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House GOP to vote on nominating McCarthy for speaker, but his candidacy won’t be secured until January

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Republicans will meet on Tuesday and vote on their official candidate for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives as conservative hardliners within the House Freedom Caucus signal objections to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

McCarthy will need to win a majority of the entire conference to become the speaker-designee. The California Republican could potentially face a hurdle presented by the more than two-dozen members of the Freedom Caucus who are pledging to back an “alternative challenger.” However, Fox News learned that no one stood up to challenge the minority leader for the position during a closed-door candidate forum Monday.

Despite the anticipated challenge, McCarthy is likely to win the designation Tuesday. It does not, however, mean that his speakership bid is secured.

FREEDOM CAUCUS DISCUSSING RIVAL CANDIDATES FOR SPEAKER AMID STANDOFF WITH MCCARTHY OVER HOUSE RULES

Republicans will meet on Tuesday and vote on their official candidate for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives as conservative hardliners within the Freedom Caucus signal objections to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, center.

Republicans will meet on Tuesday and vote on their official candidate for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives as conservative hardliners within the Freedom Caucus signal objections to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, center.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

To become speaker, McCarthy will need at least 218 votes if the entire 435-member House is seated and voting in January.

Currently, the potential Republican majority looks to be anywhere between 218 seats, the bare minimum needed to control the House, and 228 seats. The latter would constitute a sweep of all outstanding races, including some in which Democrats are favored, but still falls far short of the 60 seats McCarthy predicted could be possible under a GOP wave that never materialized.

“I think we will have far better options than Kevin McCarthy,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. “I’m not going to announce anybody else’s candidacy.”

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“This is a process-of-elimination exercise,” continued Gaetz. “Right now, any five people for any reason or no reason at all can determine that they have veto power.”

As such, McCarthy’s allies and opponents are watching Tuesday’s internal conference vote closely for his margin of victory.

“Many of us feel like there’s this illusion of representative government that our citizens have that’s not realistic,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa.
(AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)

“If there are only a handful of defections, people will say Kevin [McCarthy] likely has this and his hand becomes stronger,” said a senior aide to GOP leadership. “But if the vote against him is in the double digits, then all bets are off the table.”

Complicating matters is that few know exactly how much cushion McCarthy will have in January because the size of the GOP majority has yet to be called.

“If the GOP majority is 218, he can’t afford to lose a single vote,” said the aide. “If it’s 228, he can probably lose up to 10 votes. All eyes are on the conference vote because that will be the first sign of how strong or vulnerable McCarthy is right now.”

Even if McCarthy does draw double-digit opposition in the conference vote, the California Republican will have at least until January to strike a deal with opponents from the more than two-dozen member House Freedom Caucus.

“I think we will have far better options than Kevin McCarthy,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. “I’m not going to announce anybody else’s candidacy.”
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Made up of hard-line and far-right GOP lawmakers, the Freedom Caucus wants concessions from McCarthy on House rules.

Among its demands are restoring the power to remove a speaker by a vote that could be called at any time; ensuring a floor vote on any amendment if 10% percent of the GOP conference cosponsors it; and reinstating a “majority of the majority” rule under which bills would only advance when supported by most GOP members.

The Freedom Caucus is also pushing for House committees to elect their own chairman, rather than the current process in which the leadership-stacked GOP steering committee is tasked with the responsibility.

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“Many of us feel like there’s this illusion of representative government that our citizens have that’s not realistic,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa. There is “this top-down driven program here in Washington, D.C., where leadership calls all the shots, and you just vote on the floor not having been involved in any of the conversations.”

McCarthy’s ability to strike a deal is only possible provided a credible challenger does not emerge.

Fox News’ Kelly Phares contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-gop-vote-nominating-mccarthy-speaker-candidacy-wont-secured-until-january

Politics

Biden vetoes bill cancelling his $400 billion student loan handout, vows he’s ‘not going to back down’

President Biden on Wednesday vetoed the bill that would have scrapped his $400 billion student loan handout and vowed he wasn’t “going to back down” when it came to forgiving the college debt of millions across the country.

“Folks, Republican in Congress led an effort to pass a bill blocking my administration’s plan to provide up to $10,000 in student debt relief and up to $20,000 for borrowers that received a Pell Grant. Nearly 90% of those relief dollars go to people making less than $75,000 a year,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter

“I’m not going to back down on my efforts to help tens of millions of working and middle class families. That’s why I’m going to veto this bill,” he said. 

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Amid his railing against Republicans, Biden made no mention of the two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., who joined all Republicans in voting to advance the bill last week. Independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema also voted in favor with the final tally coming to 52-46.

Biden also made no mention of Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., who joined Republicans in voting for the bill in the House of Representatives. The final House vote tally was 218-203.

The president went on to say that some of the members who voted for the bill had “personally received loans to keep their small business afloat during the pandemic,” and supported “huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.” 

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President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden speaks ahead of vetoing a bill scrapping his $400 billion student loan handout on June 7, 2023 in the Oval Office. (White House)

“But when it comes to hardworking Americans trying to get ahead, dealing with student debt relief, that’s where they drew the line. I think it’s wrong,” he said.

“Let me make something really clear, I’m never going to apologize for helping working and middle class Americans as they recover from this pandemic. Never,” he added before signing his veto of the bill.

Biden’s veto of the bill marks his fifth veto since taking office.

Under the program announced last year, Biden said he would cancel up to $10,000 in student loans for people making less than $125,000, and up to $20,000 for students who received Pell Grants. That program was expected to cost the government more than $400 billion in lost debt repayment, but the program was put on hold after a court blocked it.

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US Capitol Washington DC

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

The resolution approved by the House and Senate was written under the Congressional Review Act, which lets Congress reject an executive branch policy as long as both the House and Senate pass a resolution disapproving of that policy.

Given the mostly partisan nature of the votes in the House and Senate, it’s unlikely Congress will be able to find the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to override Biden’s veto.

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Fox News’ Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.

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Politics

Michigan man pleads guilty to assisting Whitmer kidnapping scheme

A man accused of aiding a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor pleaded guilty Wednesday, the ninth conviction in state and federal courts since agents broke up an astonishing scheme by anti-government rebels in 2020.

Shawn Fix said he provided material support for an act of terrorism, namely the strategy to snatch Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home in Antrim County. Prosecutors agreed to drop a weapon charge.

Fix trained with a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, for “politically motivated violence,” prosecutors have said, and hosted a five-hour meeting at his Belleville home where there was much discussion about kidnapping Whitmer.

MICHIGAN MAN CHARGED WITH AIDING WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOT TO CHANGE PLEA

Fix, 40, acknowledged helping plot leader Adam Fox pinpoint the location of Whitmer’s home, key information that was used for a 2020 ride to find the property in northern Michigan.

“Guilty,” Fix told the judge.

Shawn Fix

Shawn Fix has pleaded guilty to his role in the planned kidnapping of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (AP Photo/John Flesher)

He appeared in an Antrim County court, one of five people charged in that leg of the investigation. A co-defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in March, leaving three other men to face trial in August.

Fix, who faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, agreed to testify if called by prosecutors.

The main kidnapping conspiracy case was handled in federal court, where four men, including ringleaders Fox and Barry Croft Jr., were convicted. Two others were acquitted.

WISCONSIN MAN CHARGED IN WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOT TO CHANGE PLEA

Separately, three men were convicted at trial in Jackson County, the site of militia training, and are serving long prison terms.

Whitmer, a Democrat, was targeted as part of a broad effort by anti-government extremists to trigger a civil war around the time of the 2020 presidential election, investigators said. Her COVID-19 policies, which shut down schools and restricted the economy, were deeply scorned by foes.

But informants and undercover FBI agents were inside the group for months, leading to arrests in October 2020. Whitmer was not physically harmed.

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After the plot was thwarted, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given “comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.” Last August, after 19 months out of office, Trump called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal.”

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Politics

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart to step down from Congress in September

U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, on Wednesday officially submitted his letter of resignation from Congress. 

In a letter to Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox, Stewart said he would be stepping down as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives effective Sept. 15. 

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart addresses supporters at an election night party

FILE: Utah Rep. Chris Stewart talks to supporters during an Utah Republican election night party on June 28, 2022, in South Jordan, Utah.  (Photo/George Frey, File)

“It has been one of the great honors of my life to serve the good people of Utah in Congress,” Stewart said.

Stewart, a six-term lawmaker, announced his plans to leave Congress last month due to his wife’s illness. 

His resignation would leave open a Republican seat on the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees — and reduce an already narrow GOP majority to just four seats.

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Utah law states that the governor must call for a special election in the event of a House vacancy. Once Stewart makes his resignation official, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox will have seven days to set the time for a primary and special election. 

The law requires those dates to be the same as municipal primary and general elections scheduled for this year, unless the state legislature appropriates funds to hold a separate election.

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Though Stewart’s departure will mean one less Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, it is not expected to affect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ability to steer a tight Republican majority. 

The district is reliably Republican and Stewart defeated a Democratic challenger by more than 30 percentage points in 2022.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

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