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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."

☆ Republican U.S. House to open in turmoil as McCarthy fights for gavel
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

After four years as the Republican minority leader, McCarthy now needs at least 218 votes to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker. House Republicans are expected to meet face-to-face behind closed doors on Tuesday morning, ahead of the speaker election. While Republicans have won back the House, Democrats still hold the White House and Senate. 'TAKES TWO TO TANGO'The record number of voting rounds to elect a House speaker is 133 over a two-month period in the 1850s. The hardline Republican House Freedom Caucus is demanding rule changes that would enhance the group's influence.

☆ Divided America will unite under economic duress
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

That will happen when a new term begins in 2023, making it difficult for American legislators to accomplish goals. But one thing needs to happen: Congress must raise the debt ceiling so the U.S. government can continue to chug along. The debt ceiling, currently at $31.4 trillion, needs to go higher for government employees to get paid and welfare checks to be delivered, among other things. If only because they are all vying for a win in the presidential election in 2024, Congress could unite under high inflation and economic duress. Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives in 2023, making a bipartisan solution necessary to lifting the limit.

☆ All but 16 House Republicans vote against bill to allow Puerto Rico to decide its future
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The House passed a bill to allow Puerto Rico voters to choose independence, statehood, or free association. Republicans opposed the bill in part due to long-standing opposition to Puerto Rico's statehood. "At this point in time I'm not, you know, interested in going down that road," Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told Insider. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia told Insider that she didn't think the bill was "the right way to go about something like that." "I'm just not interested in Puerto Rico being a state," she said, adding that she didn't believe people living in Puerto Rico should get to vote on that.

Fractured teams lose,” GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, co-chair of the centrist-leaning Main Street Caucus, told CNN, pointing to McCarthy’s broad support among the conference. During the meeting, they told McCarthy they would have his back and were committed to voting for him on multiple ballots if it comes to that. But one member told CNN they also conveyed concern to McCarthy about restoring the motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. “He’s open to a lot of things,” Norman told CNN, including adopting the motion to vacate the chair rule. “I’ve said this over and over again: there is not this, like, enormous amount of drama,” Moore told CNN.

“I’ll get 218,” McCarthy told CNN, referring to the votes he’d need to become House speaker. Video Ad Feedback Bash asks Pelosi if McCarthy has what it takes to be House Speaker. “I’m not going to talk about hypotheticals,” said Biggs, who lost his conference’s nomination to become speaker last month after securing 31 votes. But McCarthy’s detractors said it’s an issue very much still on the table and think he may end up needing to embrace it if he still doesn’t have the speaker votes by January 3. But he refused to rule out a scenario where his caucus would help elect the next speaker if McCarthy couldn’t get the votes.

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.

☆ House Republicans brace for leadership struggle as Democrats tap Pelosi heir
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A senior House Republican aide predicted that McCarthy would be elected speaker without a protracted contest. There may be multiple ballots," said Republican Representative Fred Upton, who is retiring from Congress. House speakers are elected on the floor by the full 435-seat chamber, including Republicans, Democrats and independents, with 218 votes needed for success. "We're willing to do multiple, multiple, multiple, multiple votes. "And if they refuse to compromise ... we'll work with Democrats to put in an agreeable Republican," Bacon added.

WASHINGTON — Conservative lawmakers sent a strong message to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday, telling him he doesn't have the votes to be the next speaker. Drew Angerer / Getty Images“We expect there will be a contest tomorrow, that there will be another candidate, and I don’t think anybody’s going to get 218 votes tomorrow,” said Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who is opposing McCarthy for speaker. Good has said that a number of Republicans will be interested in jumping into the race once they realize McCarthy can’t secure 218 votes on his own. Jordan, the founding chairman of the caucus who unsuccessfully challenged McCarthy for minority leader in 2018, also is backing McCarthy. Period.”Inside the candidates forum on Monday, McCarthy was pressed by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a frequent McCarthy critic, on whether he would work with Democrats to secure 218 votes for speaker.

☆ Republicans in disarray as McConnell faces a leadership challenge, McCarthy scrounges for votes to become speaker, and Trump seeks to stake his claim for 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( John L. Dorman | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Republicans last week faltered in producing the red wave election they had sought for over a year. McConnell now faces a leadership challenge, while McCarthy is looking for votes to lead the House. And on Tuesday, Scott informed colleagues that he would challenge McConnell, who since leading the Senate GOP caucus in 2007 has retained strong support within the party. The House Republican Conference on Tuesday voted 188-31 in favor of McCarthy leading the caucus over conservative challenger Andy Biggs of Arizona, but the California lawmaker will need 218 votes to win the Speaker's gavel next year. Republicans, already trying to navigate the new landscape on Capitol Hill, will have a lot to figure out as the 2024 presidential election looms.

☆ Republican Rep. Don Bacon faces off against Democrat Tony Vargas in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Republican Rep. Don Bacon is running for reelection against Democrat Tony Vargas in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District election. The 2nd District was one of nine in the country to vote for President Joe Biden in 2020 despite having a Republican representative. Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District candidatesBacon, a veteran of the Air Force, currently sits on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. Voting history for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional DistrictNebraska's 2nd District covers all of Douglas County, the city of Omaha included, and a portion of Sarpy County. His opponent, Vargas, has raised just over $3 million, spent 2.8 million, and has more than $313,000 of cash on hand as of October 19.

☆ NAACP denounces 'flat out racist' remarks by GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville at Trump rally
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Leaders of major civil rights organizations on Monday condemned Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., for suggesting at a Trump rally over the weekend that descendants of Black slaves are criminals in remarks about reparations. "Senator Tuberville’s comments are flat out racist, ignorant and utterly sickening," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. As a speaker at former President Donald Trump's rally Saturday in Minden, Nevada, Tuberville called Democrats "soft on crime" and "pro-crime." National Urban League President Marc H. Morial on Monday called Tuberville's comments "bigoted" and "stunning." A request for comment was not immediately returned by Tuberville’s Senate office.

☆ Sens. Rick Scott and Tom Cotton to campaign for Herschel Walker in Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( Summer Concepcion | Allie Raffa | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Rick Scott of Florida, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas announced they will travel to Georgia to campaign for Herschel Walker on Tuesday. Last week, The Daily Beast reported allegations that Walker, who supports a ban on abortion without any exceptions, paid for the abortion of a woman in 2009. Today it’s Herschel Walker, but tomorrow it’s the American people.”“I’m on Herschel’s team — they picked the wrong Georgian to mess with," Scott said. National Republicans, including Scott, had rushed to defend Walker after the Daily Beast's reporting of the abortion allegations. The woman who alleged Walker paid for her abortion more than a decade ago also claimed she is the mother of one of his four children, The Daily Beast reported.

☆ Democrats’ Political Gains Create Tight Race for Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Dante Chinni | Photographs Rebecca S. Gratz For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

OMAHA, Neb.—If Republican Rep. Don Bacon gets re-elected in November, it will be in part because his efforts to center his competitive House race on inflation, crime and border security helped win over undecided voters like Todd Christensen. If Mr. Bacon loses, it will be partly because voters in this swing district moved toward Democrats after the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the congressional hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Mr. Christensen, who voted for Mr. Bacon in his previous three runs for Congress, said he is unsure about doing so again because he thought Mr. Bacon came across as too divisive when he heard him address constituents at town hall meetings.

☆ 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.

Ron DeSantis overpowered his own Legislature to pass a map that adds an additional four GOP seats. Nationally, Republicans are likely to net three to four House seats from new maps alone — most of the five seats they need to regain the majority. There are 36 House Democrats not running for re-election, mostly because many opted to retire rather than risk serving in the wilderness of the minority. And there’s state Sen. Jen Kiggans, a nurse practitioner and former Navy pilot challenging Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria in Virginia Beach. MAGA primary takeoversIn a handful of races, Republicans have nominated hardcore pro-Trump candidates who could jeopardize their ability to win swing seats.

☆ Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan is getting rid of the military's 'top recruiting incentive' of free education, 19 GOP lawmakers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

19 GOP lawmakers said Biden's student-loan forgiveness could hurt military recruitment. Many Republicans have pushed back on Biden's debt relief, with some trying to stop it from happening. Last week, 19 GOP lawmakers wrote a letter to Biden expressing concerns with his recently announced $20,000 in debt cancellation for federal borrowers making under $125,000 a year. But they said that at the end of last month, the Army had reached just 66% of its recruiting goal for the year, and Biden's student-loan forgiveness will "exacerbate" recruiting challenges. This is just the latest attempt by Republican lawmakers to push back on Biden's debt relief.

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