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WASHINGTON — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and his conservative detractors will square off for a second consecutive day as lawmakers prepare to resume voting Wednesday to pick the next House speaker. Three separate votes were held, and each time McCarthy, R-Calif., a veteran member of GOP leadership, fell short. It was the first time in 100 years that the speaker vote has gone to multiple ballots. Without a speaker, House lawmakers can’t be sworn in, committees can’t be formed, and GOP investigations into the Biden administration can’t begin. Trump, who previously endorsed McCarthy for speaker and had been making calls on his behalf, has gone silent on his support.

WASHINGTON — A weekslong standoff between Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and his conservative detractors comes to a head Tuesday as lawmakers prepare to vote on a new speaker of the House. But nine members of that group, including Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., characterized his proposals as too little, too late. "Despite some progress achieved," the Freedom Caucus group wrote, "Mr. McCarthy’s statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd." McCarthy, who has Trump's endorsement and easily defeated Biggs to win his party's nomination for speaker, isn’t backing down. He is already moving into the speaker’s suite, and upon leaving the Capitol on Monday he predicted that the day of the speaker vote would be a "good day."

Democrats will wield an expanded 51-seat Senate majority and control the presidency. We need to be cutting spending,” McCarthy told reporters after a meeting with Senate Republicans on Dec. 21. There’s so much discombobulation and disunity on different sides of the Republican caucus,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters before the holiday recess. Conservative lawmakers say a GOP House should block a debt limit increase without major policy changes to rein in spending. Some House Republicans are already calling to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his department's handling of immigration policy.

WASHINGTON — Patrick Leahy was swept into the Senate nearly a half-century ago in the wake of the Watergate scandal and President Richard Nixon’s resignation and pardon. Ron Frehm / APSen. Leahy take photos on the inaugural stand during Barack Obama's presidential inauguration at the Capitol on Jan. 21, 2013. Let’s stay here and vote where we can be seen.”Sen. Leahy, D-Vt., walks to the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6, 2021. Ira Schwarz / APSupreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor is sworn in by committee chairman Sen. Leahy, D-Vt., during her confirmation hearing in 2009 in Washington. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in the Senate subway.

WASHINGTON — The House Jan. 6 committee on Thursday unveiled its formal report, the final product of its historic 18-month investigation into the deadly attack on the Capitol and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. It was the first time in history that a congressional committee had made criminal referrals for a U.S. president. A video of former President Donald Trump is shown at the House Jan. 6 committee's final meeting Monday. "Among the most shameful of this committee’s findings was that President Trump sat in the dining room off the Oval Office watching the violent riot at the Capitol on television. At her final news conference as speaker Thursday, Pelosi praised Thompson, Cheney and the other Jan. 6 members for their "persistent, patriotic leadership."

WASHINGTON — The first week of the 117th Congress opened with an attack on the Capitol that rattled the nation and tested American democracy. On Monday, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot will vote to adopt its sweeping, much-anticipated report, present major findings and recommend criminal referrals to the Justice Department, which are expected to include former President Donald Trump. The full report is expected to be made available to the public on Wednesday. Transcripts from those depositions and voluntary interviews, as well as other written and video evidence, will also be shared with the public. “So whereas other reports have just been a bunch of pages, we think the digital part will add another dimension to it.”

Vindman first joined Twitter while working in the Trump administration because it was often the way his then-boss, the president, made policy. His wife, liberal activist and podcaster Rachel Vindman, has almost 400,000 followers, making them a progressive Twitter power couple. In a clubby city obsessed with status and information, Twitter delivers both, all from the comfort of one’s mobile phone. No one wants to leave Twitter until everyone else does, but there’s no obvious place to go next. Some think Musk will kill Twitter regardless of whether there’s a mass exodus of its users.

The fate of the bill is also linked to an election overhaul measure to avoid another Jan. 6, which Senate leaders hope to attach to it. The two parties are about $26 billion apart on domestic spending, Shelby said, which isn’t much considering the omnibus package would likely be more than $1.5 trillion. Although they control both chambers, they still need at least 10 Senate GOP votes to defeat a filibuster on a funding bill. The government funding bill is likely the last train leaving the station in the current session of Congress, and a number of other provisions could ride along. Senators have struck a deal on a bill that cleared committee on a bipartisan vote of 14-1 in September.

☆ Business groups optimistic Congress may finally strike immigration deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON — Some of the largest business groups in Washington are making a last-ditch effort to get Congress to pass immigration legislation before the end of the year and are optimistic a bipartisan agreement could fall into place. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., began circulating the contours of a possible deal. Businesses have been calling on Congress to change the immigration system and make it easier for them to hire foreign workers for years, but the situation has grown increasingly dire since the pandemic. We hope it can be successful.”Republicans who have been involved in past efforts to change immigration laws poured cold water on the Sinema-Tillis push. I appreciate them working on it — there’s a deal to be done down the road — but it’s not money, it’s policy.”

For the past three cycles, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a leadership post, had been elected by rank-and-file Democrats. But members recently voted to reinstate a rule that gives the party’s leader the power to select the chair, putting the decision in Jeffries’ hands. House Republicans last month elected Richard Hudson of North Carolina as their campaign chief for the 2024 cycle. We went 35-4 in the front-line races.”But several Democrats think a different approach is needed, and they are urging Jeffries to look outside the Democratic Caucus. “It should be someone who can really campaign well, who is familiar with the process and dynamics of the House.

Three weeks ago, conservative Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., was defeated by GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy in their party’s private, internal vote for speaker of the House. “I’m running for Speaker to break the establishment,” Biggs tweeted, linking to an op-ed in the conservative Daily Caller outlining his opposition to McCarthy. Democrats are expected to back their own leader for speaker, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and five conservative lawmakers are already on record saying they will not vote for McCarthy under any circumstance. The last time a speaker vote went multiple ballots was exactly a century ago. Some moderate GOP McCarthy allies say it would never reach that point.

But first: The results from five counties will help tell us if Democrat Raphael Warnock is on track to win tonight’s Senate runoff in Georgia. Warnock got 56.9% of the vote in Cobb when he won the Jan. 2021 runoff, and he got just under that last November (56.8%). And in Gwinnett, Warnock got 60.6% of the vote in the 2021 runoff, compared with 58.9% last month against Walker. In rural Chattooga — one of NBC News’ “County to County” counties — Warnock got just 20.5% when he won the 2021 runoff, and he got less than that in the November general election (19.8%). Data Download: The number of the day is … $7.79 billionThat’s how much money was spent on political television, radio and digital ads this entire cycle (starting the day after the 2021 Georgia Senate runoff through today’s runoff), per AdImpact.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan Senate duo has launched a last-minute push to enact immigration reform before the end of the year. Under the proposal, the boost in border security would include higher salaries for border patrol agents, and increased staffing and other resources for border patrol and border protection. “They have clearly found a successful equation here," the Senate aide said. If they can strike a deal, pro-immigration reform members are hoping to attach their proposal to a bill to keep the government funded that must pass later this month. I’ve been in touch w/ my colleagues & will carefully review their proposal,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., tweeted on Monday.

WASHINGTON — Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., beat back a leadership challenge on Thursday and will remain among the top House Democrats in the next Congress. Clyburn had faced a last-minute, surprise challenge from Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., for assistant leader, the No. 4 post, but the latter dropped his bid moments before the vote and endorsed Clyburn, members leaving the closed-door vote said. Cicilline’s decision means that Clyburn, 82, will remain in leadership at a time of generational change for the party. As assistant leader, Clyburn will serve alongside a new leadership slate.

☆ Jan. 6 committee to release transcripts of interviews along with report, expected before Christmas, Thompson says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — The House Jan. 6 committee will release transcripts of interviews investigators conducted in the course of their investigation into the attack on the Capitol, the panel's chairman, Bennie Thompson, said Wednesday. "We plan to make available transcripts and other materials," Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters on Capitol Hill. The chairman did not say whose interviews would be provided or specify the number of transcripts that would be released. A House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol hearing in Washington, D.C. on June 13. Since it formed in 2021, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews and depositions and has received hundreds of thousands of documents.

4 position in House Democratic leadership. “I would be honored and humbled to have your support and to be able to join Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, and Pete Aguilar as part of the new generation of House leadership,” Cicilline wrote. From 2011 to 2019, he had served as assistant Democratic leader and also worked as the chair and vice chair of his caucus. Several younger Democrats were upset and surprised by Clyburn's decision to run for a leadership position. Another younger Democratic member who is supporting Cicilline said Wednesday, "I think it’s pretty ridiculous that Nancy had to leave.

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers are poised to pass legislation Wednesday to avert a catastrophic rail strike that President Joe Biden warned could threaten the U.S. economy just weeks before Christmas. “At a time of record profits in the rail industry, it’s unacceptable that rail workers have ZERO guaranteed paid sick days,” Sanders tweeted. “It’s my intention to block consideration of the rail legislation until a roll call vote occurs on guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers in America.”Other progressives also wouldn’t commit to back the rail proposal. But the House will also vote separately on a bill that would add seven days of paid sick leave to the deal. Biden "is confident that we will not have a rail strike.

WASHINGTON — House Democrats will elect their new leadership team Wednesday morning, ushering in a younger generation of leaders after Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer decided to step aside after Democrats narrowly lost the majority this month. In recent years, younger, equally ambitious and talented Democrats looking to climb the leadership ladder discovered they had nowhere to go but out. Democratic Caucus Chair Xavier Becerra took an appointment as California's attorney general and then was named by President Joe Biden as health and human services secretary. Others, including Steve Israel of New York, who led both House Democrats' campaign arm and communications shop, opted for retirement. “The House Democratic Caucus is at its best when everyone has an opportunity to be on the playing field, playing the right position," he said.

☆ House Democrats elect Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as leader, the first Black person to lead congressional caucus
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Scott Wong | Ali Vitali | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) departs a leadership election meeting with the Democratic caucus in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill November 30, 2022 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON — House Democrats elected their new leadership team Wednesday, ushering in a younger generation of leaders after Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer decided to step aside after Democrats narrowly lost the majority this month. Jeffries' top deputy will be Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., 59, a progressive who served under Jeffries as vice chair of the Democratic Caucus and rose to assistant speaker this Congress. Rounding out the trio of new leaders is Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., 43, a Congressional Hispanic Caucus member and former mayor who was elected Democratic Caucus chairman — the role Jeffries has held for the past four years. Of the current "Big Three" Democrats, only Clyburn, the current majority whip, has opted to stay in leadership in the new Congress.

That’s all I have to say about that,” said Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a member of Senate Republican leadership. I don’t think he should be the nominee of our party in 2024,” he said. And I don’t think it’ll matter in terms of his political future, but I do believe we need to watch who we meet with. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the outgoing NRSC chair, said, “There’s no room in the Republican Party for white supremacist antisemitism — so it’s wrong.”Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said: “Antisemitism is wrong, and white supremacy is wrong, and that’s all there is to it. Writing on Truth Social, Trump called Ye a “seriously troubled man” and said he had no idea who Fuentes was.

Shortly before Pelosi’s announcement Thursday that she was stepping down, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff signaled he would not run for House leadership and would focus his efforts on a future Senate bid instead. 2 leadership post, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal of Washington decided to run for another term leading her caucus of roughly 100 House liberals. Aguilar originally had his eyes set on the assistant leader position, but Clyburn’s move forced him to run for caucus chair. 4 and Democratic Caucus chair will move up to No. That left Rep. Joe Neguse, 38, who had been campaigning behind the scenes for months for caucus chair, as the odd man out.

☆ Kevin McCarthy could face a floor fight for speaker. That hasn’t happened in a century.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kyle-Stewart-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Kyle Stewart | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is struggling to secure the 218 votes he needs to be elected speaker of the House in January. In this game of chicken, if the conservatives don’t blink and McCarthy refuses to back down, it could result in a chaotic floor fight with House members taking multiple votes for speaker — something that has not happened in a century. The House was called to order at noon and the chamber moved to the first order of business: electing the speaker. The House held three more unsuccessful votes for speaker that day before adjourning just after 2 p.m. The date was Feb. 2, 1856, two months after the first speaker vote.

Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola has won a full two-year term representing Alaska in the House, NBC News projected Wednesday, defeating former governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Shortly after news broke that she had won a full term on Wednesday night, Peltola tweeted "WE DID IT!!!" The outcome of the Nov. 8 election for the state's at-large House seat — as well as other contests, including for Senate — had been delayed for weeks because of Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system where voters rank the candidates in order of preference. After the first round of voting, Peltola led Palin by more than 20 percentage points, with Republican Nick Begich, a scion of one of Alaska’s most well-known political families, in third. It means that a Democrat will hold the at-large House seat for the next two years, after Young and the GOP had controlled it for nearly five decades.

Appearing with Republicans in El Paso, Texas, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign for failing to secure the southern border. If Mayorkas does not resign, McCarthy warned, House Republicans will investigate him and his department to determine whether to launch impeachment proceedings. Our country may never recover from Secretary Mayorkas’s dereliction of duty,” said McCarthy, flanked by fellow House Republicans. Many conservatives who are withholding support are insisting that House Republicans impeach Mayorkas when they take power next year. In April," White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a tweet.

"For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic Caucus that I so deeply respect," Pelosi, 82, said in her floor speech. “Pelosi and Hoyer showed a lot of grace in stepping aside,” one younger Democratic lawmaker told NBC News. Meg Kinnard / AP fileAguilar said Friday he is now running for Democratic Caucus chairman. Under that scenario, Aguilar's caucus chair role would move up to No. But with Clyburn going for the assistant job and Aguilar entering the race for caucus chair, Neguse could find himself the odd man out.

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