Congress

Johnson doesn’t have the votes to remain speaker. But his allies insist it’s trending his way.

Published

1 year ago

January 2, 2025

With less than 24 hours left until the start of the 119th Congress, Mike Johnson doesn’t have the votes yet to remain speaker.

The Louisiana Republican has been working diligently over the past few days to lock down the 218 votes he needs, even after spending the holidays working the phones and meeting with incoming President-elect Donald Trump. But even the incoming president’s repeated endorsement earlier this week doesn’t mean Johnson is guaranteed a victory. Roughly a dozen Republicans are still on the fence, as some of them try to get concessions on the rules or commitments from Johnson on spending.

There are some positive signs for the speaker. In addition to Trump’s restated backing, Johnson has managed to keep his official “no” votes to only one so far — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). And one notable holdout, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), is back in Johnson’s camp. Plus, despite multiple conservatives expressing reservations about Johnson, there’s not a clear alternative candidate who could get the votes.

And Johnson’s allies believe they’re making progress in decreasing the number of Republicans who are outwardly opposed to him retaining the gavel, according to two Republicans familiar with the conversations, viewing them as “pretty soft holdouts.” Still, the speaker’s allies privately admit he may not be able to win on the first few ballots.

“I think we’ll get it done,” Johnson told Fox News on Thursday about the Friday speaker vote. “I’ve talked to every single one of those friends and colleagues over the holidays.”

In addition to Gosar, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), a close ally of Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), said on Thursday that he’s backing Johnson, noting that “Trump wants Speaker Johnson.” Incoming Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), who is likely to join the Freedom Caucus, also pointed to Trump’s backing, saying “Mike’s the guy.”

The speakership vote will be the first test of House Republicans’ ability to unify this year, as they hope to achieve ambitious legislative goals on the border, energy and taxes with full control of Congress and the White House. As the Johnson drama shows, Trump’s backing doesn’t necessarily mean Republicans can pass their priorities, given an incredibly narrow margin in the House and a wide ideological range among GOP lawmakers.

Still, Johnson and his allies are putting Trump at the center of their two main arguments as they try to sway the holdouts. First, they point out that a messy, drawn-out speaker’s race risks a delay in certifying Trump’s presidential win on Jan. 6. Second, if Republicans are consumed with trying to iron out their own leadership it overshadows the start of the second Trump administration, right at a time when leaders want to look unified. In recent weeks, Trump has privately warned GOP lawmakers against doing anything that takes away from the start of his second presidency, according to one GOP lawmaker who has spoken with him, granted anonymity to speak frankly.

And his allies are also pointing out the conference has the same problem it did after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted, when Johnson first rose to the perch. All the potential alternatives — such as Majority Leader Steve Scalise, GOP Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.) and Jordan — still have problems that would prevent them from getting the requisite votes. Even some of Johnson’s skeptics acknowledge it’s a significant problem.

“Who would want the job?” asked Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who remains undecided on supporting Johnson and is pushing for commitments on spending.

Trump said on New Year’s Eve that he’ll make calls on Johnson’s behalf, but there’s still lingering skepticism that Trump will actively step in to save Johnson.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) made calls to other House Republicans over the holiday recess to vibe-check Jordan and other potential candidates if Johnson can’t the votes — outreach first reported by Blue Light News.

Jordan, Scalise and Emmer all made bids for the gavel following McCarthy’s ouster last year but are now supporting Johnson. Members of the House Freedom Caucus have also floated Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who brushed off any interest to reporters late last year.

“I remain undecided, as do a number of my colleagues, because we saw so many of the failures last year,” Roy told Fox Business. “Right now, I don’t believe he has the votes on Friday.”

Congress

Thune is ‘hopeful’ Mitch McConnell will return this week

Published

2 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he hopes his predecessor as top Republican, Mitch McConnell, returns this week from a hospitalization.

Thune said he had not yet spoken directly with the 84-year-old Kentuckian but is getting “readouts from his staff.”

Asked about McConnell’s condition or if he knew if he would be back this week, Thune told reporters, “I’m hopeful that he’ll be back this week.”

A McConnell spokesperson said Sunday that he had been admitted to the hospital but did not provide details on his condition or why he was hospitalized — a break from recent prior instances where the seven-term senator was hospitalized.

A former McConnell staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity was told the senator was doing much better Monday without any further details on what put him in the hospital.

Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate to confirm Jay Clayton as soon as Thursday

Published

5 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate could vote as soon as Thursday on Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence — a lightning speed pace that will necessitate buy-in from all 100 senators.

Confirming Clayton could help shore up enough votes from Democrats to extend a government surveillance program that expired last Friday over opposition to Trump’s pick for acting director, Bill Pulte.

“He will come out of the committee Thursday, at least hopefully, and then if we get consent, we can move,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview Monday about Clayton, who Trump only nominated for the job late last week.

Democrats “ought to be happy with Clayton,” said Thune, adding that he’s a “good” and “solid” pick.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, floated Sunday to CBS News that Clayton could be confirmed this week if every senator cooperates.

Senate Intelligence will hold a hearing Wednesday on Clayton’s nomination. If every member of the panel agrees, he could then get a committee vote Thursday. Confirming Clayton on the Senate floor hours later would require getting agreement from every senator to speed up the process. Opposition from a single member will punt Clayton’s confirmation to next week.

Confirming Clayton Thursday would, crucially, limit — and potentially circumvent — Pulte from becoming acting director of national intelligence, which Trump has slated to take place Friday, June 19.

The president’s decision to put Pulte in charge after Tulsi Gabbard’s departure at the helm of the Office of National Intelligence sparked bipartisan pushback, with Democrats saying they will withhold support for extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act while Pulte is in the acting role. Congress allowed the key government spy authority lapse last Friday without a deal.

Trump threw another curveball into a FISA extension over the weekend when he posted on social media that he was against reauthorizing Section 702 unless a GOP elections bill is attached. That bill, known as the SAVE America Act, does not have the votes to get through Congress.

Thune threw cold water Monday on tying the two issues together.

“Yeah, he’s, as you know, passionate about getting that done and wants to use every opportunity to take a shot at it,” Thune said of Trump and his desire to enact the elections bill.

But, Thune said, “we can’t get FISA done” if the policies are linked.

Congress

Senate eyes vote on updated housing affordability legislation

Published

7 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning to put an updated version of a bipartisan housing affordability bill on the Senate floor for a vote this week, according to two people familiar with the bill dynamics and two Senate Democratic aides granted anonymity to discuss ongoing plans.

The version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that the Senate will vote on will include most of the House-passed language, including a provision restricting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The legislation would also add back Senate bills that were dropped from the House package that passed last month, the two people and the two aides said.

The Senate legislation comes after talks between Thune, Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and ranking member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The updated Senate package was also discussed with the House and the White House, the aides said.

Still, it’s unclear if House leadership and the White House have signed off on the legislation.

The Senate and House have gone back and forth for months on language for a housing affordability bill as lawmakers on both sides look for a win to tout during a midterm election season dominated by cost-of-living issues.

Both chambers overwhelmingly passed their own versions of the housing bill — the Senate 89-10 in March, and the House 396-13 in May. The White House supported the Senate-passed bill and then backed the House-passed bill after it retained most of the Senate’s language on reining in private equity and other large Wall Street investors in the housing market — a top priority for President Donald Trump.

The Senate’s updated legislation would remove two of the House’s community banking deregulation bills due to budget scoring concerns, said two of the people familiar: two bills that would modify the Federal Deposit Insurance Act around failed insured depository institutions. The Senate bill also added back a provision to authorize the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program for seven years, as opposed to a permanent reauthorization in the Senate’s March legislation.

The Senate additionally re-inserted several upper-chamber priorities, including the BUILD NOW Act, which would incentivize communities to build more housing through the Community Development Block Grant program; the Rental Assistance Demonstration bill, which would raise the cap on housing authorities to convert voucher-based assistance; the Moving to Work bill, which would aim to add a new cohort of MTW public housing agencies; and the VALID Act, which would require Federal Housing Administration mortgage disclosures to include cost comparison information for veterans.

The package retains core wins for the leaders of both the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees and their members and reflects input from all four leaders of those panels, one of the people familiar said.