Floor vote set for noon today…
Last evening, the House Republican Conference selected, after secret ballot and “open” roll call vote behind closed doors, Congressman Mike Johnson (R-LA-4) as speaker designate.
The roll call vote, where members openly declare whether they will support a candidate on the Floor, gave Johnson 198 votes, with three voting present – and 20 absences. The lack of any opposition has encouraged many members to openly speculate that they have finally settled on a speaker, as no factions have yet identified any major grievances or issues with Johnson entering the speaker's role.
This silence may also be due to exhaustion after another full day of drama following the failure to select Jim Jordan (R-OH-4) as speaker. It was a long day for the House Republican Conference.
Yesterday saw the nomination and abrupt withdrawal of Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN-6) for the speaker's gavel. A day long secret ballot and open roll call vote had Emmer, Number three in GOP seniority as the majority whip, falling about 25 Members short of the 217 needed to secure the speakership. In addition, former President Donald J. Trump attacked Emmer as a RINO, effectively stopping this campaign dead. It has been reported Emmer “just up and left” around 4 p.m., departing the Longworth House Office Building after withdrawing his name from consideration.
Soon after the Conference announced, through their chair, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21), another candidate forum would begin around 6 p.m. Members interested should submit their intention to run, giving them about an hour to prepare. It was first thought that only members who received votes would receive consideration, but the doors were once again thrown open.
The Conference planned a vote at 8 p.m. Tuesday and, should a candidate receive, or come very close, to 217 votes, plan to go to the floor Wednesday (today).
At this meeting, Congressman Kevin Hern (R-OK-1), who received votes earlier Tuesday for his speaker's candidacy, ended his bid for the job and pledged support to Congressman Mike Johnson (R-LA-4). Johnson received 97 votes earlier. This gave Johnson an edge and momentum.
However, leftist media immediately attacked Johnson as the architect of the “do not certify” the 2020 election campaign, with some going as far as to attempt to hold him responsible for the events depicted on January 6th. This was yet another effort by legacy media to derail the GOP choice for speaker in the public eye.
After the secret ballot portion of the meeting concluded, Johnson received 129 votes in favor – with 43 Members voting for Kevin McCarthy, causing some to speculate the former speaker was plotting a return to the gavel through forms of subterfuge.
However, this speculation appears to be laid to rest as the open roll call results proved to be in Johnson's favor later in the night, with him getting 198 votes. This led to the floor vote on his candidacy to be scheduled for noon today. The current expectation within the body of the conference is Johnson will be able to gather 217 votes based on Tuesday night's results.
While outcomes remain uncertain, Johnson does not have any active factions within the party seeking to disrupt his path forward, at least publicly, as he seeks to reach the goal of 217 votes to attain the speakership.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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