Who Will Be Speaker Of The House If Republicans Win

Weakening Of The Investigations Against Trump

If Democrats dont control the House or the Senate, they cant initiate investigations of Trump or some of his more controversial cabinet members, such as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.

More importantly, after the 2018 elections, the electoral process will recede as a constraint on the president and GOP in terms of the Russia investigation at least for a while.

We dont really know why Trump, despite his constant criticisms of the investigation, has not fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, or why he has not directly tried to stop the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller. Maybe Trump, despite his rhetoric, has some real respect for the rule of law. I think its more likely that Trump understands that firing Rosenstein or making a drastic move to stop the Mueller probe would increase both the chances of Democrats winning the House and/or Senate this year, and the odds that the resulting Democratic-led chamber would feel compelled to push to impeach Trump. But if the GOP emerges from 2017 and 2018 without losing control of the House or the Senate, I suspect that, with the next election two years away, the president will feel freer to take controversial steps to end the Russia probe. And I doubt Republicans on Capitol Hill would try to stop him.

List Of Speakers Of The United States House Of Representatives

The speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House, and is simultaneously the body’s presiding officer, the de facto leader of the body’s majority party, and the institution’s administrative head. Speakers also perform various administrative and procedural functions, all in addition to representing their own congressional district. Given these several roles and responsibilities, the speaker usually does not personally preside over debates. That duty is instead delegated to members of the House from the majority party. Neither does the speaker regularly participate in floor debates. Additionally, the speaker is second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president and ahead of the president pro tempore of the Senate.

The House elects a new speaker by roll call vote when it first convenes after a general election for its two-year term, or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. A majority of votes cast is necessary to elect a speaker. If no candidate receives a majority vote, then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected. The Constitution does not require the speaker to be an incumbent member of the House, although every speaker thus far has been.

Cbs News Projects Hickenlooper Wins Colorado Senate Seat Democrats’ First Pickup

Democrats picked up their first Senate seat of the night, with CBS News projecting former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has defeated incumbent GOP Senator Cory Gardner. Hickenlooper decided to run for Senate after running briefly in the Democratic presidential primary.

Gardner was considered one of the most vulnerable Republican senators up for reelection this year, especially since he’s the only major statewide elected GOP official. Gardner has also been trailing Hickenlooper in polls leading up to Election Day.

While this is a victory for Democrats, they will have to pick up several other seats to gain a majority in the Senate.

Read Also: When Did The Republicans And Democrats Switch

Pelosi Says It Doesn’t Matter Right Now If She’ll Seek Another Term As Speaker Beyond 2022

 In a press call, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shot down a question about whether this upcoming term would be her last as speaker, calling it the “least important question you could ask today.” She added that “the fate of our nation, the soul of the nation” is at stake in the election.

“Elections are about the future,” Pelosi said. “One of these days I’ll let you know what my plans are, when it is appropriate and when it matters. It doesn’t matter right now.”

After the 2018 election, Pelosi agreed to term limits on Democratic leaders that would prevent her from serving as speaker beyond 2022.

How Maine And Nebraska’s Split Electoral Votes Could Affect The Election

As the race drags into Wednesday, it appears two congressional districts in Maine and Nebraska could prove pivotal in deciding the outcome of the election.

Maine and Nebraska are the only states in the nation that split their electoral votes. Maine awards two of its four electoral votes to the statewide winner, but also allocates an electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each of its two congressional districts. Nebraska gives two of its five electoral votes to the statewide winner, with the remaining three going to the popular vote winner in each of its three congressional districts.

You May Like: What Republicans Are Running For Governor In Nevada

Pelosi Wins Tight Race For House Speaker

Pelosi, 80, is the only woman to ever serve as speaker.

Nancy Pelosi re-elected for House Speaker

The House of Representatives has narrowly reelected Nancy Pelosi as speaker with 216 votes, giving the California Democrat a fourth – and likely final – term leading the House.

Pelosi, 80, is the third speaker in the last 25 years to win with less than 218 votes, after former Republican Speakers Newt Gingrich and Paul Ryan. Five Democrats did not support Pelosi on the floor, and instead voted for alternative candidates or “present.”

After seizing the gavel, Pelosi said the “most urgent priority” of the 117th Congress will be defeating the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Two weeks ago, we passed an emergency relief package to crush the virus and put money in the pockets of workers and families, which is now the law. But we must do more to recognize our heroes,” she said Sunday. “Indeed, the pandemic has pulled back the curtain on even worsened disparities in our economy and our society. We must pursue justice: economic justice, justice in health, racial justice, environmental and climate justice.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader, won unanimous support from the Republican conference garnering 209 votes on the floor.

Still, many new members were spotted with friends and family members around the Capitol.

Roy was shut down 371-2.

Grumblings From Within The Gop Could Cause Long

GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois has been a pointed critic of Trump’s conduct on January 6, and alongside Cheney, was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president for his role in provoking the Capitol attack.

Kinzinger, who was first elected to the House in 2010, was dismayed by Cheney’s removal from leadership.

“Liz may lose, and MAGA-lago may celebrate,” he tweeted on May 12. “But I predict that the history books of the future will not celebrate. They will say this was the low point of the Republican Party.”

The congressman has increasingly directed his ire toward McCarthy.

He added: “Liz stayed consistent. She didn’t look for opportunities to attack Jan. 6, but as conference chair she does press and is naturally asked about it. She responds truthfully. Kevin? He felt threatened, so instead of fighting for his job he went on offense against Liz.”

Kinzinger then said that McCarthy wants to be speaker so badly that he’ll do anything to appease the far-right Freedom Caucus, filled with bombastic Trump loyalists like Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Louie Gohmert of Texas.

“Kevin … made the determination that if he appeased the Trump crowd, he could raise money and take the credit, when he was up for speaker,” Kinzinger wrote. “He also assumes that people like me will vote for him for speaker, but the legislative terrorists in the Freedom Club wouldn’t, so he needs to be all in with them.”

Also Check: How Many Republicans Are In The 116th Congress

Why Democrats Struggled More Than Expected In Some House Races

Its too early to say exactly what went wrong for House Democrats, who broadly hoped to comfortably expand their majority.District-level internal party polling had shown Republicans with the potential to lose even more seats in 2020.

Many Republican strategists had resigned themselves to the possibility that their House ranks could decrease. Instead, Republicans were the ones making gains albeit modest enough ones to stay the minority party in the House.

Cook Political Reports House editor Dave Wasserman had some early thoughts on Wednesday: Just like Biden, Democratic congressional candidates suffered losses among Hispanic voters in key races. Democrats had bad nights particularly in Florida and Texas; they lost a couple of incumbents in Florida and didnt defeat a single Republican incumbent in Texas, despite making a massive investment in the state to target 10 districts.

Republicans also learned from their losses in 2018 and recruited top-tier women candidates, who were on a winning streak.

After last night, Republicans are on track to more than double their current count of 13 women, Wasserman wrote.

These outcomes all elude a clean narrative. Its difficult to say early on how much is based on strategic error, and how much is owed to the bizarre nature of this election year amid a pandemic that significantly hampered Democrats ability to do basic campaigning tasks like door-knocking.

Gop Chatter About Possibly Electing Trump As House Speaker Grows

A Fox host asked House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy late last week whether he’d support electing Donald Trump as Speaker of the House. The answer raised a few eyebrows.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was asked Friday about the possibility of Trump becoming Speaker of the House if Republicans win control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms…. “You know, I’ve talked to President Trump many times, he tells me he wants to be speaker, and I think he should be president,” McCarthy told Fox News.

It wasn’t long before McCarthy’s office clarified that he’d misspoken during the interview: McCarthy meant that Trump supported the California congressman’s bid for Speaker, not that the former president wanted the job for himself.

That said, the question that prompted the confusion didn’t come out of nowhere.

Steve Bannon, who used to advise the former president, seemed to get the ball rolling on this, recently touting a scenario in which House Republicans take back the majority next year and support Trump as their new Speaker. Under the fanciful hypothetical, once Trump held the gavel, he could start exacting revenge against those who defeated him, launching investigations into imagined scandals, and initiating impeachment proceedings against President Biden and Vice President Harris.

Soon after, Trump was asked about the idea and replied, “That’s so interesting…. Yeah, you know it’s very interesting…. It’s very interesting.”

Chatter in conservative media soon followed.

Don’t Miss: Are Other Republicans Running For President

House Republicans Vow To Vote Against Raising Debtceiling

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

More than 100 House Republicans have vowed to vote against raising the debt ceiling. In a letter released on Monday, a group of 103 lawmakers said in order for Democrats multi-trillion spending plans to come to fruition, the debt limit would have to be significantly increased.

They contended a vote to raise the debt ceiling would imply consent to new spending. The lawmakers also made it clear Democrats alone were responsible for the effort to spend trillions.

We do not accept Pelosis agenda. We will not be on the hook for Bidens failures, and we sure as hell do not consent to this kind of reckless, wasteful, useless spending in our nations capital.

Gop Women Made Big Gains

While the majority of the Republican caucus will still be men come 2021, there will be far more Republican women in Congress than there were this year. So far, it looks like at least 26 GOP women will be in the House next year, surpassing the record of 25 from the 109th Congress. Thats thanks in part to the record number of non-incumbent Republican women 15 whove won House contests. And its also because of how well Republican women did in tight races. The table below shows the Republican women who ran in Democratic-held House districts that were at least potentially competitive,1 according to FiveThirtyEights forecast. As of this writing, seven of them have won.

GOP women have flipped several Democratic seats

Republican women running for potentially competitive Democratic-held House seats and the status of their race as of 4:30 p.m Eastern on Nov. 11

Results are unofficial. Races are counted as projected only if the projection comes from ABC News. Excludes races in which the Republican candidate has either a less than 1 in 100 chance or greater than 99 in 100 chance of winning.

Don’t Miss: Can Republicans Vote In The Nevada Caucus

New Yorkers Become First Black And Openly Gay Members Of Congress

 Tuesday night will be historic in part because of the diversity of candidates elected to the House. Democrats Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones, both of New York, are the first Black and openly gay members of Congress.

Meanwhile, Republican Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina is leading in North Carolina’s 11th district, a safe Republican seat. Cawthorn, 25, won the June primary against a Trump-backed candidate for the seat vacated by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows . He has come under fire for visiting Hitler’s retreat and for his campaign launching a website which included a racist broadside against his Democratic opponent.

Us House Speaker Pelosi Names Republican Kinzinger To Jan 6 Panel

WASHINGTON, July 25 – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday formally named Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger to serve on a select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

Kinzinger, Pelosi said in a statement, “brings great patriotism to the committees mission: to find the facts and protect our democracy.”

It was unclear whether she would name additional Republicans. Earlier in the day, Pelosi was interviewed on ABC’s “This Week” and said that other Republicans also had expressed interest in working on the panel.

Kinzinger, 43, is an Air Force veteran and an outspoken critic of Trump. He was one of seven House Republicans who voted with Democrats to impeach Trump earlier this year on a charge of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol.

He now joins fellow Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney on the panel as it prepares to hold its first hearing on Tuesday on the deadly attack.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who initially said Trump bore responsibility for the Jan. 6 attack that brought the worst violence at the Capitol since the War of 1812, has since mended his relationship with Trump as the two attempt to win Republican control of Congress in the 2022 elections.

Representative Adam Kinzinger speaks during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 10, 2021. Ting Shen/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Also Check: Which Republicans Will Vote To Impeach

Its Not All Bad News For Democrats

While it was unquestionably a good night for Republicans, Democrats still held onto most of the seats they won in 2018 and will continue to be the majority party in the House. Thats in part because they retained most of the suburban districts they picked up in 2018.

Of the 233 seats that Democrats held coming into the election,2 186 of them were in districts that were predominantly or partly suburban in nature, according to density categorizations by Bloombergs CityLab. Thus far, Democrats have lost seven of those seats, but they captured one GOP-held suburban seat around Atlanta. And thanks to redistricting, theyve also won two formerly Republican seats around Greensboro and Raleigh in North Carolina, which reflect the partys strength in more populous areas.

Because of their relative success in the suburbs, Democrats kept many seats in places President Trump won in 2016. Coming into the election, Democrats held 30 seats in districts Trump carried in 2016, and they wouldve lost their majority if theyd lost more than half of them . But theyve won 18 of them so far and picked up one from the GOP . In fact, more than half of Republicans gains have come in seats representing places that Trump won by a pretty sizable margin in 2016. Well have to wait a bit before data can tell us how congressional districts voted in 2020,3 but for now it seems many Republican gains were made by picking off the lowest-hanging fruit.

Maine Senate Race A Toss

 With polls closing at 8 p.m., the hotly contested Maine Senate race remains a toss-up. Senator Susan Collins, running for her fifth term, is considered one of the most moderate Republicans in the Senate, but she is facing considerable skepticism from Democrats and independents who previously supported her. State Speaker of the House Sara Gideon is the Democratic candidate, and has posted record fundraising.

CBS News projects that Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware and Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts have both won reelection. Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma also won reelection.

The Alabama Senate race is leaning toward Republican Tommy Tuberville, who is taking on incumbent Senator Doug Jones, the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate. 

The Tennessee Senate race is also leaning Republican. The Mississippi Senate race is likely Republican. The Senate races in New Hampshire, Illinois, and Rhode Island are lean Democratic, and New Jersey is likely Democratic.

Also Check: Did Any Republicans Vote To Impeach

Mcconnell Not Troubled At All By Trump’s Suggestion Of Supreme Court Challenge

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defended Mr. Trump for falsely claiming that he won reelection, although he acknowledged that the presidential race had not yet been decided.

“It’s not unusual for people to claim they have won the election. I can think of that happening on numerous occasions,” McConnell told reporters in Kentucky. “But, claiming to win the election is different from finishing the counting.”

“Claiming to win the election is different from finishing the counting,” Mitch McConnell says, adding that Americans “should not be shocked” that Democrats and Republicans are both lawyering up for the close races

CBS News

He also said he was “not troubled at all” by the president suggesting that the outcome of the election might be determined by the Supreme Court. The president cannot unilaterally bring a case to the Supreme Court, what it’s unclear what case the Trump campaign would have if it challenged the counting of legally cast absentee ballots.

McConnell, who won his own closely watched reelection race on Tuesday evening, expressed measured confidence about Republicans maintaining their majority in the Senate. He said he believed there is a “chance we will know by the end of the day” if Republicans won races in states like Georgia and North Carolina.

Trump’s Save America Pac Released A Photo Showing The Former President Meeting With House Minority Leader Kevin Mccarthy On January 28 2021 Save America Pac Mccarthy Gets A Mixed Reception From Trumpworld

Trump continues to hold immense sway over conservatives, and House Republicans delivered an easy victory for Stefanik in becoming the party’s Conference Chair last week, despite her having a more moderate voting record than Cheney.

Loyalty to Trump, which Stefanik displayed in lending credence to the former president’s grievances regarding the 2020 presidential election, is a true tenet of being accepted in his orbit.

Only weeks after the January 6 Capitol riot and Trump’s impeachment by the House, McCarthy made a sojourn to the former president’s residence at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, even taking a smiling photo with him.

However, according to a report from Insider’s Tom LoBianco and Warren Rojas, some loyalists in Trumpworld view McCarthy with a heap of skepticism.

A Trump advisor recently told the former president that McCarthy likely wouldn’t lock up the requisite number of votes to obtain the speakership if the GOP regains the majority in 2022.

“He’s left too many people unhappy and unsettled and time is not on his side,” the advisor told Insider.

However, a veteran GOP strategist with close ties to Trump who spoke to Insider noted that McCarthy was a stellar fundraiser who backed the former president in a very public way in ousting Cheney from her leadership role.

“He’s not gotten crosswise with Trump,” the strategist said.

Read Also: How Many Seats Do Republicans Need To Keep The House

Trump’s Former Physician Wins House Seat

Ronny Jackson, the former White House physician who served under both Presidents Trump and Obama, has won his race in Texas’ 13th Congressional District. Jackson rose to prominence in 2018 when he gave a glowing press conference about Mr. Trump’s health.

Mr. Trump nominated Jackson to be Veterans Affairs secretary last year, but Jackson withdrew amid allegations that he drank on the job and over-prescribed medications. In his House race, Jackson has closely aligned himself with Mr. Trump. He has downplayed the coronavirus pandemic and criticized mask-wearing requirements. He has also promoted baseless claims about Biden’s mental health.

Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw also won reelection. Crenshaw is a conservative firebrand and a rising GOP star in the House.

Pelosi Says American People Have Made Their Choice Clear In Voting For Biden

 In a letter to her Democratic colleagues in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed confidence that Biden would be elected president, even though several states have yet to be called.

“The American people have made their choice clear at the ballot box, and are sending Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House,” Pelosi said.

She also praised House Democrats for keeping their majority, saying that the House will “now have the opportunity to deliver extraordinary progress.” However, she only obliquely referenced the heavy losses by several freshmen Democrats who had flipped red seats.

“Though it was a challenging election, all of our candidates both Frontline and Red to Blue made us proud,” Pelosi said.

Don’t Miss: Do Any House Republicans Support Impeachment

Analysis: Donald Trump For Speaker Of The House

 Want to hear a crazy idea? Of course you do!

Let’s go step by step.

1. Florida gained another seat in its congressional delegation thanks to faster-than-the-national-average growth over the last decade.

2. Republicans control both chambers in the state Legislature as well as the governorship, meaning they will have total control over the redistricting process and where the new seat will be drawn.

3. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a BIG friend of former President Donald Trump.

4. Trump makes his permanent home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Which brings me to this exchange between the former President and conservative radio talk-show host Wayne Allyn Root late last week as recounted by the Washington Times:

ROOT: “Why not instead of just waiting for 2024, and I’m hoping you run in 2024, but why not run in 2022 for the United States Congress, a House seat in Florida, win big, lead us to a dramatic landslide victory, taking the House by 50 seats, and then you become the speaker of the House?”

TRUMP: “You know, it’s very interesting. That’s so interesting. And people have said, run for the Senate, OK, run for the Senate, but you know what? Your idea might be better. It’s very interesting.”

Now that idea doesn’t seem so crazy, does it?!

Well, OK, it’s still very unlikely to happen. Mostly because Trump doesn’t really seem like the kind of guy who would be cool serving in the House after he had been president. Too small potatoes for him — even as speaker!