January 3, 2023 Latest on the new Congress and House speaker vote

While most members of Congress were socializing with one another on the first day of the new Congress, Rep.-elect George Santos sat alone looking at his phone on the House floor. 

This comes as the embattled New York Republican faces a federal probe into his finances and mounting scrutiny and condemnation over lies about his biography. 

Some Democrats have called on Santos to step aside after the Republican admitted to fabricating parts of his resume, including his work experience and education. A few Republicans have also rebuked Santos, and at least one of his fellow incoming House Republicans from New York called for him to face an ethics investigation.

Santos faces questions about other key parts of his biography – including a claim that has been contradicted that his grandparents survived the Holocaust — and over loans totaling more than $700,000 that he made to his 2022 campaign.

The federal probe into his finances, which CNN reported on last week, is being undertaken by the US attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York.

Hard-right Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona has also been nominated for House speaker.

GOP Rep. Paul Gosar nominated Biggs.

As a challenger to Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Biggs is expected to receive several votes in the first round. This could take some votes away from McCarthy — who is working with a very slim margin to be elected.

Much of the opposition to McCarthy has come from a handful of conservative lawmakers, many who are members of the Freedom Caucus. They don’t trust McCarthy and have not yet been convinced that he will appropriately stand up to Democrats and President Joe Biden.

As Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, saying “Democrats are united,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sat near the back of the chamber in the crowd, allowing the next generation of leadership to shine.

As Democrats gave Jeffries a standing ovation, Pelosi motioned his direction, saying “stand up, stand up.”

Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for House leadership to a thunderous round of applause, noting that he is a Latino nominating the first Black man to the position.

In his nomination remarks, Aguilar rebuked Republican nominee Rep. Kevin McCarthy's alignment with former President Donald Trump and his lack of clarity on right-wing extremism.

GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik rose to nominate House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy for House speaker, as practice.

The majority of the Republican conference rose for a standing ovation for McCarthy. But, notably, a small group of GOP lawmakers who have voiced opposition to McCarthy are all sitting near each other and did not rise.  

Republican Rep. Tim Burchett tried to get GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert to stand up during the standing ovation, but she stayed in her seat.

A quorum call of the House of Representatives has completed and there are 434 members who stated they are here. That means House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy needs to get 218 votes to be able to become speaker — a majority of members voting.  

One important caveat: The number of votes that McCarthy needs to clinch to become speaker could change depending on how many lawmakers vote present in the vote for speaker, which will begin soon. That’s because present votes don’t count towards the total and would instead lower the threshold needed to reach a majority. 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy just walked onto the House floor as the chamber is still taking a quorum.

The next order of business is the election of the House speaker. Democrats will place their party leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ name into nomination, and Republicans will place McCarthy’s name. Republican Rep. Andy Biggs is also expected to garner several votes in the first round. Then the House will call the roll.

Inside the House chamber, a group of hardliners who have voiced opposition to Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House speaker are sitting near one another. 

Reps. Lauren Boebert, Scott Perry, Chip Roy and Ralph Norman are sitting close to each other as the chamber prepares for this afternoon’s vote.

The clerk of the House – Cheryl Johnson — has gaveled the 118th Congress. They’ll do a prayer and the pledge, and then she will announce the certifications of the election of the 118th Congress have been received. 

Then they will have a quorum call. This is the first vote of the Congress. It’s a roll call vote. Members will vote present, they have to be in the chamber.

Then she will announce the vacancy of Virginia’s 4th Congressional District due to the death of Don McEachin.

The speaker election: The next order of business is the election of the House speaker. Democrats will place their party leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ name into nomination, and Republicans will place Kevin McCarthy’s name.

Republican Rep. Andy Biggs is also expected to garner several votes in the first round. 

Then they’ll call the roll. Each member, when their name is called, will state the name of the person they are voting for. Can be one of the names in nomination, their own name, someone else’s name, or PRESENT, which is not a vote at all. 

The tellers will tally up the votes. The winner must have a majority of those voting for a person. Present votes subtract from that total, thus lowering the threshold for a majority of votes. 

If no one amasses a majority of votes cast, it goes to a second ballot, and on and on. 

What could happen next: If McCarthy doesn’t get the votes on the first ballot, there is the option to make a motion to adjourn, but it would take 218 votes to do that and Democrats are not likely inclined to help Republicans out in any way.

There is no playbook for what the chamber will do if the speaker isn’t elected on the first ballot. The 1923 vote was decided on the ninth ballot, where they kept voting until a speaker was decided. The 1869 speaker vote lasted through 60 ballots over the course of two months.

This Congress may recess the chamber, or they could continue voting. 

But no other House business can be done until this vote is finished, including swearing in of the rest of the members. Until the speaker’s vote is decided, the clerk of the House is in charge of the chamber.

Watch what to expect here: