Today is the first day of the 119th Congress, with Members of both chambers of Congress scheduled to be sworn in. Members of the Senate have been sworn in. In order for that to occur in the House, it must first elect a Speaker. During the first round of voting earlier this afternoon, Mike Johnson of Louisiana could not muster enough votes to win re-election to the position. There are currently 434 Member-Elects in the House and he was able to win 216 votes in the first round; 218 votes are needed.
With this vote still technically open and negotiations now taking place between Johnson’s team and the holdouts, it remains to be seen whether enough minds can be changed in the near future.
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