January 4, 2023 GOP deadlocked over House speaker vote

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN that House of Representatives members should be sworn in — even if a speaker is not chosen yet — so their families can witness the moment and not have to wait around the Capitol all day.

“The best thing to do for the families is for them to have somebody; the dean, swear in the speaker, somebody swear in the members so at least their children will be there when they get sworn in,” she said.  

When asked how members can be sworn in without a speaker, Pelosi responded that “the speaker is sworn in without a speaker, so the other members can be.”

“Thank God they weren’t the majority on Jan. 6,” Pelosi added. “We had to be organized to stave off what was happening.”

Pelosi's request comes after there were dozens of children on the House floor and in the speaker's lobby off the floor throughout the day, waiting on their parents to get sworn in. 

One teenager could be heard asking her new member dad if she'd be able to "miss school" again, and at one point Rep.-elect Hillary Scholten's sons actually stood to vote with her for the speaker. 

The newly elected Democrat from Michigan joked that she's always told her boys everything could be a memory — and that waiting all day on the floor with their mom certainly was one.

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has empowered Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Garret Graves, French Hill, Patrick McHenry and Guy Reschenthaler to try to negotiate a deal, sources tell CNN, as McCarthy looks for 218 votes to become speaker.

Meanwhile, Republican allies of McCarthy are beginning to fear that he may not be able to pull off his gamble for speaker if the fight goes much longer. One member who has been backing McCarthy told CNN that if McCarthy can't get the votes for speaker, there is growing fear he'll be too weakened to do anything to legislate, making it possible that another candidate may need to come forward. 

The same member said former President Donald Trump's statement urging support for McCarthy was basically a wash, and while more helpful then if he had blasted McCarthy, it wasn't expected to move the needle.

Another member warned that after Tuesday, it's clear that the opposition to McCarthy is personal, meaning there may be little that he can do to turn the tide at this point. 

Asked if the Trump statement could be a difference maker, the person conceded they were doubtful. 

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is expected to make history as the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress as the 118th Congress convenes in Washington.

The New York Democrat will almost certainly lead the minority party, once the prolonged floor fight for House speaker comes to a conclusion. He would succeed Nancy Pelosi, who served as speaker in the prior session of Congress when Democrats were in the majority. In addition to being the first Black lawmaker to attain such a position, he also would be the first person voted to lead House Democrats to be born after the end of World War II.

Once the speaker is elected and lawmakers are sworn in, a formal announcement of party leaders takes place – with Jeffries poised to become minority leader at that time since Republicans will control the House majority in the new Congress. However, there is still time for Republicans to fumble the gavel, giving Jeffries a shot, if near zero, at attaining the speakership.

Jeffries told reporters Tuesday he is not willing at this point to help Republicans elect a speaker.

His background: Jeffries was born in Brooklyn, New York, and he started his career in politics after being elected to the New York State Assembly in 2006. In 2012, he was elected to New York’s 8th congressional district, which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

During his time in Congress, Jeffries has pushed for policing reform, including a national ban on chokeholds following the death of Eric Garner, a Black man who died in 2014 after being held in the restraining move. He was also instrumental in the passage of the First Step Act and co-sponsored the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act that passed the House but failed in the Senate.

Read more here.

GOP Rep. Tom Emmer, who will likely be the next House majority whip, told CNN that he does believe there will be another vote for House speaker on Wednesday. 

When asked if he is positive there will be a vote at noon ET, he responded, “Yes.”

Pressed on if they would chose to adjourn instead of another speaker vote, Emmer said, “I don’t know if that’s possible.”

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has dispatched several emissaries to help find a deal with his foes and present their demands to the rest of the House GOP Conference.

It’s possible that the House may adjourn at noon to allow the talks to continue for the rest of the day, according to a GOP source familiar with the matter. That decision has not been made yet. But McCarthy cannot afford to lose more Republican votes on the fourth ballot, something his allies fear will sink his bid.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, a McCarthy emissary, foreshadowed this last night when he told CNN that more time may be needed.

There needs to be “a clear understanding” about what the offers were made going into Tuesday, McHenry said, adding that “we have to have a wider group of members understand what the tradeoffs are, what they look like, and the opportunity for the conference to come to terms with getting the 20 on board.”

“So this is a this is a longer process of negotiation than just a narrow group, talking to a person,” he said.

The House will continue to be paralyzed until the standoff is resolved.

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds told CNN Wednesday he switched his vote for House speaker from Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to Ohio Republican Jim Jordan on the third ballot for speaker when it became clear “he doesn’t have a pathway to get there,” but signaled he might be willing to reverse his decision if McCarthy’s path reemerges.

“What I’m going to do right now is vote for who I think is in the best interest of the conference. My vote yesterday was basically to break a deadlock, because we were deadlocked, and we were not getting anywhere,” Donalds said on “CNN This Morning.”

The Florida Republican, who declined to say who he planned to vote for on subsequent ballots for speaker, said he hasn’t spoken with McCarthy since switching his vote on the third ballot on Tuesday, adding that he thought it was “very possible” that more members might defect from supporting McCarthy when voting resumes at noon Wednesday.

“I think there are members who are having, they're having concerns right now, obviously people back home are weighing in on what they feel, who they feel should be the next speaker of the House. It's possible – right now that's open to interpretation,” Donalds said.  

Former President Donald Trump is reaffirming his support for GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, calling on Republican House members to back the California Congressman for House speaker.

"It's now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN," Trump wrote in a post to his Truth Social platform. 

After a day marked by chaos on the House floor, Trump urged Republicans not to "TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT."

As CNN reported Tuesday, the former president declined to issue a statement Monday reiterating his endorsement of McCarthy for speaker despite a behind-the-scenes effort from several McCarthy allies to get Trump to do so, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Conservative hardliners nominated Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on Tuesday to be speaker of the House during the chamber’s second and third votes amid the floor fight for House leadership.

Jordan, in an effort to show party unity, nominated GOP leader Kevin McCarthy in the second round of voting. Speaking on the House floor Tuesday, Jordan said the differences among Republican lawmakers “pale in comparison” to the differences between Republicans and Democrats.

“We need to rally around him,” Jordan said of McCarthy.

The first order of House business as the 118th Congress convenes is the selection of a new speaker, but McCarthy is being stonewalled by a group of conservative hardliners. Because the GOP holds only a narrow majority, those hardliners hold more influence in the conference and have already denied McCarthy the votes necessary to secure the gavel on initial rounds of balloting.

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida nominated Jordan in the second round, where the Ohio Republican earned 19 votes. Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who already voted twice against McCarthy, nominated Jordan for speaker in the third round, where he garnered 20 votes.

Jordan’s nomination by another member marks a new layer of leadership drama as Republicans take control of the House.

Key things to know about Jordan: Jordan is a high-ranking conservative and a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, serving as its first chair from 2015 to 2017, and as its vice chair since 2017. He was the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee from 2019 to 2020. He vacated that position to become the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, where he is expected to become chairman in the newly GOP-held House.

Jordan is a close ally of former President Donald Trump. After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Trump refused to concede while making claims of election fraud, Jordan supported lawsuits to invalidate the election results and voted not to certify the Electoral College results.

The House arrives for another day of voting to elect a new speaker. It cannot do any business until then, including swearing in new members.

The chamber adjourned after three rounds of voting Tuesday, but Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy was unable to get the majority that would win him the job. He continued to negotiate Tuesday night, sources said, in an effort to get to 218 votes.

Here's what happened: