New Year brings old headaches for Republicans
GOP holdouts still refusing to back Speaker Johnson
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for January 1, 2025:
Chief Justice warns against court criticism.
House formally mourns the death of Jimmy Carter.
The tale of a missing bicycle pedal.
BAD OMEN? Should we be worried about 2025? It looked like lightning bolts hit both the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol Dome last night as a severe storm rolled through the nation’s capital. Hopefully, it’s not sending us a signal about the New Year.
HOUSE DIVIDED. This will be my 39th year covering the Congress. One constant theme through that entire time has featured Republicans fighting with each other over how best to deal with government spending. The divide caused all sorts of problems in the 118th Congress for the GOP, and 2025 looks like it will be no different.
SPEAKER. House Speaker Mike Johnson starts the New Year knowing that he has work to do to stay in his post for the 119th Congress. "Right now, I don't believe that he has the votes," Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) told Fox Business yesterday. "I remain undecided, as do a number of my colleagues," Roy added.
VOTES. The vote on Friday is different from most in Congress, because to be elected Speaker, you don’t win because you have the most votes - you can only win when you have a majority of those voting for a candidate. If all 434 members vote, Johnson will need 218 votes. There are 219 Republicans - and one has already said he won’t vote for the Speaker.
DEMANDS. What do Roy and other GOP rebels want? They basically want guarantees that the Speaker will back major spending cuts and all sorts of conservative policy positions. But no matter what the Speaker does, if House Republicans don’t stay unified, they can’t pass anything without Democrats.
RULES. One of the first items of business for the House - after electing a Speaker - is to approve a new rules package. That rules package is listed on this week's House schedule - but we have not seen any details as yet. That's where deals can get made.
MAR-A-LAGO. President-elect Trump last night expressed confidence in Johnson, and urged Republicans to get on board with the embattled Speaker. "I think they'll support Speaker Johnson," Trump told reporters before his New Year's Eve party in Florida. "He's the one that can win right now; people like him."
NEWT. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was also urging House Republicans to get on board. "I do not understand what the contrarian House Republicans think they will gain," Gingrich said yesterday of Johnson critics in the Congress. "They are in effect allies of the Democrats."
SASSY. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) - who already says he won't vote for Johnson - fired back. "He is certain to lose us the majority in 2026," Massie tweeted, expressing frustration with how Johnson has dealt with Democrats. Massie remains in the minority - but it only takes a few holdouts to dump Johnson.
FROSH. So far, no new GOP lawmakers have expressed opposition to Johnson. "He’s earned his spot as Speaker, and I trust he’s going to deliver," said Mike Haridopolos, a new Republican from Florida. "I’m proud to stand with President Trump in supporting Speaker Mike Johnson," said Mark Harris, a new Republican from North Carolina.
TO DO LIST. Thinking back to two years ago - and the extended fight to elect a House Speaker - I need to find my binoculars. They came in very handy from the House galleries to check on what lawmakers were doing on the House floor during that 15-ballot GOP nightmare. (This photo was taken by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.)
CAMERAS. One of the oddities about the start of a new Congress in the House is that there are no rules - until the Speaker is elected and the rules package is adopted. That’s why we could bring our cell phones into the chamber two years ago and take pictures and videos.
C-SPAN. Speaker Johnson has given the official blessing to C-SPAN to have its own cameras in the House Chamber for the Speaker election and the Jan. 6 certification of the electoral votes. Most people think C-SPAN runs the House and Senate cameras - but they don’t.
400 NORTH CAP. "C-SPAN will have the same camera positions as in years past and will work to ensure that its feed is available to any accredited media organization," the network said on Tuesday.
CUTAWAYS. What does C-SPAN offer that you don't see from the in-house camera system? C-SPAN cameras can zero in on individual lawmakers in ways that the regular TV feed does not.
CARTER. The House on Tuesday approved a resolution expressing the sorrow of lawmakers about the death of former President Jimmy Carter. The short pro forma session then adjourned in Carter's memory.
LYING IN STATE. No official action was taken by the House to authorize the use of the Capitol Rotunda for ceremonies honoring Carter. That will evidently be left to the 119th Congress, which convenes on Friday at 12 noon.
ROTUNDA. Under the schedule announced by the Military District of Washington, the public will be able to start filing by the casket of Carter at 7 pm on Jan. 7. The viewing will end at midnight, and then resume for 24 hours straight at 7 am on Jan. 8.
FUNERAL. President-elect Trump told reporters last night that he will come to Washington, D.C. for Carter’s funeral. That is scheduled for Jan. 9 at Washington's National Cathedral.
YEAR-END. Across the street from the Capitol, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had some notable words in his annual year-end report. "Violence, intimidation, and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable," Chief Justice John Roberts warned.
REPORT. "The federal courts must do their part to preserve the public’s confidence in our institutions," Roberts wrote. "We judges must stay in our assigned areas of responsibility and do our level best to handle those responsibilities fairly."
TRUMP. Maybe I was reading too much into the Chief Justice's words. But it sure seemed like he was telling the Judicial Branch to stand strong against criticism from Democrats in Congress - but you might also wonder if he was hinting ahead to President-elect Trump and his allies as well.
CJR. "It is not in the nature of judicial work to make everyone happy,” Roberts wrote. “Most cases have a winner and a loser. Every Administration suffers defeats in the court system."
EARLY DEPARTURE. Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-NC) resigned his seat in the House effective at midnight last night, as he moves on now to be the Attorney General of North Carolina - he’ll be sworn into that office today. Jackson’s departure lets me tell a funny story about him from this past summer.
HOUSE STEPS. When votes are called in the House, members can either walk underground in the tunnels to the House floor, or walk outside to the Capitol. Jackson did something different - he rode his bicycle across the street.
THE LEFT. But the funny thing about Jackson's bicycle was that the left pedal had broken off. Instead of getting it fixed, he just rode without the pedal. When I went to snap a picture of it, Jackson gave me a hard time. He knew what I was thinking - that it was a broader metaphor for the Democratic Party in 2024.
TAR HEEL. Jackson was one of three Democrats forced out of Congress by the North Carolina legislature, as a blatant GOP gerrymander gave Republicans three extra seats in the House - and allowed them to keep control for the 119th Congress. My guess is that Jackson is going places. Republicans might look back and wonder if it had been better to instead just let him serve anonymously in Congress.
RAP SHEET. An Arkansas man has been sentenced to 25 months in prison for assaulting police on Jan. 6. Nathan Hughes joined with other rioters to attack officers in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, grabbing their riot shields and trying to take their batons. "I will always back the blue until the blue doesn't back us," Hughes wrote on Jan. 6.
MUSE OF HISTORY. January 1, 2021. On this date, the Senate voted 81-13 and joined the House in voting to override President Donald Trump's veto of a major defense policy bill. One of the main reasons for Trump's veto was a provision that let the Pentagon change the names of U.S. military bases which were named after Confederate military heroes. It was the only successful veto override of Trump's term.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on Friday.
The Senate returns for legislative business on Friday.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
If you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a cup of coffee.
Jackson’s Substack was one of my favorites. He wrote with fresh eyes and explained what was going on in a way that was easy to understand if you were brand new to following politics.
I look forward to pictures until the rules are implemented!