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Under the new House rules passed Monday, only one member of Congress — Democrat or Republican — is needed to bring a "motion to vacate," which forces a vote on removing the speaker. Here’s what you need to know about how a motion to vacate would work and the history of the maneuver:How does a motion to vacate work? It was Speaker Joseph Cannon in 1910, however, who first used the motion to vacate as it is known now. Republicans considered using the motion to vacate against their own leader, Speaker Newt Gingrich, in 1997 but decided against it. The threshold for bringing a motion to vacate stayed at just a single member of Congress until 2019 when Democrats took the majority.

The chaos unfolding in the new Republican-controlled House shows that analysis, if it was ever true, certainly doesn’t hold today. Since the new Congress began Tuesday, every time Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has called a vote to be elected speaker, he has gotten no closer to the gavel. Though there is no shortage of backroom deal-making going on among House Republicans, either, the public nature of the leadership fight means many of the concessions McCarthy is offering have been announced by his opponents. Back in 1995, Newt Gingrich nudged aside longtime House Republican leader Bob Michel of Illinois to become the first Republican speaker of the House in 40 years after President George H.W. That helped oust House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 2015 and then his successor, Paul Ryan, R-Wis., once a conservative darling.

☆ C-SPAN is having a moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Usually, the House forbids independent media coverage of proceedings, meaning that networks must rely on a government feed for coverage. But when there are special events taking place in the House, such as the election for speaker, independent coverage is allowed. In this case, that translates to C-SPAN deploying multiple cameras of its own into the House chamber, giving the public a rare front row view of the high-stakes negotiations between lawmakers. For example, C-SPAN’s cameras showed Republican Rep. Paul Gosar, who has voted against Kevin McCarthy for speaker, on the floor speaking Tuesday with Democratic Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. You don’t see that during standard coverage.”O’Connell noted that C-SPAN would like to be able to do this far more often.

While the majority party has elected their nominee on the first ballot over the past century, this year could be different. Members vote "viva voice," meaning they stand when their names are called by a reading clerk and verbally announce who they are voting for. Members can vote for anyone (even people who are not members of the House), vote present, or not vote at all. If every member doesn't show up, or if some vote present instead of supporting a candidate, that decreases what the majority vote needs to be. Political parties are much stronger now than they were then, when House members were often more loyal to their region.

☆ Joe Biden's biggest successes and failures in his second year in office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

His second year in office was marked by historic legislative achievements despite Democrats' razor-thin majority in Congress. Here are some of the highs and lows from Biden's second year:Success: UkrainePresident Joe Biden talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside the White House. Conservative New York Times columnist Bret Stephens in September called the "staggering gains" by Ukrainian forces "a victory for Joe Biden, too." Universal pre-K was included in a sweeping spending plan passed by House Democrats until their Senate colleagues cut that out too. Failure: InflationPresident Joe Biden arrives for an event focused on inflation and the supply chain at the Port of Los Angeles in June.

☆ Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says 'it's hard to imagine' Pence 'getting by both Trump and DeSantis' in a GOP presidential primary
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gingrich said it would tough for Pence to topple both Trump and DeSantis in a 2024 GOP field. "It's hard to imagine him getting by both Trump and DeSantis," Gingrich told Politico's Adam Wren. While Trump has launched his 2024 White House bid, Pence and DeSantis are not currently in the race. Ron DeSantis of Florida in a GOP presidential primary if the former vice president were to jump into the 2024 race. "It's hard to imagine him getting by both Trump and DeSantis," Gingrich said.

☆ Prosecutors in Georgia are fast approaching a decision on whether to charge Trump. Here's how it would go down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Over the past year, she empaneled a grand jury and fought court battles to ensure testimony from Gov. Two other high-profile witnesses who fought grand jury subpoenas, Mark Meadows and Newt Gingrich, have their cases before appeals courts. A regular grand jury, which sits for two months, would probably move swiftly, Carlson said, since it would have all the evidence painstakingly compiled by the special grand jury. "The reason it'll go very fast is the regular grand jury will have a transcript from the testimony of a laundry list of witnesses that have already testified to the special grand jury," Carlson said. The case in Georgia, Carlson pointed out, is especially potent because of how uniquely strong the evidence is and how reliable the witnesses would be.

Joe Biden beat Donald Trump once, and Democrats are crafting a strategy to try to beat him again in 2024 — even if his name isn’t on the ballot. But Democrats interviewed about the emerging 2024 strategy said they plan to make sure this particular comment isn’t soon forgotten. (Trump issued another statement on his Truth Social platform insisting he hadn’t said he wanted to “terminate” the Constitution.) A Trump ally, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said he doesn’t believe Trump will suffer a backlash over his comment about the Constitution. Trump’s comment “is very serious,” said longtime Biden confidant Ted Kaufman, a former U.S. senator from Delaware.

☆ Newt Gingrich urged the GOP to embrace mail-in voting in the wake of Georgia Senate runoff loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Newt Gingrich called for a rethink of election strategy by the GOP after the Georgia runoff defeat. He called for the party to rethink its hostility to mail-in ballots. The results have prompted hand-wringing in the Republican Party, as they fell well short of the sweeping gains some had been expecting before the election. In an appearance on Fox News host Sean Hannity's show Tuesday, Newt Gingrich, who served as House Speaker between 1995 and 1999, and was a longtime US Representative for Georgia, addressed the reasons for the defeats. During Gingrich's stint as House speaker he introduced hyper-partisan, aggressive tactics that have shaped the Republican Party ever since.

☆ Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich warns Republicans to stop 'underestimating' Biden
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Newt Gingrich recently warned Republicans to stop "underestimating" President Joe Biden. The ex-GOP House speaker blasted Biden's policies but said Democrats had been able to pass "radical" bills. Gingrich said conservative "hostility" to Biden has prevented Republicans from fully judging his record. Gingrich said on Wednesday that GOP opposition to Biden has caused the party to minimize the success of the president and his party. Gingrich represented a slice of suburban Atlanta in the US House of Representatives from 1979 to 1999 and was its speaker from 1995 to 1999.

☆ Michael Flynn ordered to testify in Trump election interference probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury, has said that the special grand jury’s investigation is a criminal proceeding. Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as an aide to Meadows, is expected to appear before the special grand jury Wednesday. Wood told The Associated Press that he testified before the special grand jury last week. The special grand jury operates in secret with witness testimony closed to the public. Special grand juries in Georgia are generally used to investigate complex cases with many witnesses.

Christopher Gregory/Getty ImagesDonald McGahn, Trump campaign counsel: I was at the top. Trump's 2016 campaign aides said they paid about 50 people, including part-time actors, to appear as supporters for his 2016 campaign announcement. Corey Lewandowski, Trump campaign managerCorey Lewandowski: I called my wife just as we were getting onto the plane. Stuff that would be from Mars on any other campaign was perfectly normal for the Trump campaign. Mark J. Terrill/AP photo Show less Trump at the Republican National Convention while Cruz speaks on July 20, 2016.

☆ Biden wants to discuss Taiwan, Russia and trade with China’s Xi
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Wednesday he plans at an anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, trade policies and Beijing’s relationship with Russia. Biden told reporters at a White House news conference that he had much to discuss with Xi as U.S.-Chinese relations have grown more fraught in recent months. The White House and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were quick to clarify that there was no change in U.S. policy. Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects a joint operations command center at an undisclosed location on Tuesday. Li Gang / Xinhua via APAs president, Biden has repeatedly accused China of human rights abuses of the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities.

☆ GOP starts boosting Walker in runoff amid calls to keep Trump away from Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Warnock won his race against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, and Sen. Jon Ossoff defeated GOP incumbent David Perdue, swinging control of the narrowly divided chamber. I know that Trump wants to be helpful to make Herschel win. Should Laxalt prevail, the Georgia Senate race would once again determine control of the Senate. “President Trump is 220-18 in races that have been called, and with the support of President Trump, Herschel Walker, after forcing a run-off, is well-positioned to win,” Budowich said in a written statement. “We just can’t take our eye off the ball and make sure we prepare to win Georgia,” he said.

☆ Cobb County, a longtime GOP stronghold, will be critical for Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia's December runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Cobb County, a one-time GOP stronghold, is now critical for Democrats running statewide in Georgia. Warnock's strong suburban support will be key as he again faces Walker in a Dec. 6 runoff election. With over 95% of county precincts reporting in the Senate race, Warnock was leading Walker by nearly 17 points (57%-40.5%) in Cobb County. The current raw vote total is 175,387 votes for Warnock to 125,324 votes for Walker, an advantage of over 50,000 votes in this jurisdiction for the incumbent. Which begs the question: why has Cobb County become such a bellwether for statewide Democrats?

Republicans are favored to win a majority in the House of Representatives in Tuesday's elections, with the Senate rated a toss-up by nonpartisan election forecasters. A crackdown on users impersonating Musk prompted Twitter to suspend comedian Kathy Griffin. Musk also moved his personal residence from California to Texas, where there is no state income tax. In April, Musk said on Twitter he believes that for the platform "to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral." Federal authorities are investigating Musk over his conduct in acquiring Twitter, the company said in a court filing last month.

☆ Insider asked 38 Republicans whether they're concerned about growing anti-Semitic sentiments in their party. Their responses included silence, deflection, and rehashing old statements.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Insider reached out to House Republican leaders, GOP senators auditioning for the 2024 presidential race, the Republican National Committee, retired GOP lawmakers, seasoned Republican strategists and former Donald Trump administration officials about this disturbing phenomenon. The non-respondents included RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, former Vice President Mike Pence, National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Rick Scott, House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik, Florida Gov. Meghan McCain, the daughter of late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, lashed out at West, Trump and House Republican "idiots" cheering on their reprehensible behavior. "You can say that his particular words in this particular case are not antisemitic," Rosen said Tuesday during Commentary's daily podcast. Nor have they convinced House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan to quit hailing West and Trump as personal heroes.

Senate and House leadership from both parties manned the phones, contacting local, state and federal authorities to call up the National Guard, D.C. police and other security forces to secure the Capitol. These bipartisan efforts were led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who showed remarkable composure and leadership in the face of physical danger. She is also one of the most effective speakers in history, and she does it while battling the double standards that apply to powerful women. Days after the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, Pelosi’s caucus in the House passed the bill without a single Democratic defection. As Pelosi established a new vision for House leadership, she did so with careful attention to detail.

☆ Newt Gingrich is a self-avowed fiscal conservative and deficit hawk. But his 2012 presidential campaign committee remains millions in debt.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Gingrich's latest 2012 presidential campaign filing shows a debt of $4.63 million. No presidential campaign from any election cycle owes creditors more money, per federal records. But Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign committee, almost a decade past its expiration date, is still swimming in a sea of red. No presidential campaign from any election cycle owes creditors more money. A financial filing from Newt 2012, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential committee, which remains deep in debt to dozens of creditors.

The committee had been planning to hold another hearing on Wednesday but postponed it due to the hurricane approaching Florida. “Nothing provided by the Jan. 6 committee can be considered credible, or unedited or not manipulated," Stone told NBC News Tuesday. The committee has also obtained a trove of Secret Service documents from the period around the Jan. 6 attack. "I think it’s certainly something that will be explored," at the hearing, said the committee member who requested anonymity. “We all swore the same oath to the Constitution,” Cheney told NBC News in a statement, responding to the GOP criticism she’s faced.

☆ Jesse Watters' rise at Fox, from Bill O'Reilly's ambush man to Tucker Carlson wannabe
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Noah Hurowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

At the time, Watters was best known for pulling off elaborately planned ambush interviews on "The O'Reilly Factor," then Fox News' top-rated show. When Grim picked his phone up and trained it again on Watters, the smile was gone from Watters' face. Watters on the set of his show "Jesse Watters Primetime." In early 2022, "Jesse Watters Primetime" debuted, airing right before "Hannity." Watters, whose entire career has been at Fox News, might be a safer bet, according to Muto, the former O'Reilly producer.

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☆ There's overwhelming support for an age limit on the president and Congress. Here's why that won't happen anytime soon.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Bryan Metzger | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Some have proposed age limits for elected officials amid concerns about America's gerontocracy. The history of the contemporary movement for term limits largely dates back to the early 1990s, when dozens of states enacted term limits not just for their own legislatures but for their federal representatives in Washington. "Put it this way: I'm a little more interested in term limits than age limits," Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told Insider. "There's a logic to term limits, because the principle of democracy is taking turns," Raskin, 59, said. "If there were to be term limits, the legislature certainly should have more terms than the executive," he offered.

“What we’re going to roll out today is a commitment to America in Washington — not Washington, D.C., Washington County, Pennsylvania. It’s about you; it’s not about us,” McCarthy told a crowd at a metal sheet working plant in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh. Democrats “control the House, the Senate, the White House. They control the committees, they control the agencies … but they have no plan to fix all the problems they created,” McCarthy added. Commitment to America is reminiscent of Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America agenda, which in 1994 helped propel House Republicans into power for the first time in 40 years.

☆ Millennials and Gen Z want to stop a climate catastrophe. But first they have to get elected.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, told young climate activists in 2019, "You didn't vote for me." AP Photo/Gemunu AmarasingheBut most policy debates aren't genuinely existential in the way climate change is. "Younger Democrats tend to have a much more friendly relationship and response to the party's activist class than older Democrats do." Fossil-fuel interests have played a central role in stymieing progress on climate change for decades. Nearly a decade later, Trump ran for and won the presidency — with Gingrich's early and staunch support — while calling climate change a "hoax."

☆ Newt Gingrich, who 'broke' Congress, returns to raise support for Kevin McCarthy's midterm strategy on Capitol Hill but dodges questions about testifying in the January 6 probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Newt Gingrich referred reporters to his lawyers when asked about the ongoing Jan. 6 investigation. "I don't talk about it. House investigators have asked Gingrich to testify about advice he gave Trump's 2020 election team. "I don't talk about it. Others who have yet to appear for questioning or have fought against testifying publicly include former Vice President Mike Pence, former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone, as well as McCarthy and other House GOP subpoena dodgers.

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