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. Here he is on Fox a couple days ago.
Missouri’s Mark Alford on Fox Business this morning gets it.
Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) told Fox Business this morning that he will be supporting Mike Johnson for the Speaker role in Friday’s vote.
“Mike Johnson is the person to lead this. He is the person to lead the House at this time in our nation’s history.
“Trump actually has the… pic.twitter.com/ySgtXFy0Ev
— Paul Villarreal (AKA Vince Manfeld) (@AureliusStoic1) December 31, 2024
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.
