vote be postponed?
How many times did Kevin McCarthy have to kick that same can down the road before he was sworn in?
I think it was well over five times.
There must be something that Massie wants in a professional sense, something that would lead him to become more “open minded” by Sun up tomorrow morning.
He can lose one vote...and that is likely Massie....but I think Massie will fall in line. Regardless...the Dems will step in because NO BUSINESS can occur without a speaker..and they don’t want to carry the blame...
What is it that a group of those opposed would want from him?
Yes, they want to force something onto the Democrats. What something? It’s $37Trillion. Do they really want to “force” a cut of what, $5B? And declare some sort of victory over such an insignificant number?
Any cut pushed will be erased by this year’s interest on the debt. It is going to be $1T, and that’s excluding the chunk of the debt held by the Fed.
$1T !!! Why expect $5B to be “a good start”. No! It’s not a good start. It’s absurd and insignificant. And there will never be 60 votes in the Senate for more.
You think you want to beat your chest and demand $1T spending cut? From what? Interest is $1T by itself. Why would you think that can get through the Senate? Why would you think 100B could get through the Senate? Even $100B is not a good start.
There Is No Solution, so why fight over who is the Speaker. He can do nothing. No one can do anything.
>> Massie better get with the program. Wrong time, wrong place for grandstanding.
Disagree. His dissent is genuine, and he should remain consistent in his objections.
By all means, let’s keep giving the Democrats everything they want.
He ran unopposed...why?? That's our problem.
Some GOP don’t like Mike because he didn’t support Trump’s demand to remove the debt ceiling.
Johnson has done nothing for the Republican Party. He will continue to stab everyone in the back and side with Democrats. That’s the problem.
...delays the election certification vote on Monday.”
It does not delay the certification. There is a line of people already determined to do the job if the speaker is not available.
Under the Rules of the House, the speaker may designate a member to serve as speaker pro tempore, acting as the body’s presiding officer in the speaker’s absence. In most instances, the speaker pro tempore designation lasts for no more than three legislative days, although in the case of illness of the speaker, the speaker pro tempore may serve for ten legislative days if the appointment is approved by the House.
Separately, a speaker pro tempore is designated in the event the office of the speaker is declared vacant. Under the current Rules of the House, at the start of their term, the speaker is required to create a secret ordered list of members to temporarily serve as speaker of the House if the speakership became vacant and to provide the clerk of the United States House of Representatives this list “as soon as practicable after” the election “and whenever appropriate thereafter.” The names are only revealed in the event of a vacancy (e.g., by the speaker’s death, resignation, incapacitation, or removal from office).
This “succession list” procedure was created in 2003, following the September 11 attacks, to promote continuity of government. Rule I, clause 8, of the House Rules states the member whose name appears first on the list “shall act as Speaker pro tempore until the election of a Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore.” The speaker pro tempore is not in the line of succession for the presidency.
So this is manure from the start if this is their intent.
wy69
Appreciate this article.
Thank you for your post.
Do you really think that’s what his constituents want at this point in time....to shut down Congress??
Please...if you didn’t see it as “The Art of the Deal”...you don’t know trump.
I don't doubt it. But we need 17 days of smooth sailing to take us up to January 20th. Johnson can be dumped at a more opportune time in the future. Now we need President Trump's votes certified, and the swearing-in ceremony 14 days later.
God help us. We all have endured too much. We don't want to fumble the ball at the goal line.
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