Ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is out for vengeance Los Angeles Times

Table Of Content

• California holds the key to GOP power in the House. McCarthy’s retirement makes everything harder
• House recesses ahead of vote on Israel resolution
• County Officers
• Here’s what to watch for in the 14th round of voting for House speaker.
• Johnson wins speaker vote 220-209
• Democratic Leader
• Column: McCarthy’s fall was sudden, but a long time coming
• Republican Party

“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. 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.

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

"We'll be talking about the support and what's necessary to get it," Johnson said. "We have to ensure Vladimir Putin is not successful, and I think all the House Republicans are united in that cause." Stefanik praised Johnson as a "man of deep faith" who is a "titan" on the Judiciary Committee and "dedicated member" of the Armed Services Committee. She said that as vice chair of the Republican Conference, Johnson has "united all of our members to speak clearly and boldly on behalf of the American people."

House recesses ahead of vote on Israel resolution

McCarthy won the majority of the Republican vote in a closed-door November meeting. Weeks later, Democrats unanimously chose Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to become their leader as the party transitions into the minority. Most recently, Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, withdrew his bid for the speakership just hours after winning a closed-door vote. A week prior, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio failed to win the speakership after three floor votes, facing increasing opposition from his own party in each vote. Before him, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana withdrew his bid after winning a closed-door vote to become the nominee. Some on the right opposed to Mr. Emmer cited his vote in favor of codifying federal protections for same-sex couples.

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County Officers

Congress banned the practice more than a decade ago, after a series of scandals tied to earmarks and anti-spending fervor swept through the institution with the rise of the Tea Party, but it has since reintroduced it with more guardrails. 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.

Here’s what to watch for in the 14th round of voting for House speaker.

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. If Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio was the most prominent public face of the congressional effort to fight the results of the 2020 election, his mentee, the newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, was a silent but pivotal partner. 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.

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. After Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who ending up holding the deciding vote, said “present,” most seated at the bar fell quiet. WASHINGTON — Kevin McCarthy’s chaotic campaign for the speakership has become, for some in Washington, a spectacle to be consumed with the urgency of a major sporting event. At the same time, Mr. Gaetz had reportedly sought a subcommittee chairmanship in the House Armed Services Committee.

Republicans announced that they would wait until Monday to consider a package of rules for the chamber, which is expected to enshrine many of the compromises Mr. McCarthy made to win his post. Most of them served in that long stretch when their party held the majority for four decades. The most recent Democrat, however, is Nancy Pelosi, still a House member and the House speaker emerita. She comes in at fifth on the longevity roster, having served one day shy of eight years from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. Ryan, then just 45, was the youngest speaker in nearly 150 years but had already been party's vice presidential nominee on the 2012 ticket.

To become speaker last year, Kevin McCarthy agreed to a change in the rules that makes it possible for a single representative to move to “vacate the chair” — that is, trigger a vote on whether to depose the speaker. That’s what happened last year after McCarthy avoided a default on the national debt, kept the government open and committed other alleged outrages. Prior to that, the last Republican speaker had been Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, who died in 1931. Technically, he died as speaker, but his party lost its majority before the next Congress convened and elected a Democrat to the job. The next two Republican speakers would be John Boehner, elevated to the job by the GOP recapture of the House in the "Tea Party" election of 2010.

Republican Party

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Massie, along with conservative rabble-rouser Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., are calling on Johnson to step down from the top post. If he doesn't, they are threatening to call up a vote on the House floor that could supplant the speaker and send the chamber into another leadership vacuum. In the last year, Johnson took the job, putting him second in line of succession for the presidency, after a handful of Republican rebels last fall voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the role. After Scalise dropped out of the race and Jordan went on to become the nominee last week, Scalise immediately committed to voting for Jordan and encouraged his supporters to do the same.

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.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the political party of a group of representatives who notably voted “no” on new aid for Israel. Echoing one of the many grievances shared by hard-right Republicans who opposed all of the aid measures, Mr. Good said his support for “Israel’s right to defend itself remains unshakeable” but that he disagreed with a measure that would add to the nation’s debt. McCarthy’s successor, Johnson, brought four bills to the House floor Saturday — three to provide vital military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and one to force a Chinese company to sell TikTok or cease operating in the United States. The bills passed overwhelmingly, with all but the Ukraine bill winning a majority of Republicans’ votes. Gaetz and seven other Republicans, representing less than 2% of the country, were enough to oust McCarthy against the wishes of 95% of the Republican caucus, with Democrats uniformly hewing to the bipartisan tradition of refusing to support a speaker of the opposite party.

Toward the end of the 19th century, the office of speaker began to develop into a very powerful one. At the time, one of the most important sources of the speaker's power was his position as Chairman of the Committee on Rules, which, after the reorganization of the committee system in 1880, became one of the most powerful standing committees of the House. Furthermore, several speakers became leading figures in their political parties; examples include Democrats Samuel J. Randall, John Griffin Carlisle, and Charles F. Crisp, and Republicans James G. Blaine, Thomas Brackett Reed, and Joseph Gurney Cannon. First, few Republicans — including some who oppose Johnson — want to be seen following the lead of the House’s most notorious cranks and bigots. Second, Trump doesn’t want the Republican caucus to turn into an embarrassing circular firing squad while he is running for president. (It’s remarkable that Trump is worried that other Republicans will make him look bad.) Third, Democrats have signaled that they will help Johnson keep his job after he courageously did the right thing.

"From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have made clear that we will find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues wherever and whenever possible for the good of the American people, and House Democrats have repeatedly done just that," Jeffries said. "I think all the American people at one time had great pride in this institution, but right now that's in jeopardy," he said. Johnson also acknowledged that the chaos of the last three weeks has chipped away at Americans' confidence in the lower chamber. "I want to say to the American people on behalf of all of us here, we hear you. We know the challenges you're facing. We know that there's a lot going on in our country, domestically and abroad, and we're ready to get to work again to solve those problems and we will," he said.

"Mike Johnson and I both represent two of the poorest districts in the country, but the richest in the values held by the great people of #TX23 & #LA04. I look forward to working with him to help SECURE the southern border as OUR next Speaker of the US House," he wrote on social media. Turning to Jeffries, Aguilar said the Democratic leader has "never turned his back on the will of the American people." The California Democrat noted Johnson's role in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He accused GOP lawmakers of working to find a candidate for speaker who can pass their "extreme litmus test" opposing marriage equality, cutting Social Security and Medicare, and enacting nationwide restrictions on abortion.

Mr. Gaetz said on Tuesday that lawmakers should not give the post to somebody willing to sell “shares of himself to get” it. Mr. Gosar, who voted against Mr. McCarthy on multiple ballots but changed his vote to support him on Friday, spread numerous lies about the 2020 election and spoke at “Stop the Steal” rallies arranged by Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer. Mr. Biggs, who also eventually softened his opposition to Mr. McCarthy’s speakership bid enough to vote “present,” was involved in a range of organizational efforts in 2020, including meetings aimed at attracting protesters to Washington on Jan. 6, according to the House Jan. 6 committee. Even as some lawmakers have grumbled about the revival of earmarking, neither House nor Senate Republicans have issued a binding ban against including them in spending bills. Several Republicans in both chambers joined Democrats in securing earmarks in the roughly $1.7 trillion government funding package that became law last month, with more than 7,200 projects in the bill.