House still without speaker as McCarthy pleads with Republican holdouts – live | US politics
Reports: ‘Glimmers of hope’ for McCarthy deal
Kevin McCarthy’s team insists there has been progress in negotiations with the hard-right Republican rebels who have denied him the speakership through 11 straight votes, but whether it’s the breakthrough the California Republican so desperately needs is far from certain.
The House reconvenes at noon Friday in what has already been the lengthiest search for a speaker in 159 years, with an increasingly anguished McCarthy offering more concessions to the holdouts to try to secure the 218 votes he needs.
The Washington Post on Friday was among several media outlets reporting signs emerging of a possible deal to end the impasse yet, crucially, notes that while it reflects “considerable momentum” for McCarthy, the expectation is he “will not get all the votes necessary to become speaker”.
Moderate Republicans are also growing restless after three days of voting in which McCarthy has failed to show any progress towards the winning threshold, and a group of 20 House Republicans has consistently voted against him.
There is, therefore, something of a “make or break” feel to today’s proceedings.
One Republican lawmaker told Politico Playbook on Friday:
There is a limit to how much of this crap we can take.
The website reports mounting frustration among a sizeable number of others, some of whom want to be out of Washington DC to be with sick relatives, attend family funerals or meet new babies for the first time.
“There’s a lot more at stake than whether Kevin McCarthy’s going to be able to get the gavel,” the lawmaker told Playbook.
“We’ve got lives that are being impacted right now, and this is tough for people.”
The other area of concern is how much McCarthy seems to be giving away to the hardliners in order to make a deal.
The Post, and others, say he has now consented to reduce the threshold from five to one of the number of House members needed to raise a “vacate the chair” motion, making it easier for the speaker to be ousted.
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Key events
Punchbowl News is reporting that this morning’s Republican party conference call, in which Kevin McCarthy pleaded again for House colleagues’ support as he attempts to become speaker, was fruitful.
A tweet by Jake Sherman, the outlet’s founder, says McCarthy has struck a deal with Texas Republican Chip Roy, to bring some of the 20 rebels who have consistently voted against him, on board.
🚨🚨🚨NEWS— KEVIN MCCARTHY ANNOUNCES ON GOP CALL THAT HE AND CHIP ROY HAVE A DEAL
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 6, 2023
Subsequent tweets list some of the concessions McCarthy is reported to have made to appease the holdouts, including lowering the threshold for a “motion to vacate” to one. That would mean any single House member at any time could set in motion a process to oust the speaker.
Even if it’s confirmed, such a deal does not, of course, guarantee McCarthy the 218 votes he needs to overcome resistance from all those who have opposed him through three days and 11 votes so far.
The House reconvenes at noon, and as far as we know, there are still at least five Republican “Never Kevins” who could still derail the reported progress. Watch this space…
Congress marks ‘solemn day’ of January 6 riot anniversary
Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi have just been leading an emotional commemoration on the steps of the US Capitol building to mark the “solemn day” of the second anniversary of the deadly January 6 Capitol riot.
Hundreds of Congress members, many in tears, flanked Jeffries, the new Democratic leader, as he paid tribute to the five law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the rampage of violence from a mob loyal to defeated president Donald Trump.
He said: “Many more will forever be scarred by the bloodthirsty violence of the insurrection of this mob.”
The ceremony included families of the fallen officers reading out their names, and concluded with 140 seconds of silence, one for each officer injured during the attack.
Jeffries led the event for the first time as Democratic leader and announced it was a bipartisan gathering of lawmakers. But there was no sign of Republican leadership, and many Republican House members were engaged in a simultaneous conference call with party leader Kevin McCarthy as he pleaded for their support in an upcoming 12th round of voting for the speakership.
Jeffries said:
We stand here today with our democracy intact because of those officers. Violent insurrectionists stormed the Capitol and attempted to halt the peaceful transfer of power, a cornerstone of our republic. They failed.
They failed because of the bravery and valor of the United States Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department officers who fought heroically to defend our democracy. We will never forget their sacrifice and we will never forget this day.
Pelosi, who stood down as speaker after Republicans seized control of the House in November’s midterm elections, dabbed at tears as she listened to Jeffries remarks, and paid her own tribute to the officers:
The January 6 insurrection shook our republic to the core. For many in the Congress and across our country, the physical, psychological, and emotional scars are still wrong.
Yet from the unspeakable horror sprang extraordinary heroism. Law enforcement heroes confronted the insurrection is to protect the Capitol, the Congress and our Constitution.
A number of prominent politicians and others have taken to Twitter to express their thoughts on today’s second anniversary of the deadly January 6 Capitol insurrection. Some are linking it to the current paralysis in Congress caused by Republicans’ failure to elect a speaker after three days and 11 votes.
Here’s Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the most recent speaker:
Tomorrow, we solemnly observe the January 6th Attack on the Capitol.
As we mark a day that threatened our Democracy, let us show our respect for the great institution of the Congress.
We must open the House and proceed with the People’s work.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 6, 2023
Presidential historian Michael Beschloss:
Any political leader who planned, abetted, praised or excused the violent attack on our Congress and Capitol of January 6, 2021, and that insurrection against our sacred democracy should never be trusted on the issue of law and order.
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) January 6, 2023
Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer:
This January 6th anniversary should serve as a wakeup call to the GOP to reject MAGA radicalism—which keeps leading to GOP failures.
But the pandemonium wrought by House Republicans this week is one more example of how MAGA radicalism is making it impossible for them to govern.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 6, 2023
Democratic New Jersey congressman Donald Norcross:
On #January6th 2021, rioters breached the Capitol, threatening the peaceful transition of power and democracy itself. Looking back at the footage I took gives me chills.
Two years later, I am more committed than ever to protecting our democracy. pic.twitter.com/2bVql6GfU4
— Congressman Donald Norcross 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@DonaldNorcross) January 6, 2023
The official Senate Democrats account:
Today marks two years since the deadly insurrection at the Capitol. We must defeat extremism and hold the Republicans who promote it accountable.
We will not forget January 6. pic.twitter.com/AyPIaPodtI
— Senate Democrats (@dscc) January 6, 2023
Today marks the second anniversary of the deadly January 6 Capitol riot. This afternoon, Joe Biden will award the nation’s second highest civilian honor, the Presidential Citizens Medal, to 12 people, including law enforcement officers and politicians, who resisted Donald Trump’s insurrection. Ed Pilkington reports:
Rusty Bowers, the former top Republican in Arizona’s house of representatives who stood up to Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and was punished for it by being unseated by his own party, is to receive America’s second-highest civilian honor on Friday.
Bowers will be among 12 people who will be awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by Joe Biden at the White House at a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the 6 January 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol. It will be the first time that the president has presented the honor, which is reserved for those who have “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens”.
All 12 took exceptional personal risks to protect US democracy against Trump’s onslaught. Many are law enforcement officers who confronted the Capitol rioters, others are election workers and officials in key battleground states who refused to be bullied into subverting the outcome of the presidential race.
Several of the recipients paid a huge personal price for their actions. Brian Sicknick will receive the presidential medal posthumously – he died the day after the insurrection having suffered a stroke; a medical examiner later found he died from natural causes, while noting that the events of January 6 had “played a role in his condition”.
Bowers’ award, first reported by the Deseret News, came after he refused effectively to ignore the will of Arizona’s 3.4 million voters and switch victory from Biden to Trump. As a result, he incurred the wrath of Trump, who endorsed a rival candidate in last year’s Republican primary elections.
David Farnsworth, the Trump-backed opponent, went on to defeat Bowers and usher him out of the Arizona legislature. Farnsworth is an avid proponent of the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, going so far as to tell voters that the White House had been satanically snatched by the “devil himself”.
Ahead of Friday’s ceremony, Bowers described the news of his award as “something of a shock”. He said that though some of his detractors were likely to denounce his call to the White House a political stunt, he thought it was designed to “create unity and put behind us the division of the past. I’m certainly in favor of that, no matter what.”
He added: “I don’t think this is to stir up division, it’s to honor those who stood up and did their job as best they could. And that’s kind of what America is about.”
Read the full story:
Reports: ‘Glimmers of hope’ for McCarthy deal
Kevin McCarthy’s team insists there has been progress in negotiations with the hard-right Republican rebels who have denied him the speakership through 11 straight votes, but whether it’s the breakthrough the California Republican so desperately needs is far from certain.
The House reconvenes at noon Friday in what has already been the lengthiest search for a speaker in 159 years, with an increasingly anguished McCarthy offering more concessions to the holdouts to try to secure the 218 votes he needs.
The Washington Post on Friday was among several media outlets reporting signs emerging of a possible deal to end the impasse yet, crucially, notes that while it reflects “considerable momentum” for McCarthy, the expectation is he “will not get all the votes necessary to become speaker”.
Moderate Republicans are also growing restless after three days of voting in which McCarthy has failed to show any progress towards the winning threshold, and a group of 20 House Republicans has consistently voted against him.
There is, therefore, something of a “make or break” feel to today’s proceedings.
One Republican lawmaker told Politico Playbook on Friday:
There is a limit to how much of this crap we can take.
The website reports mounting frustration among a sizeable number of others, some of whom want to be out of Washington DC to be with sick relatives, attend family funerals or meet new babies for the first time.
“There’s a lot more at stake than whether Kevin McCarthy’s going to be able to get the gavel,” the lawmaker told Playbook.
“We’ve got lives that are being impacted right now, and this is tough for people.”
The other area of concern is how much McCarthy seems to be giving away to the hardliners in order to make a deal.
The Post, and others, say he has now consented to reduce the threshold from five to one of the number of House members needed to raise a “vacate the chair” motion, making it easier for the speaker to be ousted.
Read more:
Good morning and happy Friday, US politics readers. The longest of weeks on Capitol Hill continues today with Kevin McCarthy still chasing the speakership after losing 11 straight House votes.
The California Republican’s team has been pleading with conservative holdouts overnight, trying to reach a deal to get him to the 218 votes he needs. But the troops are growing restless, and frustration among moderates is rising at how much control McCarthy seems willing to cede to the party’s extremist fringe.
“There is a limit to how much of this crap we can take,” one Republican lawmaker tells Politico’ Playbook after three days and nights of stalemate.
The circus tent opens again when the House reconvenes at noon, and we’ll know pretty soon thereafter if McCarthy has achieved any kind of breakthrough.
Also happening today:
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It’s the second anniversary of the deadly January 6 Capitol riot. Joe Biden will present the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second highest civilian award, to 12 people, including law enforcement officers and politicians, who stood up to Donald Trump’s insurrection.
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Security services are on high alert with several rallies planned to take place at or near the Capitol building. Democrats fear the safety of lawmakers and staff has been compromised by a weakening of security measures since Republicans won the House majority.
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Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, will deliver her final briefing of the week at 12.45pm.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2023/jan/06/house-speaker-vote-republicans-mccarthy-us-politics-latest House still without speaker as McCarthy pleads with Republican holdouts – live | US politics
