On Thursday, the Republican-led <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> again passed legislation threatening to impose sanctions on the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/international-criminal-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Criminal Court</a> (ICC) after the organization issued arrest warrants against Israeli leaders last year.
Forty-five Democrats <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/20257" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined</a> 198 Republicans in voting for the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. The bill once more heads to the Senate; with the GOP in control, the legislation may actually succeed.
The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/23/text?s=1&amp;r=1&amp;q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22Illegitimate+Court+Counteraction+Act%22%7D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> would &#8220;impose sanctions with respect to the International Criminal Court engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.&#8221;
Penalties listed in the bill would have the president implement restrictions on transactions of property and interests within the U.S., as well as visas, admission, or parole for anyone linked to offending ICC actions.
Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Brian Mast (R-FL) first <a href="https://roy.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-roy-and-mast-demand-sanctions-icc-officials-going-after-us-israel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> the sanctions bill last May, citing reports indicating the ICC was prepared to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials in response to the war in the Gaza Strip.
The ICC later did <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/icc-blasted-over-arrest-warrants-for-netanyahu-gallant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issue</a> arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant — as well as Hamas terror group officials — a move that got bipartisan criticism in the U.S.
Roy and Mast, who is now chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, <a href="https://roy.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-roy-chairman-mast-reintroduce-bill-protect-israel-illegitimate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> earlier this week that the House rules package for the nascent 119th Congress set the stage for their legislation to get another vote.
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&#8220;The House will not tolerate rogue actors who circumvent international law to attack Israel and threaten America. We won’t do it,&#8221; House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) <a href="https://x.com/Edgar_A_Barrios/status/1876657254218465309" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a press briefing on Capitol Hill this week.
Johnson also noted he expects the Senate, now led by Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), to vote on the bill. The Democrat-led Senate in the last Congress <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8282/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not vote</a> on the legislation as President Joe Biden <a href="https://x.com/nicholaswu12/status/1797727903175807367" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opposed</a> it.
Roy <a href="https://roy.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-roy-chairman-mast-reintroduce-bill-protect-israel-illegitimate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he has &#8220;full confidence&#8221; President-elect Donald Trump &#8220;will stand for Israel with the strength and moral clarity that Biden has sorely lacked,&#8221; adding the bill ensures the ICC won&#8217;t get a &#8220;free pass&#8221; to attack U.S. allies.
The House vote on Thursday was the second in this Congress in which a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a bill. On Tuesday, 48 Democrats and 216 Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-again-passes-laken-riley-act-159-dems-vote-against-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent</a> the &#8220;Laken Riley Act&#8221; to the Senate.

Rep. Chip Roy

House Again Passes ICC Sanctions Legislation

Chip Roy

Congress

International Criminal Court

Israel

Sanctions

U.S. House of Representatives

On Tuesday, the GOP-led <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> of Representatives once again passed the &#8220;Laken Riley Act,&#8221; a bill that would require federal officials to arrest illegal immigrants who have been charged with theft-related crimes in the United States.
Forty-eight Democrats <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/20256" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined</a> with 216 Republicans in voting for the bill, which had previously been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-led-house-passes-laken-riley-act-170-dems-vote-against-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> by the lower chamber in March of last year. This time around, 159 Democrats opposed it, compared to 170 in the earlier vote.
These &#8220;no&#8221; votes showed that some Democrats &#8220;ignored&#8221; voters who &#8220;demanded secure borders, the deportation of violent illegal aliens, and laws that put the safety and security of the American people first,&#8221; said Speaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA).
The legislation was named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed last year. A 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, Jose Ibarra, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-jose-ibarra-found-guilty-of-killing-georgia-nursing-student-laken-riley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> of murdering Riley and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-nursing-student-laken-riley-immigrant-d8d75ccc6d81e7a88eb7890829d9fc9c#:~:text=The%20killing%20added%20fuel%20to,entered%20the%20U.S.%20in%202022.&amp;text=The%20Venezuelan%20man%20convicted%20in,without%20the%20possibility%20of%20parole." target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to life in prison.
In addition to directing the secretary of Homeland Security to detain aliens charged in the U.S. with theft crimes, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/29/text?s=1&amp;r=3&amp;q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22Laken+Riley+Act%22%7D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> would allow states to sue federal officials for &#8220;injunctive relief&#8221; if certain immigration actions or policies harm their citizens.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/us-house-of-representatives/house-session-part-1/654076" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued</a> during a debate on Tuesday that lawmakers were trying to &#8220;score cheap political points off of a tragic death&#8221; with a bill that &#8220;unfairly sweeps up many more innocent lives with no due process.&#8221;
A press release from Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who last week <a href="https://collins.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-mike-collins-reintroduces-laken-riley-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reintroduced</a> the Laken Riley Act for the new session of Congress, said that the bill &#8220;directly addresses one of the federal policy failures&#8221; related to Riley’s murder.
Ibarra &#8220;is an illegal alien who had been previously cited for shoplifting by the Athens Police Department,&#8221; it said. &#8220;If local law enforcement had called ICE, and ICE issued a detainer and picked him up, Laken would be alive.&#8221;
The Senate <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7511/all-actions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not take up</a> the Laken Riley Act for a vote when it was in control of the Democrats. Now, with Republicans back in command, a Senate version has been reintroduced. Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-fetterman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Fetterman</a> (D-PA) is even a co-sponsor.
&#8220;Laken Riley’s story is a tragic reminder of what’s at stake when our systems fail to protect people. No family should have to endure the pain of losing a loved one to preventable violence,&#8221; Fetterman <a href="https://www.britt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/u-s-senators-katie-britt-ted-budd-john-thune-john-fetterman-colleagues-introduce-laken-riley-act-in-119th-congress/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CLaken%20Riley's%20story%20is%20a,what%20makes%20our%20country%20great." target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.

U.S. Capitol Building

House Again Passes Laken Riley Act; 159 Dems Vote Against It

Border Crisis

Illegal Immigration

Laken Riley

U.S.

Two major issues are going to come up in the Congress of the United States this year because Republicans do not actually have a supermajority in the Senate, which means they have to use a process that is called reconciliation. 
Reconciliation can only be used on budgetary bills and matters, which means it can only be used once, or possibly twice at the most, inside of a year.
The big question for Republicans in the House and the Senate is whether they are going to create two bills and vote on them separately over the course of the year.
One is going to be a border bill that&#8217;s going to attempt to increase border security and complete the building of the border wall, to change the law where necessary in order to make it easier to deport illegal immigrants. That would be bill number one.
Bill number two would be making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent.
There are basically two possible strategies here. One strategy would be to separate those two bills. In some ways that might be better, and in some ways it might be worse. 
The other strategy would be to wrap them up into one giant bill. This method would cause more compromises to be cut than might be cut if the bill was separated into two. That’s because piling everything into one bill on border matters and tax matters and having an up or down vote creates more crap in the crap sandwich.
It&#8217;s like an omnibus package that includes tax matters and border matters.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2110-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Many conservatives are concerned about this. The House Freedom Caucus is upset because it will take additional spending on the border in order to secure the border. The Trump tax cuts may lead to short-term lowering of federal revenue into the tax coffers, so their question is how to offset that in terms of spending.
Meanwhile, Republicans would also like to increase the defense budget in the face of a vastly aggressive China.
If all of this gets wrapped in one bill and Trump says to the American body politic and to the constituents of all these Republicans, “Listen, the bill has a lot of stuff I don&#8217;t like, but it has a lot of stuff I do like. I&#8217;m ‘yes,’ on the bill. Everybody else should be ‘yes’ on the bill,” Republicans will be pressured to go ‘yes’ on the bill, even if there&#8217;s more crap included in the crap sandwich.
The alternative, which is to separate the two bills — the border bill and the tax bill — is that neither may pass. It may be an opportunity for people to signal their discontent on matters regarding Trump&#8217;s approach to the border. If you&#8217;re on the left wing of the Republican Party on tax matters, there&#8217;s going to be some pretty serious battles inside the Republican Party with regard to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction that allows taxpayers to subtract a portion of their state and local taxes from their federal taxable income.
The 2017 tax cuts asserted that if you paid taxes in California or New York, that didn&#8217;t mean you could deduct the taxes you paid on the state level against your federal taxable income. That would have been a sort of affirmative action program on taxes for blue states. That got removed.
But there are a lot of people, Republicans from New York and California, who would like to restore the SALT deductions in the tax code, and that&#8217;s going to be an open battle.
So strategically speaking, the question is, do you go for two purer and smaller bills, or do you go for one less pure, bigger, beautiful bill?
Because Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is working with such a slim majority, he would prefer one bill because he wants to get everything that Trump wants. His choices are: get less of what Trump wants and less bad stuff, or get more of what Trump wants and more bad stuff.
That&#8217;s the nature of the bargain here. There is no third choice where you get all the great things that you want and none of the bad things that you don&#8217;t want. That’s not how it works with a majority this slim in the House and a pretty slim majority in the Senate as well.
This is a matter of strategy. It&#8217;s not a matter of principle. Johnson is very conservative. So too, for example, is House Ways and Means chair Jason Smith, a Republican from Missouri and a very conservative member of Congress. He&#8217;s also calling for one big bill. The idea would be get this bill rammed through by April — and do it fast. Do it quickly, because as we all know, the midterms are going to come up in a couple of years, which means Trump has two years to get everything he wants done.
And that really means he has one year to get it done. By the time he hits his second year, everybody will already be running for reelection, and they will have their eyes on their next race.
Smith pointed out that practically no parties have succeeded in passing two reconciliation bills in the same year in decades.
The bottom line is: Johnson is, in fact, a very good strategist. So is John Thune (R-SD), the Senate Majority Leader.
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When Republican congresspeople talk about how we are not solving our national debt with these bills, they are damn right: We&#8217;re not solving our national debt with these bills. There is no need in pretending that anything being proposed is going to solve the national debt. The reality is that the national debt is never going to get solved until the entitlement programs that no one is going to touch are, indeed, touched. Until you touch Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, you are not going to be able to tackle the national debt.
So what does that mean? Those tax cuts better be made permanent because otherwise Democrats are going to reverse those at the first available opportunity, thus destroying the possibility of economic growth that could help facilitate solutions to issues like the national debt.
The border bill better be passed now because Democrats sure as hell aren&#8217;t going to pass a good border bill if they are in charge or if they gain control of the House of Representatives.
So, understand what Johnson has to do.
And he will get it done.

Opening Day Of The 119th Congress On Capitol Hill

The Urgency Of Time: Why Mike Johnson Must Do What He Has To Do

Ben Shapiro

Donald Trump

Federal Government

House Republicans

Mike Johnson

National Debt

Opinion

Republicans

With Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a> presiding, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congress</a> certified President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> and Vice President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jd-vance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JD Vance</a>&#8216;s victory in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/2024-election" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 election</a> on Monday.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate</a> received the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/electoral-college" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electoral College</a> votes in less than an hour with the reading of certificates from the states and D.C. The GOP ticket won 312 of them.
&#8220;CONGRESS CERTIFIES OUR GREAT ELECTION VICTORY TODAY — A BIG MOMENT IN HISTORY. MAGA!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113781668884628397" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exclaimed</a> in a post to Truth Social.
Harris, who lost the presidential election, <a href="https://x.com/rcpvideo/status/1876289653780676679" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watched</a> over the proceedings as president of the Senate. It was Harris who ultimately declared the final tally and the winners.
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a> Kamala Harris: &quot;This announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the United States, each for a term beginning on the 20th day of January 2025.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ePBAZ9i08q">pic.twitter.com/ePBAZ9i08q</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1876339014393110595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president,&#8221; she said.
Members of Congress made their way to the U.S. Capitol despite a storm that dropped several inches of snow, causing closures throughout the D.C. region.
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Boxes containing Electoral College Certificates on their way to the U.S. House Chamber. <a href="https://t.co/oVAnMGasdt">pic.twitter.com/oVAnMGasdt</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1876328317764190398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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House Speaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/with-snow-blast-imminent-speaker-johnson-says-we-cannot-delay-certification-of-trumps-victory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; interview on Fox News that lawmakers would be &#8220;making sure&#8221; to get the job done.
&#8220;President Trump had a mandate — a landslide, you know — so many electoral votes and we get to count them all. We cannot delay that certification,&#8221; he said.
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There were increased <a href="https://x.com/mkraju/status/1876287299773690158" target="_blank" rel="noopener">security measures</a>, including <a href="https://x.com/CraigCaplan/status/1876289563636945303" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more barriers</a> and law enforcement, after the Capitol riot briefly disrupted the count four years ago.
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Extra security including law enforcement from outside DC on Capitol Hill today for the Joint Session of Congress to count electoral votes in the House chamber. <a href="https://t.co/6viMeop4lZ">pic.twitter.com/6viMeop4lZ</a>
&mdash; Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) <a href="https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1876289563636945303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Unlike in 2020, no lawmakers objected to any of the state&#8217;s election results. Some Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leading-dems-wont-confirm-if-theyll-certify-trump-victory-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had previously been dodgy</a> on whether they would oppose certification.
An <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/23/politics/congress-legislation-january-6-capitol-attack/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overhaul</a> of the Electoral College Act in 2022 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-democrats-unveil-plan-to-change-electoral-count-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made it harder</a> for lawmakers to raise objections and established that the vice president could not settle these disputes.
Trump, who served his first term from 2016 to 2020, is scheduled to begin his second administration in two weeks with Inauguration Day on January 20.
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Sen. JD Vance following Maine electoral results being read. <a href="https://t.co/NwhuU3KfSI">pic.twitter.com/NwhuU3KfSI</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1876333990942056700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jd-vance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vance</a> (R-OH) is slated to become vice president. Ohio GOP Governor Mike DeWine will <a href="https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2024/11/07/ohio-senate-jd-vance-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appoint</a> Vance&#8217;s Senate successor until a special election in 2026.
Republicans narrowly retained the House and won command of the Senate. In the coming months, they plan to get a fast start on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-big-beautiful-bill-speaker-johnson-draws-out-budget-reconciliation-plan-for-trump-2-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">implementing Trump&#8217;s agenda</a>.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris presides

Kamala Presides As Congress Certifies Trump’s 2024 Victory

2024 Election

Electoral College

Kamala Harris

Politics

U.S. Senate

Speaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) said on Sunday that he wants the House to pass one hefty budget reconciliation bill to realize President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s policy agenda during the early months of his second term, dealing with a broad range of issues such as border security, tax cut extensions, the U.S. economy, and energy.
In an interview on &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures,&#8221; Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo noted that new Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been pushing for splitting the legislation into two reconciliation bills and asked Johnson what Trump prefers.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Speaker Johnson Joins Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YctBNeFHquk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;Yes, he and I have talked about this quite a bit, as you might imagine, over the last few months, determining the pros and cons of the two different strategies,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;I respect Lindsey Graham and all my friends who kind of preferred a two-step strategy. The idea would be: get something done on the border and maybe defense spending right out of the blocks very quickly in what we would call a skinny reconciliation bill, and then do the rest of it in a larger chunk later.&#8221;
Johnson, who huddled with colleagues over the weekend at Fort McNair to discuss the plan, said he thought &#8220;at the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, &#8216;one big, beautiful bill.&#8217; And there&#8217;s a lot of merit to that, because we can put it all together, one big up-or-down vote, which can save the country, quite literally, because there are so many elements to it. And it&#8217;ll give us a little bit more time to negotiate that and get it right.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/with-snow-blast-imminent-speaker-johnson-says-we-cannot-delay-certification-of-trumps-victory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: With Snow Blast Imminent, Speaker Johnson Says ‘We Cannot Delay’ Certification Of Trump’s Victory</a>
The speaker insisted the plan for reconciliation does not mean &#8220;we won&#8217;t come right out of the gates full-fledged right out of the beginning of the Congress.&#8221; The House will be &#8220;addressing the border&#8221; over the next couple weeks with fixes that are &#8220;so commonsense&#8221; that some Democrats may support them, Johnsons noted, adding that those bills could be ready for Trump to sign when he takes office on January 20.
As for the reconciliation bill itself, the legislation will &#8220;have a lot of pieces,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;We made a lot of campaign promises. President Trump did as well, and reconciliation is the way to get it done. Why? Because you avoid a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.&#8221;
Johnson then alluded to <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL30458" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a two-step process</a> in which putting together a budget resolution would precede the House and Senate actually considering the reconciliation legislation.
&#8220;Reconciling the budget, which we will pass in early February, is how we will get all of our committees involved, committees of jurisdiction all these big issues. What are they? Well, obviously, we have to secure the border. We have got to make sure that our Border Patrol agents and our immigration enforcement agencies have the right directives from the White House, but also the right resources to do their job and secure that border once and for all,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;We have got to take care of the dangerous illegal criminals who have come over, and all that&#8217;s part of it as well. And we have got to shift immediately to the economy. Maria, you know, you talk about every day, we have got to revive the U.S. economy, and we can. We know how to do it,&#8221; Johnson continued. &#8220;Part of that is preventing the largest tax increase in U.S. history, which would happen automatically at the end of next year if we don&#8217;t get our ducks in a row. So we&#8217;re going to make sure that happens. We&#8217;re going to incentivize American companies to manufacture in the U.S. again. And we&#8217;re going to make sure that the regulatory burden and the red tape that has smothered our free market is reduced and eliminated.&#8221;
Johnson said &#8220;we&#8217;re going to be dismantling the deep state all along the way. We&#8217;re going to restore American energy dominance, so many different pieces to this, Maria. They all have to work together. And, of course, the president has asked us and really needs us to address the debt limit crisis before that hits in June. So, a lot of moving pieces, a lot of things to negotiate, a lot of opinions on all that, so we will be working long, long hours with whiteboards, making sure every Republican is on board, because, remember, I will be dealing with the smallest margin in U.S. history for much of the first 100 days. But we&#8217;re going to get it done.&#8221;
Bartiromo asked Johnson if he is expecting to raise or eliminate the debt ceiling as part of the reconciliation legislation.
&#8220;I think we&#8217;re going to have to do it in that bill. And the reason for that, Maria, is that we won&#8217;t have to negotiate with [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the Democrats on that,&#8221; the speaker replied. &#8220;If you do it in reconciliation, you can do it just with the Republican Party. So we will have very thoughtful discussion and debate about where that limit should go. But here&#8217;s the important thing everybody needs to remember. We&#8217;re the team that wants to cut spending, and we will. And we will do it dramatically, all the wasteful spending in government. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-government-efficiency-doge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOGE</a> will be doing its effort in coordination with all this. But you have to raise the debt limit on paper, so that we don&#8217;t frighten the bond markets and the world&#8217;s economy. You know how that works. It&#8217;s about the stability of our economy. But we don&#8217;t intend to spend to that limit, as President Trump will clarify all the time. We&#8217;re going to raise the ceiling, but we are going to be cutting all along the way, so we can do both of those things simultaneously.&#8221;
Bartiromo also pressed Johnson on &#8220;what&#8217;s a realistic timeline&#8221; for getting the legislative package advanced through Congress and on Trump&#8217;s desk. &#8220;Would you have that on the president&#8217;s desk by May?&#8221; she asked.
&#8220;Certainly by May, yes,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;In fact, we&#8217;re targeting a vote in the House maybe in the first week of April. Now, everything&#8217;s got to move in the right sequence. And along the way, I think we&#8217;re going to keep those trains moving in the right direction and on time. And if that happens, we will get it out of the House in early April, maybe as soon as April 3, and then move it over to the Senate. That would put that bill on the president&#8217;s desk for signature by the end of April. That would be fantastic. And, in a worst-case scenario: Memorial Day.&#8221;

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’: Speaker Johnson Draws Out Budget Reconciliation Plan For Trump 2.0

Budget

Lindsey Graham

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congress</a> must not allow a snow storm to delay the certification of President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s Electoral College victory, Speaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) said on Sunday.
&#8220;Well, I hope we have full attendance. We&#8217;ve got a big snow storm coming to D.C. and we encourage all of our colleagues, &#8216;Do not leave town. Stay here.&#8217; Because, as you know, the Electoral Count Act requires this on January 6 at 1 p.m. So, whether we&#8217;re in a blizzard or not we&#8217;re going to be in that chamber making sure this is done,&#8221; Johnson told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo during a &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; interview.
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Speaker Johnson on certifying the 2024 election:
&quot;Whether we&#39;re in a blizzard or not we&#39;re going to be in that chamber making sure this is done.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Krhg1DU2j1">pic.twitter.com/Krhg1DU2j1</a>
&mdash; Bobby LaValley (@Bobby_LaVallley) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bobby_LaVallley/status/1875925375605436555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Forecasters have issued a <a href="https://x.com/NWS_BaltWash/status/1875663759542550892" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Winter Storm Warning</a> for the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and expect up to up to <a href="https://x.com/capitalweather/status/1875893877728780421" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10 or more inches</a> of snow through Monday, when the House and Senate are slated to meet for a joint session of Congress to affirm the 2024 results. Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman <a href="https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1875684212671750434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted on X</a> that the House needs a quorum of 218 — a simple majority of all the sitting House lawmakers — to conduct business and most members stayed in town for a weekend session to discuss plans for budget reconciliation at Fort McNair.
&#8220;Listen, President Trump had a mandate — a landslide, you know — so many electoral votes and we get to count them all. We cannot delay that certification,&#8221; Johnson added. &#8220;He deserves that; 77 million Americans voted for President Trump and this agenda — almost 75 million for the House. That&#8217;s our highest number ever. So, we call it a mandate. I believe it is. And we&#8217;ve got to get to work beginning immediately on Monday.&#8221;
Other House Republicans posted to social media about showing up on Monday.
&#8220;Unless [Elon Musk] has figured out how to control the weather it looks bad. If you are a Republican member of Congress I’d get to Washington. We have a President [Trump] to certify,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/timburchett/status/1875900840990720355" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quipped</a> Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN).
&#8220;Jan 6th at 1:00 pm Congress must certify President Trump’s historic election,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/RepMTG/status/1875709597576491142" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). &#8220;Washington has a winter storm warning for Jan 5-7th expecting possibly a foot of snow. Many members of congress left town this weekend even though they were told to stay. I’m here and will walk to the Capitol if I have to.&#8221;

U.S. Capitol

With Snow Blast Imminent, Speaker Johnson Says ‘We Cannot Delay’ Certification Of Trump’s Victory

Snow

Washington D.C.

Weather

Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson secured back-to-back terms as House speaker on Friday after President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> intervened to pressure GOP holdouts.
Trump began Friday prior to the speakership vote by <a href="https://x.com/BretBaier/status/1875218813643379054" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling</a> House Republicans who were shaky or undecided on Johnson serving another term as speaker. By the time of the vote, only three holdouts remained, one of which, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, had already been tallied as a loss by the Trump team.
The other two holdouts, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas, agreed to switch their votes and support Johnson after a phone meeting with Trump, according to Fox News’ Chad Pergram.
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace huddled Norman and Self in a phone meeting with Trump where the president-elect pushed them to support Johnson, arguing that extending the speakership fight would be “disrespectful to Americans.” Trump never visited with Massie, who was the lone Republican vote against Johnson.
“It would be disrespectful to Americans who voted in an historic Presidential election – to have this speaker’s vote go to a second or third ballot. And it would be disrespectful to me,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/chadpergram/status/1875277082793509145" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, according to Pergram. “Fellas, we have a lot to do. Let’s get to it.”
Self said later in a statement posted to social media that he agreed to support Johnson after “receiving firm assurances from the Speaker, that Republicans in the House will have strong representation during the budget reconciliation process — a cornerstone of President Trump’s agenda.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
RE: Speaker’s Vote   My sole focus was advancing the Trump agenda. To ensure this, I expressed concerns to Speaker Johnson about fiscal responsibility and holding the line on deficit spending—key priorities for my constituents.   After receiving firm assurances from the Speaker,…
&mdash; Rep. Keith Self (@RepKeithSelf) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepKeithSelf/status/1875277861554123179?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Norman appeared on Fox News and said that he would “do it again” the same way.
“[Trump] just said, ‘Mike Johnson is the only one that&#8217;s got the support among the body to become speaker.’ And I get that. But, you know, the only way I had to let my voice be heard was what I did,” Norman said.
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&quot;I&#39;d do it again,&quot; Rep. Ralph Norman tells me after holding up Mike Johnson&#39;s speakership. 
A phone call from President-elect Trump led Norman to change his vote. 
&quot;He just said, Mike Johnson is the only one that&#39;s got the support among the body to become speaker. And I get… <a href="https://t.co/wwhGNZ2pqs">pic.twitter.com/wwhGNZ2pqs</a>
&mdash; Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/1875297593225327083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Washington Examiner’s Byron York, a longtime political columnist and Hill watcher, atributed Friday’s relative lack of excitement and chaos around the speakership vote to the “Trump effect.”
“Why was this Speaker election not the multi-ballot, multi-day ordeal that the McCarthy vote was in 2023? The Trump effect. The number of GOP members who were willing to stand in defiance of the president-elect&#8217;s wishes was exactly 1,” York noted.
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Why was this Speaker election not the multi-ballot, multi-day ordeal that the McCarthy vote was in 2023? The Trump effect. The number of GOP members who were willing to stand in defiance of the president-elect&#39;s wishes was exactly 1. <a href="https://t.co/67iHeS8T1p">pic.twitter.com/67iHeS8T1p</a>
&mdash; Byron York (@ByronYork) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/1875273667611128089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Mike Johnson, Donald Trump

‘The Trump Effect’: How Trump Wrangled Republicans And Won Mike Johnson The Speakership

The GOP-led <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> chose on Friday to keep Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) on as speaker for the 119th <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congress</a>, a triumph for the man who faced some resistance within his own party after roughly 14 months on the job despite being endorsed by President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> and other key allies.
A total of 218 Republicans voted for Johnson, giving him the majority he needed for victory in the first ballot, while 215 Democrats backed Minority Leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hakeem-jeffries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hakeem Jeffries</a> (D-NY). An individual needed <a href="https://x.com/ChadPergram/status/1874625607985967600" target="_blank" rel="noopener">218 votes</a> to win the gavel if all 434 sitting members backed someone by name after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/matt-gaetz-resigns-from-congress-following-attorney-general-nomination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resigned</a> after last year&#8217;s election amid a brief push to become the next U.S. attorney general. Frustrated with Johnson&#8217;s leadership in a divided Congress, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) became the sole Republican to reject Johnson&#8217;s bid. Other GOP holdouts came around and voted for Johnson.
&#8220;No speaker is perfect, and no one will ever be. However, achieving perfection requires incremental gains and hard decisions along the way. None of us will get exactly what we want. The fundamental collective goal of this body is to make progress for the American people, in which we represent. And we have done just that under Mike&#8217;s leadership,&#8221; said the new Republican Conference chair, Lisa McClain (R-MI), while nominating Johnson on the House floor.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;No Speaker is perfect and no one will ever be.&#8221;
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepLisaMcClain?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepLisaMcClain</a> nominates <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpeakerJohnson</a> for Speaker of the House. <a href="https://t.co/oTGrnWzZf5">pic.twitter.com/oTGrnWzZf5</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1875241878930567596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
Johnson, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-elects-mike-johnson-as-speaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first became the 56th speaker</a> via a late October 2023 vote that ended a weeks-long stalemate after the House booted then-Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kevin-mccarthy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin McCarthy</a> (R-CA) from the role, had to contend with a Democrat-led Senate along with a slim GOP majority on issues such as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-last-minute-funding-bill-to-avert-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spending</a>. In the new term, following the 2024 election, Republicans still narrowly control the House and have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-thune-elected-senate-majority-leader" target="_blank" rel="noopener">command of the Senate</a> as well as the White House.
The vote on Friday was not without drama. At first, it looked as if Johnson just barely fell short of the threshold for victory in the first ballot.
Massie backed Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), who ran a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/emmer-drops-speaker-bid-hours-after-winning-gop-nomination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">short-lived campaign</a> for the speakership after McCarthy was ousted. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) picked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who also tried to win the gavel during the 2023 vacuum and also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-gop-drops-jordan-as-speaker-nominee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faltered</a>. And Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). Several other Republicans initially declined to vote when their names were called, but ultimately backed Johnson at the end of roll call.
After a long pause and lots of deliberating among members, Norman and Self changed their votes to pick Johnson.
Earlier this week, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-endorses-mike-johnson-for-house-speaker-a-good-hard-working-religious-man" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsed</a> Johnson, declaring in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113742374534233751" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> to Truth Social: &#8220;LETS NOT BLOW THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHICH WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN. The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration. Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete &amp; Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!&#8221;
Johnson <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1873758339324362916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1873758339324362916%7Ctwgr%5E213e304785a0340e6e1ca105d07da90422ab8fd0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-endorses-mike-johnson-for-house-speaker-a-good-hard-working-religious-man" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thanked</a> Trump on X. &#8220;I’m honored and humbled by your support, as always,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Together, we will quickly deliver on your America First agenda and usher in the new golden age of America. The American people demand and deserve that we waste no time. Let’s get to work!&#8221;
Tech entrepreneur <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a>, who is set to help lead Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-government-efficiency-doge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)</a>, also <a href="https://x.com/metzgov/status/1874976542465593470" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> his support of Johnson, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/newt-gingrich-house-speaker-mike-johnson-deserves-reelection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as did</a> former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA).
On Friday, before the vote, Johnson <a href="https://x.com/speakerjohnson/status/1875230086611272150?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> three commitments for another stint as speaker: creating a working group &#8220;comprised of independent experts – not corrupted by lobbyists and special interests – to work with DOGE and our committees on implementing recommended government and spending reforms to protect the American taxpayer.&#8221;
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The American people have demanded an end to the status quo, and a return to fiscal sanity. That’s why the citizens of our great country gave President Trump the White House and Republican control of both chambers of Congress. If we don’t follow through on our campaign promise for…
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1875230086611272150?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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He also vowed to task &#8220;that working group with reviewing existing audits of federal agencies and entities created by Congress – and issuing a report to my office for public release&#8221; and request &#8220;House committees undertake aggressive authorizations and appropriations reviews, including providing additional resources where needed, to expose irresponsible or illegal practices and hold agencies/individuals accountable that have weaponized government against the American people.&#8221;
With a speaker in place, House business for the new term will get underway, including consideration of a 36-page <a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20241230/119th%20Rules%20Package%20for%20Circulation.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rules package</a> that includes a provision making it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-to-consider-raising-threshold-for-motion-to-vacate-against-speaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more difficult</a> to cast out a speaker for at least the next two years. This section requires nine majority party members to initiate a privileged &#8220;motion to vacate&#8221; the speaker — up from a threshold of one member that was used against McCarthy and ultimately <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mccarthy-ousted-from-speakership-after-democrats-side-with-matt-gaetz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led to his downfall</a>.

Mike Johnson and others in the House chamber

House Elects Mike Johnson For Another Stint As Speaker

Hakeem Jeffries

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) revealed three commitments on Friday ahead of the first ballot for House speaker, a role he is trying to win for another session of Congress.
The announcement came as Johnson, who is endorsed by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>, hoped to rally enough support within the Republican caucus to win the gavel. He mentioned Trump&#8217;s new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-government-efficiency-doge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)</a>, which will be led by tech entrepreneurs <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> and Vivek Ramaswamy.
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The American people have demanded an end to the status quo, and a return to fiscal sanity. That’s why the citizens of our great country gave President Trump the White House and Republican control of both chambers of Congress. If we don’t follow through on our campaign promise for…
&mdash; Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1875230086611272150?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In a post to X, Johnson vowed to:
<blockquote>&#8220;1. Create a working group comprised of independent experts – not corrupted by lobbyists and special interests – to work with DOGE and our committees on implementing recommended government and spending reforms to protect the American taxpayer.
2. Task that working group with reviewing existing audits of federal agencies and entities created by Congress – and issuing a report to my office for public release.
3. Request House committees undertake aggressive authorizations and appropriations reviews, including providing additional resources where needed, to expose irresponsible or illegal practices and hold agencies/individuals accountable that have weaponized government against the American people.&#8221;</blockquote>
Johnson alluded to the 2024 election, during which the Republicans narrowly maintained control of the House and won back the Senate as well as the White House.
He said:
<blockquote>&#8220;The American people have demanded an end to the status quo, and a return to fiscal sanity. That’s why the citizens of our great country gave President Trump the White House and Republican control of both chambers of Congress. If we don’t follow through on our campaign promise for fiscal responsibility, we don’t deserve to hold power. The national debt is a grave threat to America’s economic and national security – and no issue exemplifies the Congress’ failures more.
Republicans have a real opportunity in the next two years to make meaningful spending reforms to eliminate trillions in waste, fraud, and abuse, and end the weaponization of government. Along with advancing President Trump’s America First agenda, I will lead the House Republicans to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, hold the bureaucracy accountable, and move the United States to a more sustainable fiscal trajectory.&#8221;</blockquote>
He concluded with:
<blockquote>&#8220;If we want to restore fiscal responsibility, we must start by being transparent about the dollars that are spent, address the issues we find, and then hold those accountable who have misspent funds. Republicans have a mandate to implement the America First Agenda, and as Speaker, this will be my priority.&#8221;</blockquote>

Speaker Mike Johnson

Mike Johnson Reveals 3 Commitments Ahead Of Speaker Vote

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Elon Musk

House Speaker

With the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> poised to vote on the speakership on Friday, the man running to keep that leadership role voiced confidence in the face of uncertainty.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to get this done,&#8221; Speaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) predicted during a Fox News appearance on Thursday. Johnson also said he is &#8220;humbled and honored&#8221; to have President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s endorsement and the support of other GOP leaders.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Speaker Johnson Joins FOX &amp; Friends" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y1SVco0rZ-k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
One needs <a href="https://x.com/ChadPergram/status/1874625607985967600" target="_blank" rel="noopener">218 votes</a> to win the speaker&#8217;s gavel if all 434 members back someone by name.
Johnson said the House GOP has &#8220;the smallest margin in U.S. history&#8221; — a stat exacerbated by Matt Gaetz (R-FL) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/matt-gaetz-resigns-from-congress-following-attorney-general-nomination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resigning</a> in November.
&#8220;We’ll have a margin of probably two votes tomorrow during that, so can only afford to lose one or two, but I think we&#8217;ll get it done,&#8221; he added.
Democrats will likely rally behind Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Some Republicans have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-chairman-urges-trump-to-get-on-phone-with-gop-holdouts-in-speakers-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withheld support</a> after yet another clash over government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-last-minute-funding-bill-to-avert-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spending</a> at the end of last year.
At least one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), outright <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/thomas-massie-needs-backup-to-take-out-mike-johnson-e5db12df?mod=e2tw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rejected</a> Johnson&#8217;s bid. Others might be swayed by concessions. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), for instance, <a href="https://spartz.house.gov/media/press-releases/spartz-it-will-take-bold-and-decisive-leadership-reverse-titanic-its-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded</a> the next speaker commit publicly to &#8220;authorizations,&#8221; &#8220;reconciliation offset policies,&#8221; and spending audits.
Johnson said he talked to &#8220;every single one&#8221; of his &#8220;friends and colleagues&#8221; over the holidays and noted that &#8220;process reforms&#8221; are up for discussion.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve encouraged all of them, and I think the reason they&#8217;re all going to vote &#8216;yes&#8217; is this: we&#8217;re shifting into a brand-new paradigm,&#8221; Johnson said. He stressed that &#8220;unified government&#8221; under GOP control is coming, a &#8220;totally different situation than we dealt with&#8221; during his roughly 14 months as speaker.
After the House vote for speaker, a process that could stretch into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-concessions-house-speaker-kevin-mccarthy-gave-to-republican-holdouts-to-win-their-support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multiple ballots</a> like it in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-elects-mike-johnson-as-speaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023</a>, the chamber is expected to consider <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-to-consider-raising-threshold-for-motion-to-vacate-against-speaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a 36-page rules package</a> that features a provision requiring nine majority party members to initiate a privileged &#8220;motion to vacate&#8221; the speaker — up from a threshold of one — and other sections that will govern lawmakers for the new term.
Johnson argued that the House needed to move quickly while alluding to the fact that a protracted speakership fight could disrupt Trump&#8217;s return to the White House.
&#8220;We have many important things pressing on us right now, so there&#8217;s no time to waste,&#8221; the speaker said. &#8220;We have to stay unified. The American people gave us a mandate.&#8221;

Mike Johnson Makes Prediction Before House Speaker Vote

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/house-republicans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House Republicans</a> unveiled on Wednesday a rules package for the 119th <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congress</a> that, if adopted, would make it more difficult to cast out a speaker for at least the next two years.
Lawmakers in the lower chamber are <a href="https://x.com/CraigCaplan/status/1874510607917154774" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slated</a> to consider the measure on Friday after the House votes on the speakership. Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) is running to keep the gavel and has been <a href="https://x.com/MZanona/status/1874493683594371202" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;working the phones&#8221;</a> over the Christmas break while some members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus have been searching for an alternative pick or discussing possible concessions from the current speaker, <a href="https://punchbowl.news/article/house/mike-johnson-speaker-election-up-in-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Punchbowl News</a>.
Near the top of the 36-page <a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20241230/119th%20Rules%20Package%20for%20Circulation.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rules package</a> is a provision requiring nine majority party members to initiate a privileged &#8220;motion to vacate&#8221; the speaker of the House. That would be a sizable increase from the current threshold of one member who could force a no-confidence vote that could lead to a speaker&#8217;s ouster. CBS News <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that leaders of the Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus announced in November that they had reached a deal on raising the threshold.
Lawmakers have tinkered with the threshold for the motion-to-vacate procedure multiple times over the past several years. A Democrat-led House <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/motion-vacate-key-sticking-point-gop-speaker-battle/story?id=96241364" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed the rule</a> in 2019, as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) began her second stint as speaker, to do away with a one-member threshold in favor of requiring <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mccarthy-motion-to-vacate-rule-speaker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a majority</a> of either party to bring a motion to vacate to the House floor after Republicans <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/03/what-is-motion-to-vacate-speaker-mccarthy-explainer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed one</a> against then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in 2015 before he eventually stepped down.
But the House rules package <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/motion-vacate-key-sticking-point-gop-speaker-battle/story?id=96241364" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> for the next Congress, agreed upon by a new GOP majority that secured then-Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kevin-mccarthy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin McCarthy</a> (R-CA) the speaker&#8217;s gavel following 15 rounds of voting in January 2023, restored the ability of a single member to trigger the process that could lead to a no-confidence vote in the speaker. And, by early October 2023, the House had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-mccarthy-to-retire-from-house-after-losing-speakership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">booted</a> McCarthy from the role after the House passed a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown.
A weeks-long stalemate ended in late October 2023 when the House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-elects-mike-johnson-as-speaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elected</a> Johnson as its 56th speaker. Johnson is now running to stay in the role boosted by President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-endorses-mike-johnson-for-house-speaker-a-good-hard-working-religious-man" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsement</a> but is also facing resistance from a couple of Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-chairman-urges-trump-to-get-on-phone-with-gop-holdouts-in-speakers-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">holding out support</a> after yet another clash over <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-last-minute-funding-bill-to-avert-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spending</a>. A simple majority is needed for victory. The GOP narrowly won control of the House in the 2024 election, and it was, as of Wednesday, unclear if any Democrats would cross the aisle and support Johnson.
The new rules package has a number of <a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20241230/119th%20Congress%20Rules%20Section%20by%20Section%20FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other provisions</a> beyond tweaking the motion-to-vacate threshold, including the authorization of subpoenas related to investigations into President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> and his son <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hunter</a>, setting up consideration of a dozen bills that focus on issues ranging from immigration to imposing sanctions in response to the International Criminal Court going after any &#8220;protected person&#8221; of the United States and its allies and renaming the Office of Congressional Ethics to the Office of Congressional Conduct.

Speaker Mike Johnson and other House GOP leaders

House To Consider Raising Threshold For ‘Motion To Vacate’ Against Speaker

Speaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA), who expressed confidence at his chances of maintaining his leadership post, gave a preview of what &#8220;big ticket items&#8221; are on tap for 2025 with Republicans in control of the House, Senate, and White House.
Following a potentially contentious election in which Johnson is vying <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-return-to-white-house-could-get-bumpy-if-house-cannot-elect-a-speaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to keep</a> the speaker&#8217;s gavel at the start of the new year, Congress will then set its sights on a legislative procedure to facilitate the passage of President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s priorities, the top House lawmaker indicated during a Monday evening <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC5qGeDZK5w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> on Fox News.
&#8220;We have to do a number of things simultaneously. The budget reconciliation process is going to be the key of the first 100 days, because in order to fix all the things that we&#8217;ve got to fix, we have to squeeze a lot of policy changes through that process,&#8221; Johnson told guest host Kellyanne Conway, a political strategist and former adviser to Trump.
&#8220;Not to get too deep in the weeds, but why that&#8217;s so valuable is it avoids a 60-vote threshold that&#8217;s necessary in the Senate under normal circumstances,&#8221; Johnson continued. &#8220;So we can move the Republican agenda, the &#8216;America First&#8217; agenda through reconciliation, but it takes a lot of coordination, planning, and executing those plans with precision to get that done. So you&#8217;ll see a lot of energy on that.&#8221;
Johnson went on to discuss specific policy areas that will come into focus, including border security, the economy, energy, a bid to &#8220;restore our stature on the world stage,&#8221; and tax cuts implemented as part of a bill signed into law during Trump&#8217;s first term that are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/11/12/tcja-tax-cuts-expiration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set to expire</a> next year unless Congress renews them.
&#8220;A lot of big agenda items on the table, and &#8230; it&#8217;s going to take a lot of work to build a consensus among all the Republicans to get it done, but I&#8217;m absolutely convinced that we can,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to stay unified, and we are going to get this job done.&#8221;
The House is expected to vote on the speakership on Friday. Johnson has Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-endorses-mike-johnson-for-house-speaker-a-good-hard-working-religious-man" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsement</a> and the backing of many prominent GOP colleagues, but at least a couple of Republicans are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-chairman-urges-trump-to-get-on-phone-with-gop-holdouts-in-speakers-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">holding out support</a> after yet another clash over <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-last-minute-funding-bill-to-avert-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spending</a>. A simple majority is needed for victory, but the GOP’s margin will only be a few members wide and it is unclear if any Democrats will support Johnson.
Johnson told Conway he thought that he did have the votes to prevail. The speaker also noted that he was &#8220;really humbled and honored&#8221; to be endorsed by Trump, contended they have &#8220;worked so well together,&#8221; and said they have &#8220;a lot of big things to do&#8221; moving forward.
&#8220;He recognizes that what we need right now — I think my colleagues recognize this as well — is a proven fighter and a true MAGA conservative, but also someone who can work with every single member of our very diverse House GOP, so that we can get President Trump&#8217;s priorities over the line,&#8221; Johnson added. &#8220;That&#8217;s what&#8217;s ahead of us. I think this could be the most consequential presidency and Congress of the modern era because we have to fix everything, and it has to start on day one. So, we can&#8217;t waste any time.&#8221;

A Bullish Speaker Johnson Lays Out ‘Big Agenda Items’ Heading Into 2025

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