Kevin McCarthy, ousted House speaker, says he will leave Congress at end of the year – US politics live

McCarthy, who was ousted from the House weeks ago, said in his announcement, ‘I’m leaving the House but not the fight’

Former speaker Kevin McCarthy has announced that he will resign from the House at the end of the year.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on Wednesday and titled “I’m leaving the House but not the fight,” McCarthy said that he had decided to depart the House at the end of this year and “serve America in new ways”.

I know my work is only getting started. I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders.”

“I never could have imagined the journey when I first threw my hat into the ring. I go knowing I left it all on the field—as always, with a smile on my face. And looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Only in America.”

“Common sense should dictate that we need to secure our own border in addition to helping Ukraine and Israel secure theirs. In the greatest country on Earth, we do not have to choose between protecting our homeland and defending our allies.

My support for Israel and Ukraine is unwavering but it does not supersede my commitment to my own country. We need major, structural reforms to limit the number of illegal crossings at our southern border and regain operational control.

Continue reading...

US House close to vote on Biden impeachment inquiry, speaker says

After months of Republican investigations, Mike Johnson told Fox he believed GOP conference has enough votes to launch

The US House speaker Mike Johnson signaled on Saturday that Republicans are nearing holding a formal vote to launch an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

“I think it’s something we have to do at this juncture,” Johnson said during a Saturday appearance on Fox and Friends Weekend.

Continue reading...

Mike Johnson to publicly release 44,000 hours of sensitive January 6 footage

US House speaker to make good on promise to far-right Republicans including Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump

House speaker Mike Johnson said Friday he plans to publicly release thousands of hours of footage from the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, making good on a promise he made to far-right members of his party when he was campaigning for his current job.

“This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials,” Johnson said in a statement.

Continue reading...

‘No ceasefire!’: tens of thousands march for Israel in Washington DC

Speakers from Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer to Republican House speaker Mike Johnson greeted crowds

Tens of thousands of Israel supporters gathered in Washington DC on Tuesday to show support for its war against Hamas, declare their opposition to a ceasefire and decry a global rise in antisemitism.

Massed ranks of demonstrators bearing placards and draped in Israeli flags gathered in the capital’s National Mall amid ultra-tight security and under clear blue skies in an event designed, at least partially, as a riposte to large recent US rallies demanding an immediate halt to Israel’s military offensive.

Continue reading...

House passes bill to avert shutdown – as it happened

The blog is now closed, but read about the House vote here:

Donald Trump’s disdain for Letitia James, the New York attorney general who brought a $250m fraud case against the former president, and Arthur Engoron, the judge adjudicating it, is pretty well known. Trump was fined twice last month for breaching a gag order.

On Tuesday, Trump ramped up the rhetoric further, promoting a post on his Truth Social network calling for a citizen’s arrest of the pair “for blatant election interference and harassment”.

Continue reading...

US House passes bill to avert government shutdown

Democrats and mainstream Republicans join forces with vote of 336 to 95 to advance stopgap spending package

The House on Tuesday approved a novel plan to prevent a government shutdown, with the recently-installed Republican House speaker Mike Johnson relying on Democratic votes as the far-right flank of his caucus dissented.

By a vote of 336 to 95, a coalition of nearly every Democratic representative and more mainstream Republicans joined forces to advance the stopgap spending package that would fund government departments into early 2024, easily clearing the two-thirds threshold needed for passage under an expedited process. Ninety-three Republicans and two Democrats opposed the measure.

Continue reading...

House speaker Mike Johnson faces race against the clock as shutdown is just days away – US politics live

Johnson’s proposal unveiled at weekend would stretch funding until 19 January but doesn’t include cuts Republican colleagues are asking for

“Tim Scott is a good man of faith and an inspiration to so many. The Republican primary was made better by his participation in it,” Haley said on X. “South Carolina is blessed to continue to have him as our senator. Scott announced conceded on Sunday, just six months after launching his campaign.”

Scott conceded on Sunday, just six months after launching his campaign.

Continue reading...

House speaker unveils Republican plan to avert government shutdown

Stopgap spending bill, which omits funding for Israel or Ukraine, faces opposition from both parties in Congress

US House speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a Republican stopgap spending measure late Saturday aimed at averting a government shutdown in a week, but the measure quickly ran into opposition from lawmakers from both parties in Congress.

Unlike ordinary continuing resolutions that fund federal agencies for a specific period, the measure announced by Johnson would fund some parts of the government until 19 January and others until 2 February. House Republicans hope to pass the measure Tuesday.

Continue reading...

House speaker Mike Johnson faces key test as government shutdown is days away with no deal in sight – US politics live

Kevin McCarthy’s replacement tasked with passing legislation to fund the government but issues that toppled predecessor persist

Meanwhile in South Carolina, Kamala Harris officially filed the Biden campaign’s paperwork to appear on its primary ballot:

Joe Biden’s victory in the state’s primary three years ago revived a presidential campaign that appeared to be flagging. After winning the White House, he successfully pushed to make it the first state to vote in the Democrats’ nominating calendar, arguing the process should better reflect the country’s diversity, though not all Democrats were happy about the decision.

Continue reading...

Mike Johnson says in resurfaced video he uses app that helps people ‘quit porn’

House speaker says in clip he and son use Covenant Eyes, which bills itself as a tool that ‘helps you live porn-free with confidence’

Mike Johnson, the hardline conservative and outspoken Christian who was elected House speaker in October, has raised eyebrows after he admitted using an app which bills itself as a tool to help people “quit porn”.

A year-old clip posted online over the weekend showed Johnson discussing how he and his son use Covenant Eyes, an app which tracks users’ phone and computer use, to monitor each others’ online activity.

Continue reading...

US House passes $14.3bn aid package for Israel despite Democratic opposition

Led by House speaker Mike Johnson, Republican plan passes Thursday 226-196 as Biden threatens veto

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Republican plan to provide $14.3bn in aid to Israel as it fights Hamas, despite Democrats’ insistence it has no future in the Senate and the White House’s promise of a veto.

The measure passed 226-196, largely along party lines, with most Republicans supporting the bill and most Democrats objecting.

Continue reading...

New House speaker Mike Johnson praised ‘18th-century values’ in speech

Louisiana congressman told audience at 2013 anti-abortion event Americans should live by 250-year-old religious and moral values

Before entering elected office, Mike Johnson, the new Republican speaker of the US House, praised “18th-century values” and told an audience that Americans should live by them when it came to morality and religion.

In video footage of a forum hosted in 2013 by Louisiana Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, Johnson, a devout Baptist and then an attorney for rightwing groups and causes, is asked about the “condition of conscience” in Europe and Canada regarding abortion policy.

Continue reading...

Mike Johnson’s speaker win reveals the iron grip Trump still has on Republicans

The previously little-known rightwinger from Louisiana shows all the hallmarks of the ex-president’s voice

After engineering this month’s unceremonious defenestration of the hapless Kevin McCarthy, some far-right Republicans openly dreamed of installing their hero Donald Trump to replace him as speaker of the House of Representatives.

Trump himself, meanwhile, suggested that only Jesus Christ was certain to be elected to the role – apparently overlooking practical concerns of presumed unavailability.

Continue reading...

Mike Johnson helped Trump on January 6 – now he’s a threat to democracy

Louisiana congressman known as ‘Maga Mike’, elected House speaker Wednesday, is staunch Trump supporter and election denier

The Louisiana congressman Mike Johnson, whom Republicans in Congress elected as their speaker after more than three weeks of leaderless chaos, played a key role in Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 election.

Johnson amassed enough support to win the speakership because of his allegiance to Trumpian ideals, earning him the nickname on the far right of “Maga Mike”. A litmus test of sorts for the speakership was alignment with rightwing views, including believing in a stolen election, though the firebrand approach of failed speaker candidate Jim Jordan soured moderate members, despite his election-denying bonafides.

Continue reading...