| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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Voting Cards and Conversations
00:15:36
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unidentified
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Republicans Keith Self from Texas and South Carolina's Ralph Norman were persuaded to change their votes to support Mr. Johnson. | |
| That vote was held open for a significant amount of time as those conversations took place mostly off the floor. | ||
| There are reports confirmed by Representative Self that President-elect Trump spoke to both members and encouraged them to join the majority of other Republicans to re-elect Speaker Mike Johnson. | ||
| There are also photos from the floor of Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on the phone with incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. | ||
| Members later approved a package of roles that will govern the House and committees for the next two years. | ||
| The resolution includes an increase in the threshold for requesting the removal of the Speaker from one to nine Republican members, eliminating the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and allowing committees to permit electronic voting. | ||
| More live coverage of the new 119th Congress when members return here on C-SPAN. | ||
| And now we'll take you back to the beginning of today's activities in the U.S. House. | ||
| To the | ||
| Constitution of the United States, for the meeting of the 119th Congress of the United States, the House will come to order. | ||
| The prayer will be offered by Chaplain Kibben. | ||
| Would you pray with me? | ||
| Gather us together, sovereign God, from the north and south, from the east and west, from the right and the left, and in your mercy, consecrate the work you have called us to do in this 119th Congress. | ||
| As we convene to establish and uphold the laws of this nation, may we devote our hearts anew to you and stretch out our hands to receive your instruction. | ||
| With our spirits oriented toward you, may we be willing to put away all selfish motives, any rancorous thought that may harbor within us, and the sin that we too often cling to, and allow no evil or wickedness to gain a foothold in or penetrate this tent of governance. | ||
| On this day, in the days and months and years ahead, may we be found to be free of fault and true of faith and allegiance when we lift up our faces to you. | ||
| May we, without fear or reservation, nor purpose of evasion, stand blameless before you and the people we serve. | ||
| We ask this and pray your blessing on this Congress and on these United States. | ||
| In the strength of your divine name, we pray. | ||
| Amen. | ||
|
unidentified
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The representatives-elect and their guests will please remain standing and join in the Pledge of Allegiance. | |
| As directed by law, the Clerk of the House has prepared the official role of the representatives-elect. | ||
| Certificates of election covering 435 seats in the 119th Congress have been received by the Clerk of the House. | ||
| The names of those persons whose credentials show that they were regularly elected as representatives in accord with the laws of their respective states or of the United States will be called. | ||
| The representatives-elect will record their presence by electronic device, and their names will be reported in alphabetical order by state, beginning with the state of Alabama, to determine whether a quorum is present. | ||
| Representatives-elect will have a minimum of 15 minutes to record their presence by electronic device. | ||
| Representatives-elect who have not obtained their voting card may do so now in the Speaker's lobby. | ||
| And it's | ||
| the opening day of the 119th Congress, live here on C-SPAN. | ||
| The Constitution mandates that a new Congress convenes at noon on January 3rd every two years. | ||
| Here's the agenda for the day as planned. | ||
| Right now on the House floor, a quorum call is taking place to find out how many members-elect are there. | ||
| The members-elect record their presence by inserting their voting cards in the chamber's electronic voting machines today instead of a roll call vote. | ||
| Then it's the election of the House Speaker, which is ordered by the clerk. | ||
| The candidates for speaker are nominated from the floor by their respective parties. | ||
| We'll certainly hear Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries' names being called shortly, and there could be other nominations as well. | ||
| Now, once a new Speaker is elected, we'll hear remarks by the Speaker-elect, and that's followed by their swearing in by the Dean of the House. | ||
| The Dean is the longest-serving member of the House, and that's now Hal Rogers, Republican of Kentucky, first elected in 1980 when Ronald Reagan was elected president. | ||
| After that, the oath of office for the newly elected and re-elected members will be administered by the Speaker. | ||
| And the last order of business is the adoption of the rules package for the 119th Congress. | ||
| If you're seeing different shots today, that's because C-SPAN's cameras are allowed on the floor on opening day. | ||
| So we will be live with our cameras, which are usually controlled by the House of Representatives. | ||
| Well, joining us today to help set up what's going to happen this afternoon is Daniela Diaz. | ||
| She is a congressional reporter with Politico. | ||
| Daniela, going into today, what is the headline? | ||
| Well, we're just going to see in a few moments whether Mike Johnson will be re-elected as Speaker of the House. | ||
| We are expecting several ballots to take place. | ||
| He probably won't be able to clinch that nomination on the first ballot. | ||
| Of course, the ballots being the roll call vote when all of the members say whether they support him for Speaker or not. | ||
| But we do expect that to take place. | ||
| It's unclear whether he will become Speaker. | ||
| Right now, all signs point to that he will likely be chosen as Speaker after a couple of rounds. | ||
| However, there are still some Republican conservatives that do not seem that keen on nominating him for Speaker. | ||
| Of course, there's one that's already said he's absolutely a no, that being Thomas Massey, a Libertarian from Kentucky. | ||
| But it's really tentative to see who is going to be the no votes that we expect in the first round. | ||
| And obviously, of course, this will take as many rounds as possible until there's a Speaker. | ||
| Otherwise, as a lot of Republicans and Democrats have told me, this could be a really chaotic time for the House should they not have a Speaker. | ||
| We've seen that before. | ||
| We saw that take place just a year ago when they booted Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. | ||
| So a lot of lawmakers, rank-and-file lawmakers on both sides hoping that doesn't happen again. | ||
| So Daniela Diaz, besides Tom Massey, has anyone else said no, a hard no yet? | ||
| Speaker Johnson. | ||
| Right, he's the only one so far. | ||
| However, there are a lot of far-right conservatives, a lot of folks on the House Freedom Caucus who have said that they haven't decided where they stand on Mike Johnson. | ||
| Now, this is a way for them to be able to have conversations with the Speaker, soon to be possibly Speaker-elect again for the 119th Congress. | ||
| This is a time when they are able to make requests from him, whether it be plum committee assignments, whether it be certain bills that they want on the floor, whether it be certain measures they'd like to see in that massive reconciliation package that they're hoping to pass Within the first 100 days through a process called budget reconciliation that would include tax measures, immigration. | ||
| So they have his ear, these far-right conservatives, and that's why they're taking this time to meet with him to discuss what would it take for them to get to a yes on his vote. | ||
| However, something to distinguish about Johnson that's separate from Kevin McCarthy this time two years ago is Johnson is saying that he doesn't want to make any promises to these far-right conservatives who want something from him in exchange for a yes vote. | ||
| He wants to be able to go in and say, I'm going to lead this conference, I want to unite this conference, and I don't want to specify or make any promises to specific lawmakers. | ||
| So it's going to be really interesting to see what happens should he fail on that first ballot round, whether he decides to go back to his office and meet with lawmakers, start talking to them on the House floor, and we can watch that play out in real time with the C-SPAN cameras. | ||
| So lots to see what happens in the next hour. | ||
| So 219 to 215 is the current breakdown in the House of Representatives, Republicans, Democrats. | ||
| One wild card: Matt Gates was reelected. | ||
| Could he vote for the Speaker today? | ||
| We are not expecting him to show up today. | ||
| So far, as I said here, I have not seen him in person near the House chamber. | ||
| While he was elected into the 119 Congress and, of course, remember, resigned right after he was nominated to be Attorney General and then, of course, said that he wouldn't return in January. | ||
| It's unclear whether that means he could actually appear today and vote. | ||
| From my understanding, based on Florida rules for the Secretary of State, he's not able to do that. | ||
| But should he do that, it could be a sort of chaotic scene on the House floor to see him not only appear but either cast his vote for or against Speaker Johnson. | ||
| Really important to note, though, that President Donald Trump is for Speaker Johnson. | ||
| He has, of course, been making calls on behalf of Speaker Johnson, has endorsed him repeatedly on social media and privately to rank-and-file members. | ||
| So that is a huge endorsement that Speaker Mayan Johnson has that he definitely needed going into today. | ||
| Well, we've heard from Paul Gosar and Eli Crane, both Republicans of Arizona, both saying that they will be supporting Speaker Johnson. | ||
| What would be the purpose, do you think, of a no vote on the first round? | ||
| It would certainly garner a lot of attention, not only from the media who are obviously watching this very closely, from reporters who, of course, want to know why a lawmaker voted no, but also from Speaker Johnson and leadership themselves, because that would mean a conversation, right? | ||
| It would mean that they would huddle and talk about why that lawmaker said no and what it would take for them to go to yes. | ||
| So that's why these lawmakers are not saying openly a lot of these members on the House Green Caucus conservatives saying that they have not said whether they would support Johnson on the floor because they want those conversations. | ||
| They want to be able to say, hey, I'd like to be able to be on this committee in exchange for a yes vote or I'd like to be able to have a guarantee that my bill will see floor time. | ||
|
Speaker Gavel Adoption
00:07:43
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| Those are the kinds of conversations taking place. | ||
| But again, do want to reiterate that from my understanding, based on my conversations with Republicans and with leadership, Mike Johnson is not making any promises just yet to any rank-and-file members on their yes votes. | ||
| He's just listening. | ||
| He's trying to reassure them that he plans to be a great leader to them as the Republican leader of the Republican conference. | ||
| So that's really what's taking place. | ||
| But it would be, of course, a lot of attention for these lawmakers to say no on that first ballot or second ballot or third ballot, however many times it takes. | ||
| And we see Speaker Johnson on the floor right now greeting members and perhaps doing some lobbying. | ||
| And just a minute ago, Daniela, we saw Nancy Pelosi on the floor, and it is being reported that she is wearing flats after breaking her hip. | ||
| That would be a first for former Speaker Pelosi, wouldn't it? | ||
| It certainly would be. | ||
| You know, she actually fell while she was on a CODEL abroad with a group of lawmakers, and she got hip replacement abroad. | ||
| And because of that, she's been out of Congress for a few weeks leading up to the holidays, and of course, after the holidays, however, she posted yesterday on social media that she was flying back to DC. | ||
| She was not going to miss the speaker's vote. | ||
| It is obviously very important to Democrats that they have full attendance. | ||
| So, Pelosi is here in flats, which might be the first time I could say in the years that I've covered Congress I've ever seen Nancy Pelosi in flats. | ||
| But also, Congressman Dwight Evans, who suffered a stroke last May, he has also been spotted near the House floor by my colleagues in a wheelchair. | ||
| He has been absent from Congress since his stroke, so it's really interesting to see that he has showed up today, will vote. | ||
| Democrats have told me, I actually just filed the story as I was waiting to talk to you, that they expect full attendance from their rank-and-file members from their caucus today, which is important because they want to be able to really command and show their unity against Speaker Mike Johnson. | ||
| It's not usually traditional that any opposite party members vote for the opposite party's speaker nominee or the majority's nominee. | ||
| So, Democrats are expected to vote for Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker. | ||
| Of course, that math is really important because we do expect all Democrats to support Speaker or Leader Jeffries. | ||
| So, that's why Johnson needs all Republicans to support him as the Speaker, too. | ||
| What if some Republicans vote present? | ||
| How does that change the math? | ||
| Well, not to be too technical here, although it is C-SPAN. | ||
| It would mean that it could help Johnson be able to clinch the nomination. | ||
| It just depends on how many members vote present. | ||
| The big important detail to keep in note here is that he cannot have a lot of members vote no against him. | ||
| That would mean he loses the speaker's gavel. | ||
| And, of course, Republicans, the last thing they want is for leader, Hakeem, minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, to accidentally get the Speaker's gavel because too many members vote present or no on the Republican side. | ||
| So, keep an eye on how that vote shapes out. | ||
| And, of course, Republicans plan to be watching that closely as well because even if they plan to vote against Mike Johnson, they definitely don't want to accidentally end up with a Speaker, Hakeem Jeffries. | ||
| Well, one of the legislative acts that is going to happen today is an adoption of the rules package. | ||
| And one of the changes in the rules package is the motion to vacate the Speaker's chair. | ||
| How has that changed in this Congress? | ||
| Well, in the past, as we've seen play out when Republicans, conservatives booted McCarthy from the Speakers, Chair, the way it's been is that one member, that's all it takes, can put forward a resolution to vacate the Speaker. | ||
| And now that has changed, should Republicans nominate a Speaker in the next couple of hours, should a speaker be confirmed as Speaker and retain the or Speaker Mike Johnson retains the Speaker's gavel. | ||
| It will now take eight to nine Republicans for them to be able to have enough to be able to motion to vacate the Speaker's gavel. | ||
| So, it went from one to a handful, and that is really, really important because it makes the ability for someone to be able to boot a speaker much more difficult. | ||
| Now, that was a rules package that was negotiated by the Main Street caucus, which is a group of more centrist Republicans in the House GOP conference that worked with the House Freedom Caucus to pass that measure. | ||
| So, it's going to be really, really interesting to see should that measure be adopted, how this continues. | ||
| And of course, it's good news for whoever becomes Speaker because it would mean that it will be much more difficult for them to lose that gavel. | ||
| Daniela Diaz, do we expect any other legislative business after the rules package and the election of the Speaker? | ||
| Well, there's a lot of new members and they're here with their families and even current members are here with their families today. | ||
| I was walking around the House chamber and you can just feel the buzz from lawmakers being with their families, showing them the House floor, being able to be here. | ||
| So it appears that should the 119th rules package be adopted, lawmakers will clear out, be able to join the festivities for the new Congress. | ||
| But then business continues tomorrow. | ||
| The House Republican Conference is planning to meet to discuss this huge reconciliation package that they're hoping to pass in the first 100 days using a process called budget reconciliation. | ||
| That means that they don't need Democratic votes to be able to pass legislation. | ||
| Should it contain budgetary measures? | ||
| That measure, of course, being tax policies, immigration policies. | ||
| That is what Donald Trump is pushing Republicans to work on as soon as possible. | ||
| And that is why we're seeing a lot of rank-and-file Republicans say that they want speakers in the chair as soon as possible. | ||
| They can start their work on that. | ||
| They're planning to meet tomorrow at some point to discuss that package behind closed doors. | ||
| And that's what we're going to see from this conference from Republicans in Congress, from the White House after January 20th. | ||
| Is that priority for the first 100 days be their number one priority to try to get that package through? | ||
| There are 150 women out of 435 members in this Congress. | ||
| Is that a record you know offhand? | ||
| It is. | ||
| It's also notable that this is the first time that there are the most Republican women in the House GOP conference and Democratic women. | ||
| I mean, this is probably one of the most diverse Congresses in history. | ||
| And that's notable considering, you know, diversity in the Republican Conference has been increasing also in the past 10 years. | ||
| More women in the Republican Conference over the last 10 years, trying to catch up to what it looks like in the Democratic caucus, considering that for a long time, the Democratic caucus has been seen as more diverse, more women in that caucus. | ||
| This is really notable. | ||
| And also a huge historic thing to note is that Tim Scott, actually, Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, is now the longest serving black senator ever in Congress. | ||
| He beats out another senator who had only served two terms. | ||
| So he actually announced and congratulated his state for keeping him in office. | ||
| And of course, he will continue to serve as a Republican senator of South Carolina in this next Congress. | ||
| Daniela Diaz of Politico, thanks for helping us set up the day for the opening of the 119th Congress. | ||
| We've been looking at the House floor where there are 63 freshman members, 33 Democrats, and 30 Republicans. | ||
|
Swearing In New Senators
00:04:45
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| But let's go to the other side of the Capitol over on the Senate. | ||
| And they are swearing in new members there. | ||
| And let's dip in and listen. | ||
|
unidentified
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The names of the next group. | |
| Mr. McCormick, Mr. Moreno, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Rosen. | ||
| Ready? | ||
| Please raise your right hand. | ||
| Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which you are about to enter. | ||
| help you God. | ||
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unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Sheehy. | ||
| Here's your right hand. | ||
| Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which you are about to enter. | ||
| So help you, God. | ||
|
unidentified
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I do. | |
| Congratulations, Senator. | ||
|
unidentified
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Congratulations, Senator. | |
| And that is outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris swearing in the new members of the Senate. | ||
| There's about 10 new members of the Senate, about 10% of the entire body. | ||
| And in the 119th Congress, the Republicans gained control. | ||
| 53 seats, Democrats, 47 seats. | ||
| Senator Thune, Republican of South Dakota, is the new majority leader. | ||
| Senator Chuck Schumer of New York continues as the Democratic leader. | ||
| And there are 12 new senators, as you can see, six from each party. | ||
|
Choose Your Speaker
00:11:15
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| It gets a little complicated in there, and we'll get into that in just a minute. | ||
| But right now, let's go back to the House floor. | ||
| You can see Speaker Johnson down there talking with his members. | ||
| Let's dip in and watch for a minute. | ||
| Ben, you're watching live coverage of the opening of the 119th Congress on C-SPAN. | ||
| You're going to see some different shots in the House of Representatives today because C-SPAN cameras are allowed in the House. | ||
| Usually the cameras are controlled by the House of Representatives, but the Speaker has given us permission to bring our own cameras in there. | ||
| So I hope you enjoy the variety of shots and faces that you have a chance to see. | ||
| Matthew Green is a political science professor with Catholic University. | ||
| He's author of a book called The Speaker of the House, and he is joining us to give us some context as we go through opening day procedures. | ||
| Professor Green, if this were 50, 100 years ago and this were happening, would it look familiar to us? | ||
| And would this look familiar to people from 100 years ago? | ||
| If we're talking 50 or even 100 years ago, it probably wouldn't look all that different. | ||
| Obviously, there's no television cameras, but if we were in the House chamber, it would look very, very much like it does today. | ||
| What, constitutionally, is the role of the Speaker of the House? | ||
| So the Constitution says very little about the Speaker of the House. | ||
| It says that the House shall choose its Speaker, and that's about it. | ||
| So much of what the Speaker does, what the responsibilities of the Speaker are, have been determined or developed over time through rules of the House, practice, precedent, and so forth. | ||
| And what's happened over time is the Speakership has changed quite dramatically from the first House of Representatives to the way the Speaker operates and the powers he has today. | ||
| How so? | ||
| So when the Speakership was first occupied, the House first met, the Speaker was largely seen as a parliamentarian position, there to sort of be a neutral arbiter of what was happening on the House floor. | ||
| But over time, with the development of political parties, Speakers began to be more of a party leader as well as a leader of the whole House. | ||
| And then as the responsibilities of the House grew, the size of the House grew, the number of committees grew, and then of course the rise of things like the modern media, television, et cetera, the role of the Speaker expanded to one in which they have to deal with everything from how the House is operating internally to helping their party and its party's members win seats in the House. | ||
| Could anyone be nominated as Speaker, or do you have to be a member of the House? | ||
| So technically, the Constitution does not say that you have to be a member of the House in order to be Speaker. | ||
| So every once in a while people talk about, well, we could have someone completely outside the House be Speaker. | ||
| And in some of these elections that we've had for Speaker, we've had folks nominate individuals who are not actually members of Congress. | ||
| But there are a number of legal scholars who have argued that it's a practical matter. | ||
| You really could not do that. | ||
| You'd be in effect creating a new House member, picking somebody who was not a member of the House to be a Speaker. | ||
| We've never had that happen, so we don't know for sure. | ||
| But it seems safe to say that it would be very difficult, not impossible, to have a non-House member be Speaker. | ||
| Last year, the Kevin McCarthy saga, several votes, ousting, and then et cetera, et cetera, until we got to Mike Johnson in October. | ||
| Has that ever happened before? | ||
| Well, we've never had a Speaker removed the way that Kevin McCarthy was removed with a privileged resolution to vacate the chair, what people often call a motion to vacate. | ||
| That's the first time that had ever happened. | ||
| It had been offered before, but never successfully passed. | ||
| However, we have had in our history times when the House could not choose a Speaker on the first round of balloting. | ||
| This happened in the 1920s, for example. | ||
| So that in itself was not new. | ||
| Although to take 15 ballots, as it did for McCarthy to be chosen, that length of time to choose a speaker we had not seen since the 19th century. | ||
| So we're in the quorum call right now. | ||
| We're waiting for that to finish. | ||
| And then what comes next? | ||
| So after that, we're going to have the vote for Speaker. | ||
| There will be nominations. | ||
| Each party will nominate their candidate. | ||
| And then we will proceed to a vote. | ||
| And what makes the vote so much fun for those of us who like to watch the House floor is that it's not done electronically, as this quorum call is being done, but it's done alphabetically. | ||
| And every member is called by their last name, and then they have to say whom they are voting for. | ||
| And so it takes a good 30, 45 minutes watching. | ||
| You can look for folks you think might not vote for their party's nominee, whether they choose not to vote or vote for someone else. | ||
| And just as we had that, and we saw that drama in 2015, and it could conceivably happen again today. | ||
| As a political junkie, who are you watching today? | ||
| In terms of folks, how they're going to vote, well, certainly Tom Massey of Kentucky is a Republican who has said pretty clearly he's not going to vote for Mike Johnson, even though Johnson is his party's nominee. | ||
| And then we have about a half dozen other, a half dozen to a dozen other Republicans, folks like Chip Roy in Texas, from Texas, who have said they're not happy with Johnson. | ||
| They haven't necessarily said they'll vote against him, but they have expressed varying degrees of dissatisfaction. | ||
| And so what they do in this vote, which is coming up, will help determine whether or not we have a speaker in the first ballot or if we have to keep having multiple, if we have to have multiple ballots. | ||
| What happens if 10 or so Republicans, again, 219 to 215 is the breakdown, 10 or so Republicans vote present? | ||
| So this is a good question because the way a speaker is chosen, basically there's two things that you need in order to get chosen speaker. | ||
| First, you have to have the most votes. | ||
| But second, you have to have an absolute majority of all the votes that are cast for a named candidate. | ||
| So it could be Johnson or Jeffries or it could be anybody, but it has to be a name. | ||
| So if you choose not to vote or you vote present, it's as if you're not voting at all and it's not counted towards the denominator. | ||
| So for instance, a lot of people are talking about how Johnson can only afford one defection, which is true. | ||
| If Tom Massey votes no, votes, excuse me, votes present, doesn't vote, or votes for someone else, Johnson will still have a majority. | ||
| But when you start having more defections, then how they vote will matter. | ||
| So for instance, if there are two defections, two Republicans who choose either to vote for someone else or not to vote at all or vote present, then the outcome depends on what their vote choice is. | ||
| If they, for example, those two members decide not to vote at all, they're not counted. | ||
| And then the threshold that you need to get elected is not 218 as it is now, but 217. | ||
| And in which case, Johnson would lose two votes, but he would have 217. | ||
| He would have the majority. | ||
| He'd still be Speaker. | ||
| But if those two Republicans choose to vote for another named candidate, you still need the 218. | ||
| And Johnson would have 217, so we wouldn't have a Speaker chosen. | ||
| So if everyone votes, 219, 215, Hakeem Jeffries does not stand a chance of being elected Speaker if no Republicans vote for him, correct? | ||
| If everyone votes for a name. | ||
| If, yes, so, but, but, right, once you get, if Johnson loses two, three, or even four Republicans, he's okay. | ||
| But once you have five or more, he gets into the danger zone. | ||
| Because at that point, he would only have at most 214 votes. | ||
| And if every Democrat is there and votes for Jeffries, Jeffries has 215, which is more than 214. | ||
| So then how those folks choose to vote, if at all, matters. | ||
| Matt Green of Catholic University, we'll come back to you. | ||
| Let's go to the house. | ||
|
unidentified
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Are there additional representatives elect in the chamber who wish to record their presence? | |
| If not, all time has expired. | ||
| 433 representatives elect have recorded their presence. | ||
| A quorum is present. | ||
| Credentials, regular in form, have been received showing the election of the Honorable Pablo Jose Hernandez-Rivera as resident commissioner from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for a term of four years beginning January 3rd, 2025. | ||
| The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton as delegate from the District of Columbia. | ||
| The Honorable James C. Moylan as delegate from Guam. | ||
| The Honorable Stacey E. Plaskett as delegate from the Virgin Islands. | ||
| The Honorable Amua Amada Coleman-Radawagon as delegate from American Samoa. | ||
| And the Honorable Kimberlyn King Hines as delegate from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. | ||
| The clerk is in receipt of a letter from the Honorable Matt Gates of the state of Florida indicating that he will not serve in the House and the 119th Congress. | ||
| Without objection, the letters relating to his resignation will be printed in the record. | ||
|
Opportunity to Lead
00:08:13
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unidentified
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Pursuant to law and precedent, the next order of business is the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 119th Congress. | |
| Nominations are now in order. | ||
| The clerk recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan, Mrs. McClain. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Clerk, and thank you, colleagues. | ||
| Mr. Clerk, as the chair of the Republican Conference, I am directed by the vote of that conference to present for election to the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 119th Congress the name of the Honorable Mike Johnson, representative from the state of Louisiana. | ||
| Welcome everybody. | ||
| I am optimistic about our future. | ||
| On November 5th, the American people gave us a great opportunity to get America back on the right track. | ||
| They gave us an opportunity to get back to normal and to get back to the real issues that the country faces right now. | ||
| People want the opportunity to take care of their families. | ||
| They simply want to provide for their children and give them a prosperous future. | ||
| And ladies and gentlemen, we have the opportunity today to do just that. | ||
| We have an opportunity to take our country back. | ||
| With Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and President Donald J. | ||
| Trump in charge, we have the opportunity to put America first Again. | ||
| We have an opportunity to do something about crime. | ||
| We have an opportunity to do something about the border. | ||
| And we have an opportunity to take care of our veterans. | ||
| We and every single member in this chamber and those of you watching at home and on TV should be looking forward, knowing that America will be respected again. | ||
| Our country is the last bastion of hope. | ||
| If we fail, then who? | ||
| This is why we are focused on the issues that the majority of Americans care about. | ||
| God, family, country, faith, freedom, and traditional American values. | ||
| We should be making it easier for people to achieve the American dream. | ||
| Over 14 months ago, Mike Johnson took on a daunting task. | ||
| No speaker is perfect and no one will ever be. | ||
| However, achieving perfection requires incremental gains and hard decisions along the way. | ||
| None of us will get exactly what we want. | ||
| The fundamental collective goal of this body is to make progress for the American people in which we represent. | ||
| And we have done just that under Mike's leadership. | ||
| We should be celebrating and building upon his efforts, our efforts. | ||
| Mike has remained the same kind and caring person as he was before he assumed this role. | ||
| He's an honest broker. | ||
| He shows you his true beliefs at face value. | ||
| He is steadfast in his values of faith, family, and love of this country. | ||
| He knows our brightest days are still ahead of us, and I do too. | ||
| I am hopeful for the next Congress. | ||
| I am optimistic that we will focus on those issues that people truly care about. | ||
| I know Mike will be an integral part of this country's comeback. | ||
| He will lead us through another successful Republican majority. | ||
| As chairwoman of the Unified House Republican Conference, I can say proudly that we are ready to govern. | ||
| It is my honor to present our conference's nominee for the speaker of the People's House, the Honorable Mike Johnson from the state of Louisiana. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The clerk now recognizes the gentleman from California, Mr. Aguilar. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Clerk. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Clerk. | ||
| I've had a little bit of practice, and clearly my colleagues took notice. | ||
| I rise to place a name and nomination, but first, I want to acknowledge my colleague from Michigan for her heartfelt and personal nominating speech. | ||
| As someone who's given a few of these, I can say you served your caucus, your conference well, Representative McLean. | ||
| But Mr. Clerk, today I rise on behalf of the governing majority of the House of Representatives. | ||
| The American people have sent a strong message that they want their elected leaders working together to tackle the affordability crisis. | ||
|
House Democrats' Unwavering Ally
00:04:49
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|
unidentified
|
There is only one leader in this chamber with a track record of compromise, conviction, and compassion. | |
| There is only one leader who understands the needs of the working people and has lived the American dream himself and is committed to ensuring its promise for future generations. | ||
| There is only one leader who knows how to negotiate a bipartisan deal and then stick to that deal. | ||
| House Democrats are united behind the most powerful legislative leader in this chamber, Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn. | ||
| House Democrats, under the leadership of Hakeem Jeffries, are committed to bipartisanship and common sense solutions to America's most pressing challenges. | ||
| In the face of chaos and dysfunction over the last two years, our caucus has kept the government funded, kept our allies protected, and the economy secured from the catastrophic default. | ||
| In the 119th Congress, we will work with the incoming administration to make life better, safer, and more affordable for working families. | ||
| And the incoming administration must also recognize that while my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are divided, and while compromise remains a dirty word for so many, Congress won't be able to keep the lights on, let alone pass anything of substance, without the buy-in and blessing of House Democrats and Hakeem Jeffries. | ||
| Make no mistake, Democrats want to bring down the cost of living, build more housing, and lower the cost of everyday items like food, medicine, and child care. | ||
| Even as the extreme rhetoric rises in this chamber and in the public square, we will not stop advocating for the policies that do the most good for the most people. | ||
| Because of Hakeem's leadership, we will never abandon our values or sacrifice our bedrock principles of freedom and democracy. | ||
| When America's enemies abroad threatened our Democratic ally, Ukraine, when terrorists attacked our strongest ally, Israel, it was Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats who delivered the votes and stood tall for America's national security. | ||
| When the least, the lost, and the left behind were threatened with devastating cuts, Hakeem Jeffries stood with America's mothers, children, and veterans. | ||
| When the incoming administration wanted to raise the debt limit by trillions of dollars in order to finance tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected, leaving middle-class families to pay for the bill and leaving them high and dry, Hakeem Jeffries didn't just say no, he said that's why there is only one true candidate today for Speaker. | ||
| So, Mr. Clerk, I am honored to rise today at the direction of the House Democratic Caucus to place into nomination for election to the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, the pride of Brooklyn, the gentleman from New York, Hakeem Jeffries. | ||
|
Tellers Appointed
00:04:51
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|
unidentified
|
The names of the Honorable Mike Johnson, a representative-elect from the state of Louisiana, and the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, a representative-elect from the state of New York, have been placed in nomination. | |
| Are there further nominations? | ||
| There being no further nominations, the clerk appoints the following tellers: the gentleman from North Carolina, Ms. Fox, the gentleman from New York, Mr. Morelli, the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Stile, and the gentlewoman from California, Mrs. Torres. | ||
| The tellers will come forward and take their seats at the desk in front of the speaker's rostrum. | ||
| Are you guys good down there as well? | ||
| Am I good? | ||
| I'm sure you have to know what the numbering of the pieces find out. | ||
| If you watch Mr. Salmon, he does check that out. | ||
| I was like, oh. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yeah. | |
| The roll now will be called, and those responding to their names will indicate by surname the nominee of their choosing. | ||
| The reading clerk will now call the roll. | ||
| Adams, Jeffries, Adderholt, Johnson, Aguilar, Jeffries, Alford, | ||
|
Mike Johnson Repeats
00:15:31
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| Johnson, Allen, Johnson, Amo, Jeffries, Amode of Nevada, Johnson. | ||
| Ansari, Jeffries Arrington Johnson, Auchinclaus. | ||
| Jeffries Babbin Johnson. | ||
|
unidentified
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Bacon Johnson, Bear Johnson, Balderson Johnson, Ballot Jeffries Barr Mike Johnson, Johnson Bettergan. | |
| Jeffries Barrett Barrett Baumgartner. | ||
| Mike Johnson is Barrett Johnson. | ||
| Barrett Johnson Baumgartner. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson, Johnson Bean of Florida. | |
| Johnson Beatty, Jeffries Begich. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson Johnson Bell Jeffries, Bence Johnson Vera, Jeffries Bergman. | |
| Johnson Johnson Bayer, Jeffries, VICE Johnson, Biggs of Arizona. | ||
| Biggs of Arizona, Biggs of South Carolina, President Trump's indoors candidate. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson Johnson, Billarakis Johnson, Bishop Jeffries Boebert Johnson, Bonamic. | |
| Jeffries Boston. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson, Johnson Boyle of Pennsylvania. | |
| Jeffries Rakeen Johnson, Bresnahan, Johnson Brown, Jeffreys Brownlee. | ||
| Jeffries Buchanan, Johnson Bodzinski. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffries Burgett, Louisiana. | |
| Johnson Burleson, Johnson Bynum, Jeffries, Jeffries Calvert. | ||
| Johnson, Camick Johnson Carbajal. | ||
| Jeffreys Carey Johnson. | ||
| Carson Carson, Carter of Georgia. | ||
| Johnson Carter of Louisiana. | ||
| Jeffreys Carter of Texas. | ||
| Johnson Kassar, Jeffreys Case. | ||
| Jeffreys Caston. | ||
| Jeffreys Castor of Florida. | ||
| Jeffreys Castro of Texas. | ||
| Jeffreys Scherferlis, McCormick. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Chu, Jeffries Cisco, Mani Johnson Cisneros. | |
| Jeffreys Clark of Massachusetts. | ||
| Jeffreys Clark of New York. | ||
| Jeffreys Cleaver. | ||
| Jeffreys Klein, Johnson Cloud Cloud, Clyburn. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Clyde Clyde. | |
| Cohen, Jeffries. | ||
|
unidentified
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Cole, Johnson. | |
| Collins, Johnson. | ||
|
unidentified
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Comer, Johnson. | |
| Conaway, Jeffries. | ||
| Connelly, Jeffries. | ||
| Correa. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffries Costa, Gentleman from Brooklyn, IQ Jeffrey, Jeffries Courtney, Jeffreys Craig, Jeffries Crane Johnson, Craig Johnson Crawford, Johnson, | |
| Johnson Crenshaw Johnson, Johnson Crockett, Jeffreys Crow, Jeffreys Quayer, Jeffries Jeffries Davis of Kansas, Jeffries Jeffries Davidson, | ||
| Johnson, Davis of Illinois, Jeffries, Davis of North Carolina, Jeffries, Dean of Pennsylvania, Jeffries, | ||
| DeGette, Jeffries, De La Cruz, Mike Johnson, Johnson, DeLauro, Jeffries, Del Bene. | ||
| Jeffreys DeLuzio, Jeffries DeSaughani, Jeffreys Desjarlais, Johnson Dexter, Jeffreys Diaz Billart, Johnson Dingle, Jeffries Douglas, | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffries Donaldson Johnson Downey, Mike Johnson, Johnson Dunn of Florida, Johnson Edwards, Johnson Elfred, Jeffers Elze Johnson Hammer, | |
| Johnson Escobar, Jeffreys Jeffrey Espayat. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Estes Johnson, Evans of Colorado. | |
| Mike Johnson Johnson, Evans of Pennsylvania. | ||
| Jeffreys Ezel Johnson, Fallon Ford, District of Texas. | ||
| Votes probably for, Mike Johnson Johnson, Fedor Chak Johnson Johnson, Feanstrom Johnson Fields, Jeffreys Figures, Jeffreys Finstad, Johnson Johnson, | ||
| Fischbach, Johnson, Fitzgerald, Mike Johnson, Fitzpatrick, Johnson, Flashman, Johnson, Fletcher, Jeffries, Fudd, Johnson, Fong, Mike Johnson, Johnson. | ||
| Jeffreys Fouchy, Jeffrey Jeffreys, Fox Johnson, Lois Franklin, Jeffreys Scott, Franklin Johnson Friedman, Jeffreys Frost, Jeffreys Jeffreys Fry, | ||
|
unidentified
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Johnson Johnson, Fulcher Johnson Garrimendi, Jeffrey Jeffreys Carbarina, Johnson Johnson, Garcia of California. | |
| Jeffreys Jeffries, Garcia of Illinois. | ||
| Jeffries Garcia of Texas. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Gill of Texas. | |
| Johnson Killin, Jeffreys Jeffreys Johnson, Golden of Maine. | ||
| Jeffries Goldman of New York. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Jeffreys, Goldman of Texas. | |
| Johnson Gomez, Jeffries Jeffries Tony Gonzalez Johnson. | ||
| Vicente Gonzalez, Jeffries, Gooden, Johnson, Goodlander, Jeffries, Gosar, Gosar, | ||
|
unidentified
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Gantheimer, Jeffries, Graves, Johnson. | |
| Bray Jeffreys Jeffreys Green of Tennessee. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson. | |
| Johnson. | ||
| Green of Texas. | ||
|
unidentified
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And still our eyes are the first and fifth of liberty and justice for all. | |
| It is the hope and green of this great world. | ||
| Order the gentleman they respond by Surname, Harris | ||
|
Jeffries Johnson Dominance
00:15:33
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| of North Carolina. | ||
| Johnson, Harshbarber, Johnson, Keyes, Jeffries, Oklahoma, Johnson. | ||
|
unidentified
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Johnson Higgins of Louisiana. | |
| Johnson Hill of Arkansas. | ||
| Johnson Hines. | ||
| Jeffries Henson Johnson, Horsford. | ||
| Jeffries Hausen, Johnson Houlahan. | ||
| Jeffries Hoyer. | ||
| Jeffries Hoyle of Oregon. | ||
| Jeffrey Jeffreys Hudson Johnson Huffman. | ||
| Jeffrey Jeffreys Haisinga. | ||
| Johnson Johnson Hunt Johnson Heard of Colorado. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson Johnson. | |
| Issa Johnson, Ivy Jeffries. | ||
| Jeffries Jack Mike Johnson Johnson, Jackson of Illinois. | ||
| Jeffreys Jackson of Texas. | ||
| Johnson Jacobs. | ||
| Jeffreys James Mike Johnson Johnson. | ||
| Jayapa Jeffreys Jeffreys. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Jeffreys Johnson of Georgia. | |
| Jeffries Johnson of Louisiana. | ||
|
unidentified
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Johnson Johnson of South Dakota. | |
| Johnson Johnson of Texas. | ||
| Jeffries Jordan Johnson. | ||
| Joyce of Ohio. | ||
| Johnson Johnson, Joyce of Pennsylvania. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson Johnson. | |
| Kim Laverdo, Jeffries Captor. | ||
| Jeffreys Kane, Johnson Keating. | ||
| Jeffreys Jeffreys Kelly of Illinois. | ||
| Jeffreys Kelly of Mississippi. | ||
| Johnson Kelly of Pennsylvania. | ||
|
unidentified
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Johnson Johnson, Kennedy of New York. | |
| Jeffreys Kennedy of Utah. | ||
| Johnson Connolly, Jeffreys Kiggins of Virginia. | ||
| Johnson Kylie of California. | ||
| Johnson Kim Johnson Knott. | ||
| Mike Johnson Johnson, Krishna Morthy. | ||
| Jeffreys Jeffreys Custoff. | ||
|
unidentified
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Johnson Johnson, LaHood Johnson, La Lota Johnson, Lamalfa Johnson Lanceman, Jeffreys Langworthy, | |
| Johnson Larson of Washington. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Larson of Connecticut, Jeffreys Latimer, Jeffreys Lana Johnson, Johnson Lawler, the Honorable Mike Johnson Johnson, Lee of Florida. | |
| Johnson Lee of Nevada. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Lee of Pennsylvania. | |
| Jeffreys Ledger Fernandez. | ||
| Jeffreys Letlow, Johnson Levin, Jeffrey, Jeffreys Licardo, Jeffries Lou, Jeffreys Loughgren, Jeffreys Laudermilk Johnson. | ||
| Lucas Johnson Johnson, Luna Johnson, Latrell Johnson, Johnson Lynch, Jeffries Mace Johnson, McKinsey Johnson Magazineer. | ||
| Jeffries Maliotakas Johnson. | ||
| Malloy Johnson Mann. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson, Johnson Mannion, Jeffreys Massey, Emmer Mast Johnson, Matsui. | |
| Jeffries McBath, Jeffreys McBride, Jeffries McCall, Johnson McLean Johnson McLean, Delaney. | ||
| Jeffries McClellan, Jeffries McClintock, Johnson McCollum, Jeffries McCormick, Johnson McDonald, Rivet. | ||
| Jeffreys McDowell, Johnson McGarvey, Jeffreys McGovern, Jeffrey Jeffreys McGuire. | ||
|
unidentified
|
President Johnson watched the opposite vote in the electoral votes half crowded votes. | |
| Johnson McIver, Jeffries Meeks, Jeffreys Menendez, Jeffrey Jeffreys Mang, Jeffreys Messmer, Johnson Muser, Johnson Fume. | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffries. | |
| Jeffreys Miller of Illinois. | ||
| Johnson Miller of Ohio. | ||
| Johnson Miller of West Virginia. | ||
| Johnson Miller Meeks. | ||
| The Honorable Representative and Speaker of the House. | ||
| Mike Johnson, Johnson Mills. | ||
| Johnson, Min. | ||
| Jeffries Molinar. | ||
| Johnson more of Alabama. | ||
| Johnson more of North Carolina. | ||
| Johnson more of Utah. | ||
| Johnson more of Wisconsin. | ||
| Jeffreys more of West Virginia. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mike Johnson. | |
| Johnson Moran, Johnson Morelli, Jeffries Morrison, Jeffries Moskowitz Moskowitz, Jeffries Moulton, Jeffries Mervan Jeffries. | ||
| Mullen Jeffries Murphy Johnson. | ||
| Nadler Jeffries Neil Jeffries. | ||
| Jeffries Nagus. | ||
| Jeffries. Nails. Johnson. Newhouse. Mr. Johnson. | ||
|
unidentified
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Johnson Norcross, Jeffries Jeffries Norman Jordan, Nunn of Iowa, Johnson Urbanoti, | |
| Johnson Ocasio-Cortez, Jeffries Ogles, Johnson Olshesky, Jeffries Omar, Jeffries Ander Johnson, | ||
| Owens, Johnson, Pallone, Jeffreys, Palmer, Palmer, Johnson, | ||
| Panetta, Jeffreys, Pappas, Jeffreys, Pelosi, Jeffreys, | ||
| Perez, Jeffries, Perry, Johnson, Peters, Jeffries, Pedersen, | ||
| Jeffries, Pflueger, Johnson, Pingree, Jeffries, Pocan, | ||
| Jeffries Poe, Jeffries Jeffries, Presley Presley, Jeffries Quigley, Jeffries Ramirez, Jeffries Randall, Jeffries Raskin, | ||
| Jeffries, Jeffries Rischenthaler Johnson, Riley of New York, Jeffries Rivas, Jeffries Rogers of Alabama, Mark Johnson Johnson, | ||
| Rogers of Kentucky, Johnson, Rose, Johnson, Ross, Jeffries, Rouser, Johnson, Roy, Ruiz, | ||
| Jeffries. | ||
| Rooley. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Johnson. | |
| Johnson. | ||
| Rutherford. | ||
|
unidentified
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Rutherford. | |
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Johnson And Jeffries
00:06:37
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| Johnson. | ||
| Ryan. | ||
| Jeffries. | ||
|
unidentified
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Salazar. | |
| Johnson. | ||
| Salinez. | ||
| Jeffries. | ||
| Sanchez. | ||
| Sanchez. | ||
| Jeffries Scalise Johnson Scanlon, Jeffries Schakowsky, Jeffreys Schmidt, Johnson Schneider, Jeffreys Scolton, Jeffreys Schreier, | ||
| Jeffries, Schweikert, Johnson, Austin Scott, Johnson, David Scott, Jeffries, Scott of Virginia, Jeffries, Self, Donalds. | ||
| Johnson Sewell, Jeffreys Sherman, Jeffreys Cheryl, Jeffreys Shreve Johnson, Simon Simon, | ||
| Jeffries Simpson Simpson. | ||
| Johnson, Smith of Missouri. | ||
| Johnson Smith of Nebraska. | ||
| Johnson, Smith of New Jersey. | ||
| Johnson, Smith of Washington. | ||
| Jeffreys Smucker, Johnson Sorensen, Jeffreys Soto, Jeffreys Smartson, Sparts Johnson Stansbury, Jeffreys Stanton, | ||
|
unidentified
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Jeffreys Stauber. | |
| Johnson, Stephonic Johnson, Style Johnson, Stuby Johnson Stevens, Jeffries Strickland, Jeffries Strong Johnson, | ||
| Stutzman Johnson Subramanium, Jeffries Suazzi, Jeffries Jeffreys Swalwell, Jeffries Sykes, Jeffreys Takano, Jeffreys Taylor Johnson, | ||
| Tenney Johnson Tanadar, Jeffries Thompson of California, Jeffries Thompson of Mississippi, Jeffries Thompson of Pennsylvania Johnson, Tiffany Johnson, | ||
| Timmins Johnson Titus, Jeffreys Taliban Jefferson, Jeffreys Takuda, Jeffries Taco, Jeffries Torres of California, | ||
| Jeffreys Torres of New York, Jeffries Trahan, Jeffries Tran, Jeffries Turner of Ohio, Johnson Turner of Texas, Jeffries Underwood, | ||
| Jeffries. | ||
| Valadeo. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mike Johnson. | |
| Johnson. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Van Drew. | |
| Johnson. | ||
| Johnson. | ||
| Van Dyne. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Johnson. | |
| Johnson. | ||
| Van Orden. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mike Johnson. | |
| Johnson. | ||
| Vargas. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hakeem Jeffries. | |
| Jeffries. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Vasquez. | |
| Hakeem Jeffries. | ||
| Jeffries. | ||
| Vesey. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Jeffries, Jeffries Velasquez, Jeffries Vindman, Jeffries Jeffreys Wagner Johnson Wahlberg Johnson Waltz, Waltz, | |
|
Schultz Jeffries Connection
00:00:13
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| Barsaman Schultz, Jeffries Waters, Jeffries | ||