session. there is a record number of women serving. -- and new members take the oath of office. you, -- new congress and new leaders. watch the opening day of the 118th congress. today. >> coming, on washgt journal, we will talk about the opening day of the congress. we have money -- molly reynolds and the editor and chief -- editor in chief of the hill. after that, ec tson,

congressional reporter for blmbg, talks about the eng day of congress cluding a contested battle for speaker and the continued controversy surrounding george santos. the senior correctional reporter for punch bowl news talks about the senate agenda in the capitol hill reporter for the washington examiner on what is happening behind the scenes within the republican congress. join the conversation with your calls, texts and facebook comments. washington journal starts down. --now. ♪ host: a five hour program for you, the 100 18th congress gavels in today. normally -- 118th congress gavels in today. the main order of business will be determining who will be house speaker.

kevin mccarthy reportedly still short of votes. we want to hear from you about the 118th congress and what you think it's top domestic issue should be. the economy, immigration, health care? is there another issue you find important? call to let us know. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you want to text us what you think the top issue for the new congress should be, you can do that at (202) 748-8003. you can also post on our social media sites, facebook, twitter, and instagram. the folks at marist did a poll asking americans about the 118th congress and one of those sections was dealing with top domestic priorities. here are some of the results. 31% of residents say inflation should be the top priority mock,

let crime, 9%. climate change, 9%. health care, 9%. abortion received 7%, gun policy garnered 6%. priorities differed between the parties. the top three issues democrats are preserving democracy, inflation, and climate change. republicans site inflation at 41%, immigration and 23%, preserving democracy as 11 percent -- 6%. maybe you have another category altogether when it comes to the new priorities for the 118th congress. you can text us your thoughts at (202) 748-8003. there will be a lot to watch today as of 118th congress gets

to work on the house side. here with moore's john mcardle. >> the new congress, convening at noon, that is what's going to be happening today at noon. here's what the new congress is going to look like starting in the house. 200 22 republicans and the 118th congress, 212 democrats in the house. one vacancy today -- vacant seat today. a special election is scheduled for february to fill his seat. in the house there will be 74 freshmen taking their seats for the first time. on the senate side it's 49 republicans to 48 democrats and three independent who are expected to caucus with democrats, giving them of course

the majority in the senate. overall in this 118th congress, 100 and 49 women, 97 veterans, 18 members born outside the united states, five members with native american ancestry. the youngest member born in 1987. the oldest in 1933. when it comes to what happens on the opening day of congress, let's start on the house side. there will be a call to order by the clerk along with the prayer and pledge of allegiance to start the day and then a quorum call by the clerk of the house when members will be recording their presence in the chamber. they will be receiving their voting cards as of yesterday. then comes the action that all eyes will be on today. the election of the new speaker. candidates nominated from the floor. members of voting by calling out

the last name of their choice for speaker. the winner of that will need a majority of those voting for a candidate by name, likely 218. that's the big question today, it could go several hours or even several days. when it finally ends and a new speaker is elected, there will be remarks by the speaker elect who will then be sworn in by the dean of the house, congressman rogers, the 46th and current dean, the most senior serving member of the 118th congress. newly reelected members administered by the new speaker with the option of various rules and administrative resolutions and the announcement of speaker policies. that's all expected to happen on this opening day though if the election goes many hours or days it could be a while before we

get to policies. in the senate is expected to be more of a standard day. there is the swearing in of the newly elected and reelected senators, the establishment of quorum in the senate. the adoption of various resolutions and so-called standing orders in the senate. there will be an agreement then on when the resolution can start to be introduced for action in the 118th congress in the election of the new president pro tem of the senate. the constitution instructs the senate to ensure that the pro tem presides. pro tem is latin meaning for the time being, signaling that it was originally conceded to be a temporary replacement to lead the chamber. that will end the day in the senate. that is what is expected to happen today but again looking at the house side, it could take

longer. host: john mcardle will be here all morning long to give you information like that. things to watch out or, we have information on c-span.org, and our app, c-span now. follow along c-span two for the senate. for the top domestic issue this morning, tom, once gun safety and women's rights restored. closing the loop on the southern border. and to impeach as many democrats as possible for what they have done. scott from facebook saying to stop the machiavelli and free trade u.s. countries -- u.s. companies from sending jobs to slave wage countries like china. citing one of the top priorities they could tackle.

you perhaps have things you would like to add yourself. call in, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and (202) 748-8002 four independents -- for (202) 748-8003 -- independents. [video clip] what the job will not be we know the task and we have a close majority. we will have to work together. we want to work with anyone who wants to make america strong. anyone on both sides of the aisle if they want to make america energy independent. save their kids education or secure our borders or stop defunding the police. we know there are challenges out there. we are listening to the american public and are ready to lead.

one thing i have learned, they don't have -- they don't hand out gavels and small, medium, and large. we have the right size to gavel and we will use it. with that i will open it to questions. >> will you have the vote by january to become speaker? >> paul ryan at this time had 43. nancy pelosi had 32 and no one was running against her. look, we have our work cut out for us. if you watch what we have done, i thought it was very productive last night in the rules debate. what i propose to do is handle half of them tomorrow, keep them open through thanksgiving. we will work together and we will get there. the american people expect us to do it, govern, keep our commitment to america. i respect each and every one equally and we will find a way

to make it happen. host: again, that was in november when the speaker designate started his campaign and it will play out today, to see what happens when it comes to those actual votes to see if he becomes speaker. from arizona, biggs, who challenged the speaker had this tweet yesterday evening saying that even after the maccarthy machine to quit votes and smear my name he still well short of the threshold and i will continue to oppose mccarthy for house speaker. that will play out today. what are the priorities congress should focus on? that is what we are asking you. joe, iowa, democratic line. as far as those priorities, what would you like to see? caller: i would like to see them get the house in order, the senate in order, and all representatives, well, they have to take the oath

for the constitution and the reconfirmation oath for the existing members and i want them all held accountable and on record before they try to pull another republican insurrection. host: let's hear from ken in water berry, connecticut, independent line, good morning. caller: yeah. uh, i'm looking to see the third parties get the people they want in. the speaker of the house, you're going to love this, like donald trump. it would be great if donald trump got put in a speaker. host: why do you think that? caller: they are willing to shake up washington and clean up the swamp. that's what the public wants. that's what they wanted mccarthy to do.

they got to do something to shake up the swamp and not have it like it's been in the past with where they elect the people in they don't do what they say they are going to do so this time they got to do something. host: as john mcardle told you, the house side is a lot of where the action will be today, and as far as the rundown for where to watch out for that and what to expect, he'll be talking about that i imagine through the course of the morning. when it comes to what you would like to see them focus on in terms of the organizational and the other things that are put in place, that marist poll asking people about bipartisanship, saying that one of the polls questioned said 74% of americans say it's more important for officials in washington to compromise and find solutions than to stand on principle. 74% saying the compromise over

principal had the highest proportion of americans of that in a decade and when it comes to bipartisanship, that could be something you would like to see as well playing out in this new congress. the top priority. cincinnati, high oak, democratic line. tanya, hello. caller: good morning. host: morning. caller: what i would like to see them do is to start to rebuild the integrity that has been lost in this process. what is happening as we have a liars result here. we have been run by allies of the past four years. lies versus trust, disunity, dissatisfaction that leads to insurrection. not just one my, but an infrastructure built on a foundation of lies that is now

finally crumbling. those who have chosen to follow donald trump are responsible for the disunity. following him rather than christ. host: democrats have had control for two years, do they take part of the responsibility as well? caller: for the lies? no. host: for the problems that you cite. caller: well, the problems i'm talking about spring from the lies that have been spread throughout this country. that's what i'm talking about. the democrats are not perfect. you know, i never claimed for the democrats to be perfect. but they do not run on a consistency of lies. host: ok.

that is tanya in cincinnati, ohio, talking about the priorities you'd like to see playing out today and congress on the 100 and 18th taking place. john, democratic line. you are on. caller: the new congress, it shouldn't be kevin mccarthy. he can't step up to the plate with this guy, santos, they found so much stuff on him. this guy, kevin mccarthy, if he can't admit he did that in miami , he shouldn't even be there. i'm not a republican but if you want to clean up the cartel swamp, you've got to start at the top. thank you. host: from our facebook page, fred said that he looks forward to the elimination of proxy

voting. like most americans who show up to work every day, most members of congress should as well. that's part of the rules package today when it comes to what should be considered. don simmons says one thing he would like to see is the abolishment of the fbi. dan brought up the issue of gun control, countering the rise of domestic terrorism and immigration reform. priorities some of you are expressing on our facebook page. if you want to call to let us know the priorities, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. taking a look at the new congress, once they are seated later today in the work its place -- starts to take place you could expect to see jim jordan as the head of the judiciary committee. back after the elections he talked about what he would focus on when it came to issues of the

justice department under the current president. [video clip] >> focused on how political it has become. it's not a question of if. they are, they are making decisions on a political basis. >> and the treatment of january 6? >> we will be looking at the first ones that came to us a year ago. about a year ago, i should say, regarding the school boards issue. we are concerned about anything being done in a political fashion at the justice department. because remember, step back, this is the greatest country ever. it's supposed to be equal treatment under the law and when the justice department doesn't follow that fundamental principle, it's a major problem. >> you think those insurrectionists are wrongly imprisoned? >> i didn't say anything.

i said we would be looking at the politics of the justice department based on 14, more than 14 now, with hours and talk to us now. host: washington state, independent line. stephen, hello. caller: yes, basically, i had my tv off, what's the topic? host: priorities for the 118th congress. caller: my priority is, you know, and politics, regardless of republican or democrat, leaving out independent, they will never win a presidency or anything like that, never dominate or anything like that, but with the democrats and the republicans here's my thing, i just want to vision. that's what it's always been. when one party pushes, let's say the republicans have the house

like they do now in the democrats of the senate and vice versa, we could switch powers on each side, whatever party has the power in congress, one has the powers over the other, the division for me is fine because we will never get anything done, it's always been like that. with the new potential republican house speaker? he's no good. he's always tried to get in there, politics of the dollar. it's undeniable the guys in it for himself. host: why are you fine with the idea of nothing getting done? caller: because it's always been like that. when republicans get someone in power on one side or the other or both, they like to do the things democrats were always trying to do when they had the

power, when it was split. they always just kept everything down. especially when they had control of the senate. and the democrats had the power around the house of representatives side. the senate, the republicans always turned it down, whatever they were doing trying to beat the house. but i just, ad infinitum. i just propose division, the way it is right now. we will see may be another 8, 16 more years. we will see how that goes. host: let's hear from joe in north carolina. hello. caller: my priority is this. it's like the lady before me who just lies. there are so many lies with this country. behind every courtroom, behind every judge, it says in god we

trust. on every dollar bill it says in god we trust. i believe in god. do these people believe in god? or in money they trust? host: how does that apply to the 100 18th congress -- 118th congress? caller: they are part of the country. they are supposed to be making the rules for this country, right? they are a part of it. let me say one more thing. there's a guy named einstein, probably a genius i think. this is what the genius said. caller: that was bill in north carolina. we will go on as far as the work

-- first hour is concerned, your priorities when it comes to the workings of the new congress. you can call us, (202) 748-8000 f democratsor (202) 748-8001 -- for democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. in one of the last press conferences given by nancy pelosi, the previous speaker, she talked about what her role would be in the upcoming congress. here is a portion of that. [video clip] >> as speaker of the house, i had a awesome power.

transitioning into a different role, i expect to have strong influence. but not among all members. but more encouraging women for example, to run. to talk about civics and how we -- that used to be a requirement when i was little, 100 years ago, now it's an elective. now we will see what that path is. but the speaker of the house is a very big job. just wrapping it up will take time. with the capital, with the library of congress, the interviews and the rest of that. just, i think the most overwhelming thing i'll be doing forever is saying thank you. thank you to my members. thank you to the intellectual resources who helped us with policy, who helped us

politically to retain majority and strengthen the congress. i think my life will be about accountability to the record, the history. thank you to those who made all of that possible. host: that's nancy pelosi, one of the last press conferences she gave as speaker of the house. going into the 118th congress again, you could talk about the domestic priorities or domestic issues congress could focus on. you can call us or post on our social media site. stacy, good morning. caller: the elections were wrong.

it was about the population. they wanted these people to drive anywhere from 20 to 50 miles one way to go vote. that became an issue. the person who won the election, the governor, was in charge of the elections overall system. that should be a conflict of interest. i would like to see something like that change so that if you are running for office, you can't be in charge of that right there. host: what do you think about this 118th congress? what should its priority be? caller: to look over the elections so that it looks like everything is on the up and up. because people are questioning the elections. there are so many people

involved in the elections, you know, i with people would have commented on it. host: from cincinnati, ohio, independent line, cher. caller: i just wanted to make a comment. i think congress needs to see what happened at the bills and bengals game last night, when demar hamlin went down. the reaction they had for the teams, where they came together in prayer and concern, that is what we all need right now. to be more concerned about human beings and show kindness and compassion. that is just what i wanted to say. for the people that didn't get to see that, everyone needs to see how those teams, both sides,

came together. they were not concerned with who was going to win the game or whether they finished a game, they were concerned about a person and that's what we all. thank you. host: let's go back to john mcardle. caller: so much of the focus today -- host: so much of the focus today will of course be on the speaker election in the house. here's the latest headline from "the hill" newspaper. macarthur struggles to win support for speaker with ours until the floor showdown, noting that kevin mccarthy has yet to lock up the votes for the gavel, saying that he has made some overtures to his right flank but that those who declared opposition to him are not wavering and in terms of trying to get a sense of what kevin mccarthy is thinking right now, reporters have been staking out capitol hill and caught up with him yesterday. among them was the capitol hill

producer for msnbc. here is some of the video she took walking through the capital yesterday with kevin mccarthy. >> do you think you have the votes for speaker tomorrow? [indiscernible] do you have the votes for speaker locked in? >> i think will have a good day, tomorrow. good to see you. >> [indiscernible] >> hope you all have a very nice weekend. host: kevin mccarthy, yesterday on capitol hill. he has again moved into the speaker's offices on capitol hill, though he has yet to be elected speaker. the scene outside his office is full of reporters and members coming and going. yesterday jamie dupree, longtime veteran capitol hill reporter

had pictures of reporters waiting outside his office, trying to ask those questions. then nathaniel reed of scripps news had a video of members coming and going as kevin mccarthy try to meet with various members to try to shore up their votes. matt gaetz, laura boebert, going to meet with kevin mccarthy in the speakers offices there. yes, the reports as of this morning are that he has yet to secure the votes needed. his biggest challenge this morning is andy biggs of arizona , announcing in opposition to kevin mccarthy, that he was running first acre. andy biggs spoke to steve bannon yesterday about what he's thinking going into the vote. [video clip] >> right now what he needs to do to try to close this before tomorrow at noon, saying take

what you need, take her out of the house, i've got to be speaker. is that the sense of the negotiations right now? >> yeah he's the clintons leaving the white house, right? take the china. that's what i've seen happen. he's, he's, he's in total bargaining mode. and, and, we don't really know what's going to happen tomorrow. other than the first ballot, he's going to get it. that's where we sit as you and i talked. what happens after that? he may lose a whole bunch more. if it goes 3, 4, five ballots, he's done. host: andy biggs, yesterday, talking to steve bannon about that race. here is some of the history of the balloting that goes more than one for speaker. the 100 27 speakers elections

since 1789, only 14 have gone to more than one ballot. the most recent was frederick gillett, republican of massachusetts elected on the ninth ballot, his final three terms as speaker. then the 34th congress in 1855 there was balloting for the speaker that lasted for two months and 133 ballots were cast before nathaniel banks of massachusetts was finally elected speaker. it's not expected to be 133 ballots today but it could go hours, some saying perhaps even days. here's the process that will happen on the floor when the actual speaker vote occurs. the speaker is of course not required to be a member of the house, though all speakers have been members of the house since the first speaker. some individuals not serving in the house have received votes over t years, st recently theasone back in 2021.

candidates must be nominated by a member of e house, who calls out the last name of their choice when the member name is called upon. membercavote for any individual. a person must receive a majority of the votes cast members by name. let meel into that a bit more. it doesn't mean the individual needs to receive 218 votes to win. it's because some members could chooseoto vote for a specific name and just answer present, voting not for a person but saying that they were in the chamber, lowering the threshold needed to win the speakership. of course, we will see if that happens. if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the whole call is repeated and repeated again. pedro, all eyes are on the speaker's race today and we will see how long it goes. host: thank you, john.

noon is when you can start to see these things happening. on the house side you can follow along on c-span, on the senate side it's c-span2, on the app it's c-span now or c-span.org if you want to follow all the goings-on when it comes to the events today. arizona, republican mine, talking about the possible issues of the new congress, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. on the arizona elections, i worked as a clerk and it wasn't generally complete mess. we were sabotaged from the very beginning. we did work hard to get a lot of people to vote. we lost a lot. we have to work on that. i'm hoping that what we see from this 118th congress is that they do the work for the american people who don't feel we are being represented at this point in time. and there is a lot to do.

if they have to get together, this is a big issue for the speaker of the house so let's get it done. host: thoughts as far as the race for speaker are concerned? does kevin mccarthy have your support? caller: i can't. i'm a legislative district person and we just don't see the work getting done by mccarthy. and we come a week, we just don't feel again that we are being represented. there's too much at stake. the republicans, it's been being used against us on the democratic side but that republicans are not standing up for rhinos anymore. i've been the leader of my district for over 10 years. it started way back in 2007 and it's still going on. republicans in name only are still strong and we are trying to get them out of there so that

we can get the true republican work done. host: ok. independent mine, charlie, massachusetts. caller: i have to disagree with the woman before. i think mccarthy is a part of the swamp. he's got, i'm sorry, he's got to negotiate to, with, with the guys from either side, you know? the far left. the far right. host: so you are saying he shouldn't be speaker or he should be? caller: he should be because there is no one else out there. are the democrats allowed to vote for speaker or only republicans? host: there's a process in which he has to win support including most of the republican support, he will need to gain that. caller: i think the democrats

would like him to be speaker because he doesn't want to change anything. he wants to keep things the same as they are, doesn't want to change anything. host: that's the speaker's race. as far as domestic issues? caller: geewhiz, it's the border. it's, it's, it's too much. we can't afford it. we've got diseases. the fence and all and everything else. it has to be controlled. we have got to slow it down and get control of it. we can't have, it can't be a free for all. i'm a little nervous, here. thank you so much, pedro. host: that's fine, that's fine. let's hear from stan. stan, florida, independent mine. caller: you are going to see why republicans can't govern. jim jordan, mark gates, all

you've got to do is one thing wrong and they will vote against him. he will be the weakest speaker ever. he will be like paul ryan and the other guys who all quit because he couldn't take -- they couldn't take it. he will be so weak. he is making all these concessions. gates, green, they are going to own him. he wouldn't even be speaker except for florida. he's the guy here, this great leader here in the district. he took the one that was there and changed it. everybody thinks he's such a great governor. medicare, he's a great speaker. going to get $100 million for the duration. the great speaker. he's going to be so weak host:

ok -- so weak. host: ok. some of you texting us this morning. james in indiana saying the top domestic issue for the new congress is to stop pointing the finger. congress is too beholden to moneyed interests. murrell in wisconsin says the biggest concern is the hate around citizens united that drives the short-term thinking of lawmakers in this country. let's hear from benjamin in brooklyn, new york. independent line. caller: hello. i feel like one of the big issues we should grapple with

this year in congress is willing back the executive branch. with the recent ruling in the supreme court against the epa, now is as good a time as ever. during past administrations we have frequently complained about the executive branch exercising powers that frankly don't belong to the executive branch and i guarantee that if we don't deal with it this term the next president is certainly going to be much worse. host: benjamin talking about the top domestic issue for the new congress. we will be continuing with this theme throughout the morning. give us a call, tweet at us, come to our facebook page. there will be more information to watch out for as the 118th congress explains today. with more on that is john mcardle. host: more on congress by the

numbers, you could call it. 149 women in the new congress. 42 republicans, 106 democrats. 25 in the senate, 124 in the house. this is one more than the previous record set by the 117th congress. when it comes to the 118th congress by race, 390 five members of the 535 members are white. 60 are black. 55 are hispanic or latino. 18 asian, five middle eastern, five indigenous americans. when it comes to members of congress born outside the country, 18 members of the new congress were born outside the country, emigrated to the united

states. 13 democrats, five republicans, coming from countries like mexico, india, south korea, the dominican republic, cuba, japan, ukraine, guatemala, and peru. another thing that we always focus on in a new congress is the number of veterans serving. this time around it's 97 veterans serving in the new congress. up six from the 117th congress. 72 of those veterans serving in the congress are republicans. 25 are democrats. seven of them are female veterans. pedro, there are plenty of ways to break down the 118th congress. they're all coming up here in a little less. host: thank you, appreciate it.

we will be going until noon today to let you know about the workings of the congress. we will be giving you a lot of information to watch out for. call to let us know about your top domestic priority that you would like to see congress focus on during the course of the morning as well. arkansas, republican line. james, hello. caller: good morning. host: morning, you are on. caller: i'm so happy to hear that they can just nominate anyone. i would like for everybody to wake up and look at newt gingrich. i mean this man here is been added a long time. he's getting the truth for the american people. host: he brought forward the previous republican revolution. why would you think that at this time, why is he the man for the

job right now? caller: well, because there's so much division in the ranks of the republicans that they need somebody, you know, that can really put it together. that's all, that's all i got to say. i think newt would be the man. i wish everybody would take a good look at that. because i mean, it's special that, you know, they could nominate somebody that's not there and i think they need somebody who's levelheaded. host: joining us now from arizona, independent mine, good morning. caller: good morning. i thought i heard someone mention trump as someone that could be the speaker of the house.

i agree. he loves our country. he knows how to with people into line. and he's capable of turning this mess around. host: even under the current slate of investigations he's under you think he would make a good speaker of the house? caller: yes, the doj is going to be investigated by jordan. he is not a criminal. everybody knows that. host: ok. myra, arizona. a lot of calls coming in today. let's hear from dan, dan in florida, republican line. caller: just like the last caller, i'm for trump item think he's going to get elected. mccarthy will probably get the speakership eventually, but it doesn't matter.

anything the house passes isn't going to get past the senate. the only power they have is the power to investigate. until october when they get to pass a new budget. they have the power to investigate no power to indict. nothing will happen after that. they do have the power to impeach and they should impeach one person after another over and over again to tie up the senate to keep the senate from confirming the biden nominations for judicial appointments. then in october when it comes to passing a new budget, they should pass a balanced budget. all the three letter executive agencies should be done as much

of they can about sending the country into chaos. -- without sending the country into chaos. do like speaker gingrich said, pass balanced budgets, let the government shutdown so that they force the senate and biden to like ok, we've got to keep the country going and they will eventually pass it. host: aren't you working against two things, advocating for gridlock on one hand and then advocating for passing things on the other? caller: gridlock is a good thing. host: ok, that's dan in florida. let's hear from republican ed, connecticut. go ahead, you are on. good morning. caller: how you doing? i think there is a problem with kevin mccarthy as speaker. a couple of months ago he was all over the hunter biden story,

which people know was compromised. now you see him and he's not mentioning it, not even behind closed doors. they want to control the money, the fbi and all these twitter files. there's a lot of corruption going on here. from both sides. i mean the rhinos and the others . kevin mccarthy is a half a rhino. host: cindy on facebook, when talking about domestic priorities she says the brakes on what she sees as mark policies, stop buying dirty oil, close the border. and on facebook it says do we really need to investigate the origins of covid? seems like a waste. you can submit that on your list of priorities for this congress. (202) 748-8000, democrats.

(202) 748-8001, republicans. (202) 748-8002, independents. let's go back to john mcardle. host: pedro, want to go over some of the lead players in the 118th congress. the folks in leadership positions. on the senate side should seem familiar to c-span viewers. of course the president of the senate is the vice president of the united states, kamala harris. dick durbin will be the majority with. the democrat from illinois. on the republican side, the minority leader, set to be mitch mcconnell, republican from kentucky. his deputy number two is john thune, the republican from south dakota. the one change that you will see when it comes to senate leadership is in the president pro tem -- president pro tem,

patty murray replacing patrick lahey, who retired after the 117th congress. sworn in 48 years ago today and is now a former member of congress. he has about four more hours in that job i guess before officially being a former member of congress. the house side of course is where leadership changes. the speaker as we have been talking about all morning, to be determined by the floor vote that we will all be watching as the house gavels and at noon. the rest of the leadership positions, the majority leader, dependent upon what happens in the speaker's race. but from what we expect it will be steve scalise as the majority leader in the house. the majority with will be tom amer. -- whip will be tom emmer. nancy pelosi, led by -- replaced

by hakeem jeffries. pelosi remaing in the house, just stepping back from leadership. number two on the minority side, the whip, katherine clark, democrat from massachusetts. those democrats in the house and senate will be in the leadership positions and i should note that those in leadership positions could have paid more attention if you are interested in the salaries of the folks taking their jobs today, speaker of the house gets paid 220 thousand $500 a year, majority and minority leaders of each party get paid $193 -- $193,000 per year. the rank and file senators and republicans get paid $174,000 a year. they have been paid $174,000 per year since 2009, the last time there was a pay raise for a member of congress. way back in 1789 it was six

dollars per day per diem for a members of congress. it got up to $5,000 per year in 1874. 1987 it was $89,500 a year. a big jump from the late 80's to the mid to thousands, $169,000 per year. so these folks are getting set to take these jobs today, that is how much they are getting paid by the taxpayers to send them to office. host: appreciated. beverly, maine, independent mine, good morning. caller: thank you for being here, fellas. it's a difficult time in the united states and america. i think that maybe, like the lady said from massachusetts, they are not afraid like elizabeth moran, to speak up and protect the properties and

rights of the people, like elizabeth moran did with the consumer financial protection agency. i think that this mccarthy man is a dangerous person. just the way he is being like he just owns everything down here. there's a lot that these people need to cover up for and he's one of the ones that wants to cover up for it, going way off the mark of what i was going to talk about but i think we need to pay attention, hold the banks accountable, stop corporate takeovers. doesn't matter if they are democrat or republican. it's just corrupt all the way down the line. it's very sad and that's all i have to say. host: indiana, republican line, you are next up. hello. caller: i would like to see this congress actually pass legislation like a budget. i would like to see immigration reform. if people want to come here,

work, pay taxes, more power to them. but they've got to get that stuff sorted out. host: again, callers are letting us know about their top priorities for the new congress as they get to work later on today. a lot of things to watch out for, as john mcardle told you throughout the morning. one of the people you will see quite a bit, the new minority leader in the house, hakeem jeffries. decisions top leadership to step down, it one of the first speeches he made, he talked about his priorities and what he looks forward to it being speaker. here he is. [video clip] >> historic over performance related to the contrast successfully articulated to the american people. democrats deliver for everyday americans. versus extreme maga republicans.

democrats believe in reproductive freedom and a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. republicans are extreme on abortion care, want to oppose a nationwide ban. criminalize abortion care for tens of millions of women throughout this country. democrats believe in social security and medicare. republicans are extreme on social security and medicare. want to blow it up. detonate it in five years. perhaps even defaults on our debt so that they can destroy social security, medicare, and hold the american people and our economy hostage. extreme maga republicans. and of course, democrats believe in democracy, in this incredible

project here in america that has been with us north of 240 five years. the greatest of mocker see in the history of the world. versus republicans, many of whom apparently don't believe in democracy anymore. a clear contrast between democrats who deliver an extreme maga republicans. we are confident and optimistic moving forward to the left -- next congress, eager to find and solve problems for everyday americans where possible. we are prepared to seize the majority in 2024. host: jeffries will become the house minority leader today. there will be a lot of him and his team as the congress starts their work. tracy hale on facebook saying that the top issues are to improve conditions for the everyday and average in this country, improving conditions for the disabled and elderly,

some of whom paid taxes their entire lives and don't need revenge taxes. steve hedrick also saying that when it comes to congress, address the needs of the people, first. put your donors and the social agenda of the rest of the world on hold. that's some of the social media posting. let's hear from stephen michigan. democrats line, go ahead. caller: yes, when the republicans talk about shutting down the government if i was president biden i would use the military in that. government shutdown, no military, china could take us over. thank you. host: helen in florida is next. caller: how are you? happy new year to everyone. there are five issues.

economy, immigration, health care, women's rights, and seniors. i'm a senior. i came here as a baby from columbia. i have traveled all over the world and i am upset at what i'm seeing. my home party the republican has drastically changed to where i don't recognize it. they no longer care about the issues affecting us, the american people. social security is very to me. i've been working since i was 14. i won't allow any party to take back that which i worked so hard for. my social security and my medicare. i will fight tooth and nail for that. i don't see mccarthy doing that for us. he has proven time and again that he is irresponsible, has the leadership, and now he's bargain-basement bargaining. you don't bargain. you stand up firm.

you going to deliver to the american people? you stand up and say that this is what i'm going to do and so far i haven't seen him say anything about one more call from a republican line, this is from ohio, we have rich. caller: an illegal vote just went on, we had a 1.7 trillion dollar bill run through. stuff like a turkey with a whole lot of illegal things. people who are no longer in office, they did not have a quorum and they voted it. they did not have a quorum, they had to be in there and put it through. it has to be rescinded, we can afford this stuff. host: that's rich in ohio, 48 hours to go in our special edition of this program. as we work up to the 118

congress to begin. you have a chance to call in and talk to various guests throughout the program. we will also get your thoughts there. we will have information for you to watch out for throughout the day. guest: watching out for that speaker vote, finding about what's going to happen and when that takes place. a key house leadership aide will nominate kevin mccarthy for speaker. that is elise stefanik, she's a conference chair, a number four in the house republican leadership. she sent this tweet 15 minutes ago saying that i am honored to nominate kevin mccarthy on behalf of the house gop conference. in the new republican majority, so much focus on members of congress this morning.

what they are saying, especially republican members about the speakers vote. this is chad pilgrim, capitol hill producer for fox news quoting scott perry, one of those republicans that is coming out against kevin mccarthy. he is saying that he does not have the 218 votes needed to win the speakership but he is dragged to the conference and congress and country to the brink. chad pilgrim also quoting one of those fresh members of congress who are taking their seat today. that is michigan congressman elect john james sing the gop squandered his majority back in 2016 and it could do it again if members don't bridge the fractures over mccarthy in the speakers vote. those are some of the comments, we will be watching what folks continue to say over the next four hours until the house covens in.

-- house gavels in. mitch mcconnell, the minority leader in the senate, here is his statements at one of those tuesday press conferences on capitol hill. [video clip] >> do you support kevin mccarthy to be the speaker of the house? >> absolutely, i am pulling for kevin and i hope he makes it. guest: mitch mcconnell late last year and we will see what happens today at noon. that speakers vote is the very first actions that will take place in the house. host: in our next hour, two long-time watchers of congress here to talk about the 118 congress and what to expect today. molly reynolds of the brookings and bob q sack of the hill is joining us. you can ask questions. this as the coverage of the 118

congress continues. >> the new 118 congress convenes today at noon eastern for the first time in two years, they will return to washington as a divided government. republicans will control the house of representatives while democrats retain control of the congress. the average age of 47, compared to the average age of 58. the new congress will be more diverse with a record number of women serving, including women of color. join us as the 118th congress convenes in just session and new members take fields of office. new congress, new leaders. watch the opening day of the hundred 18 congress at noon eastern live, on c-span, and

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be up-to-dd thlatest in publishing with tv's podcasts about books. with current nonfiction book releases plus bestseller list as well as industry news and trends through insider interviews. you can find about books on c-span now or wherever you get your podcast. "washington journal," continues. host: joining us for our conversation, molly reynolds with the brookings institute. she is the senior fellow and then we have bob q sack of the hill, he's there editor-in-chief, thank you for giving us her time today. mr. q sack, the hill has a headline that when it comes to today, it is speaker mccarthy reaching that moment of truth as far as the election is concerned.

what is the most particular thing you are watching for in this selection? bob: it will be a battle of wills because for the first time in 100 years we will go to a second ballot. the conservatives who are against mccarthy have did a pretty good negotiating job because they have not spelled out exactly what they want and exchange for supporting mccarthy. he is been making concessions on vacating the 5-0 threshold. there will be pressure i think on mccarthy or the mccarthy critics to back down and it is a game of chicken. host: that game of chicken, what does that mean for a party as a whole on the starting up day when they are trying to get things done? molly: it's telling, we have

seen examples historically of times when the vote to elect the speaker has gone through the first ballot. there are some things unusual about today and the configuration of the factions. one of them is generally, historically, when a speaker has had trouble getting votes from members of his own party. here we have the more radical faction of the republican party that is digging in their heels against mr. mccarthy. as i was saying, is much harder to bargain with the faction like that when they don't have concrete policy asks that are achievable under a divided government. they don't have a line that they have drawn that says if you give us this, we will vote for you. it really makes it hard for the

party to get his feet under it and get started in the new congress. host: then there is also kevin mccarthy giving those concessions like those to get them out of office if he has enough republicans to do so. molly: the threshold for the motion to vacate which is available for members to try to remove the speaker. i think what the fight over the threshold tells us is that even if mccarthy ultimately is elected speaker, whether it was with five votes, thresholds a motion to vacate. or whether it's only a single member. that tells us a lot about how hard it is going to be or mccarthy or anyone else who become speaker to govern the house republicans. host: have we ever seen anybody go into this knowing what they face in his ability to control

the party in the caucus as well? what is he facing? bob: not my lifetime, this is highly unusual. it will be a historic day, it could be a very long day. tamales point, as for the criticism aimed at mccarthy, it has some things to do with the rules package and inside baseball. and more has to do with ideology. a lot of conservatives think mccarthy doesn't have it. there's probably 2, 3 dozen that are skeptical of mccarthy. we have seen that in prior votes behind closed door. we will see the public post today. it is his past record on spending. that has frustrated many in the republican party that spending is out of control and during the trump administration when they have the house, senate and white house. they did not do anything on cutting spending. mccarthy can't go back in time. he is really stuck and he has to

play the long game and they listen, there's no other viable person who can beat me right now as far as getting the votes. but who can goo to that 218 magic number? i know some of these hard-core republicans who are against mccarthy. they are not the ones to back down. they will stand up and that is what's frustrating to other republicans because then they get the media attention and right now, mccarthy is just up. host: there's a group of nine writing this letter, opposing mccarthy, when it comes to the map. they will come to the mat constantly against him. bob: politics is about momentum and when they start at who is voting in the go down the list, it looks like based upon the alphabetical order, andy biggs who is running against kevin

mccarthy could be the first person he who does his vote alphabetically for mccarthy on the republican side. all the democrats will unite behind jeffries. host: give us a call if you want to talk to our guests about what to expect today. (202) 748-8000 free democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents. molly reynolds, talk about the process today. molly: they will commune, there would be the prayer, pledge of allegiance. a quorum call where members register their presence and then the first vote before we move on to swearing in members, the speaker, the rules package is the vote for speaker. the way the vote for speaker works is that every member's name is called and they vote by voice either for a member by

name or they can vote president or they can simply not show up. we talked about the math. the number of folks who will vote president choose not to participate in the vote effects the denominator. the bottom number out of which mr. mccarthy or another candidate would have to get a numerical majority to win. once, if they get all the way through the first vote and there is no one who has a numerical majority of members voting for a candidate by name, then we would move on to subsequent votes for speaker. they can, if they wish, adjourn. that would take unanimous consent or majority vote. there has been some reporting about whether mr. mccarthy's allies would prefer to keep everyone in the house chamber on the floor to fight this out in public versus trying to get a motion to adjourn to go behind closed doors into the house

republican conference. reporting suggest that mr. mccarthy it is to his advantage to have a publicly as opposed behind closed doors. they can move on to other business until they have elected a speaker. host: it would be a death blow if they did adjourn. you have people have time to commiserate. molly: as bob was saying, at the end of last year when the republican conference in went behind doors to nominate for speaker, then there was more opposition to mr. mccarthy then we were expecting to see today. there were some folks who voted against him privately and conference who we expect to vote for him publicly on the floor today. those dynamics could come back if they adjourned and tried to negotiate in private. host: one of those two republicans opposing him is matt

rosendale, bob cusak supporting mccarthy now, is there any change of there? bob: their strategy is to minimize defectors. but then you have people like scott perry, dan bishop from north carolina, other people have suggested that they could be known. they are minimizing it so they look like the small percentage of rebels preventing the takeover the house. mccarthy saying if we can't get a speaker, we can't fight crime. you can do hearings on the border, on other things. we have to get a speaker. i agree, i think it is probably better for mccarthy to do this in public because he has been

doing the toxin private over the holidays and not gotten anywhere. i think the pressure has to be from mccarthy allies to get on these guys to back down. they will also have to say facing get something out of it and maybe it is lowering that threshold from five to just one. if that happens and you do have a no contest vote in the speaker, that would really weaken mccarthy to the point where there would be speculation that he would go and we have seen that with mark weiner, mark meadows. host: he is gone for the speakership before, has he learned lessons this time around versus last time? bob: he made her major gaffe with the benghazi committee and that hurt them. there were other issues that hurt him because he has not been as conservative as some conservatives want. paul ryan and john boehner were viewed as more conservative but

they did attract criticism for not being conservative enough. this is a real fight for the soul of the house republicans. mccarthy has been playing close to trump. he thought that would get him the speakership. trump held out his endorsement of mccarthy not for election, but then he waited a while before he endorsed mccarthy for speaker. we have been talking to members about how much trump has been involved. there has been some involvement but i don't even think a call from the former president is going to do much. this is house entering, this is outside presidential politics and that's why it's a problem. host: why should we care about palace intrigue at this place and how it plays out? molly: even in the. of divided government, the house of representatives has basic responsibility governing

this country. when he think about the votes will be the hardest to get over the finish line, it will be on things like to keep the government open. focusing the debt limit later this year. the degree to which house republican intrigue matters to the rest of us, it does come down to how it affects the ability of the house to fulfill its basic, conscious role of governing. host: again, host: free democrats, -- (202) 748-8000 four democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 four independents. james, good morning go ahead. caller: i've a question for both

of your guest, this could become a self-destructive issue for the republicans. democrats nominating someone, the whole block of the democratic party votes for it. they get 12, 15 rinos to vote with them and that defeats the republican and total as far as the house of representatives. the speaker of the house controls what bills are brought to the floor. the things that republicans wanted to start off with would come to the floor. please answer that question? bob: anything is possible but have republicans vote for a democrat. this is a shirts and skins type of issue. kevin mccarthy like nancy pelosi did not want republican votes. it was tom reed who was willing to vote for nancy pelosi because she change the rules in a way that he liked. she did not want his vote.

there is a possibility that democrats, if there are a lot around and a lot of fatigue that the moderates could join up with the democrats. i don't think moderate publicans will vote for a democrat. there have been other proposal. the speaker does not need to be a member. fred upton who just retired has been floated. i just don't see that as a reasonable possibility. molly: the caller is right, this is something we have seen sketched out. i would also point out, for the 12, 15, more pragmatist republicans who can imagine doing something like that. it doesn't help them get to their preferred outcome which is mr. mccarthy being elected speaker. going on record and saying i might be willing to vote for fred upton or vote for someone else like that.

is somewhat detracts from their campaign if they've branded themselves as only kevin. it detracts from that messaging and for that reason as well, we are unlikely to see it. host: as far as republicans themselves, if kevin mccarthy doesn't have the votes who is the most likely republican rising to the position? molly: the name we have heard floated the most is steve scalise. i think there would be questions about whether some of these folks who have branded themselves only kevin mccarthy to the end, would they switch their allegiance? a lot of them would come down to what the numbers look like after those votes? how much does he lose on the first ballot? do they take a second vote immediately? do you see someone saying i made my point and now i vote for mccarthy. this is very hard to know what will happen but a lot of that

will shake out. host: was the ability for steve scalise to cross these bridges of these various factions? bob: he has to tow a delicate mind. if we move on from kevin mccarthy at some point, if we do, steve scalise has to unite if he's going to be the one in that situation and mccarthy would probably lose congress. i don't think he would accept a lower position. another name is patrick mchenry, the financial services chair. he has been a member of leadership, respected by the house republican congress. kinski lisa mchenry, if they still have an issue -- if they move on from mccarthy, the mccarthy critics can't just say i don't want him, i don't want her, i want him. at some point they will have to accept a choice if a get to that level. host: let's hear from sue and

california on the republican line for our guest. good morning euronext. caller: i just had a question about people getting caught in lies and they can still hold office? i don't understand that. the republican party has just protected that person, santos got caught and he lied and he is just going to have a say in what's going go on. there should be republican standing by to get rid of these people that are bald-faced lying. is there something we can do about that? host: one of the other storylines, george santos of new york. molly: representative santos of

new york, there has been wide reporting about serious things about which he lied about during his campaign, his resume, his background. under the rules of the constitution and the supreme court's interpretation of the constitution, the house can't refuse to seat mr. santos. he is the age required by the constitution and there's a supreme court says that they can't refuse him for anything other than constitutional violations that are required for servicing congress. they could choose to expel him. that would take a majority. that's pretty unlikely. we could see subsequent investigations by house ethics committees that is a possibility. but ultimately with many scandals involving members of

congress the most likely way that mr. santos with end up leaving congress is under sufficient pressure to do so or if his constituents vote him out of office in two years. that is where we are with that story. host: reportedly his allegiance to kevin mccarthy in the margin of votes that the house has, chances are they will not call for his ouster bob: they need his vote. i don't think george santos will be a lifer in congress. there are questions about where he got his campaign donations. these could be criminal in the investigations are ongoing and at some point whether he gets a primary challenger the general election it will be tough for him to stay in congress. even for the next two years to serve out his full term because

he is taking some achieve for the many lies that he is perpetrated. host: what's the likelihood he ends up on committee work? bob: will they see him on committees? you have to take it one step at a time. kevin mccarthy wants to be speaker and i would imagine he would put them on a community but not a high-profile committee. host: from tennessee on the democrats line. caller: good morning happy new year everyone. the republicans already started off with lies. how can we teach our children about congress and senate when you are lying? when the republicans set up and vote they didn't vote for anything for the people. i watch the congress and i watch the senate. they vote no, no, no to everything. it is ridiculous. people put people out there to

vote against their own interest. there are poor people who need that money, medicare and everything. but they vote for republicans who don't care about us. and sir, i am looking at you and i am telling the truth. we need god in heaven to straighten out your hearts to help the people of america. thank you, have a good day. molly: one of the things she picks up on is the degree to which part of the predicament we find ourselves in today with the speakership election does involve the degree to which some of the folks who are hold out against mccarthy are motivated less by achievable goals and more about this idea about just being against mccarthy to get some attention. that is a bigger pathology in the current congress.

i think it is a real challenge for those members on both sides of the aisle to come to washington who legislate and how did they get their work done when they have colleagues whose motivation for seeking elections is more around congress gets me on tv, congress gives me a national reputation. as someone who studies congress, that is an evolution in the chamber we've seen over time. is manifesting itself today in the speakership boat that it is a real challenge for this congress going forward. host: we've heard the republicans talk about the oversight workplan but legislatively, what are they focused on and what could they get through the democrats in the house but also the senate? bob: that's a big question there. one of the big issues they should focus on is inflation. they want to get rid of the 87 thousand irs agents that were included in the inflation reduction act.

they want to focus on energy. permitting reform is a measure of energy that could get in the senate, it did not get through. one of the things he will see bipartisanship on no matter how the vote goes is the farm bill. usually, it is bipartisan. does not mean there are not controversial parts of it. whether the snap, food stamps, is a huge bonus condition. there is a lot of food provision in there. beyond that, they raise the debt limit. there is something that they have to do or risk economic collapse. i think will be very hard for house republicans to pass raising the debt limit when these conservatives won't vote for mccarthy. they won't vote for any debt limit increase but it will have to get through the house one way or another. this could be very bumpy.

mccarthy, he is up against the senate, he is up against the white house and they are trying to get ready for 2024. the republicans need a strong speaker. it remains to be seen when this whole thing is over whether they will have a strong speaker. molly: on this last point that bob was making. most of the time when we have seen these nasty fights over the speakership's bid during periods of divided government where having the gavel and power means you have the ability to steer your party with your co-partisans in the senate towards real policy change. that is not what is on the table or on the horizon for this congress. that's one historical note. we get a little bit of a sense of where they are planning to go initially in the rules package should be get there today. should we get there tomorrow. there is an initial list of oc

intent to take and the first vote is on an energy bill to expand oil and gas leasing. there will be a build to rescind funding for those 87,000 irs agents. a couple of votes related to immigration and the border, to abortion. from a messaging perspective, none of those measures are likely to go anywhere. we know where they want to stick their flag on their agenda. bob: on the 87,000 irs agent, that's the issue they could threaten the government shut down raising the debt limit. these critics are adamant about getting rid of that part of the inflation reduction act. democrats will not go for that. over the last couple of months, to us in other publications, house republicans are saying we need to use our leverage to get rid of that and they think the

irs is not a popular agency and they can when that pr battle. host: let's hear from keith in wisconsin on the republican line. caller: good morning page to you and to your two guests. i remember not too long ago when the current speaker of the house nancy pelosi was behind president trump ripping up his state of the union speech. you don't have to be a member of congress to be speaker of the house. i think it would be such sweet irony to see speaker of the house donald trump ripping up joe biden's next state of the union speech. happy new year. bob: that was a volatile night when that speech was shredded. obviously, nancy pelosi and donald trump are not the best of friends. when george w. bush was helicopter doubt, nancy pelosi said she felt like an anvil had

come off her chest. certainly during the trump administration she longed for the days of the bush administration. trumpet speaker has been talked about. he's not interested, he's running for president. that would be an interesting flip but he couldn't get the votes either. there had been serious talks, republicans went to ben carson who ran for president against donald trump and talk to him about becoming speaker. again, you never know. it has always been a member of congress that has been a speaker but you don't have to be. host: from maine on the independent line. caller: good morning, how about the scenario of new members not being sworn in effects the vote? if they are not sworn and can they legally vote in this scenario for speaker? molly: anyone who is a member elect, new members and returning

members do vote for speaker before the swearing-in. that has been the order of operations on just how the house works. it has been interesting to watch on the republican side, there are a handful of members to come out being against mr. mccarthy and there are several as i've mentioned before never mccarthy votes, another nine members who signed a letter over the weekend indicating the mccarthy had not come far enough in the concessions to get their support. some of the folks on that letter our members elect. we see folks who have not served a day in congress yet certainly playing a role in the speakership race. host: from william in massachusetts on the independent line. caller: good morning happy new year.

i see the list of representatives that might vote against mccarthy and i noticed that three or from arizona. why three from one state? it seems little strange, maybe you could explain it? bob: the three from arizona are gosar, claimant and biggs. as far as different states, are you trying to angle for exchanges? it's not a state thing it's more like hey, we need a conservative who will cut spending, take on this white house and do thing that other speakers have not done. there is a reason that speakers have done the way they have done in the past since peaking to pass leadership aids, with paul ryan they said we are going to have a new day, new house. things worked out a little differently. molly: from watching other

things related to the arizona republican party over the past 4-8 years, that has been a place where there has been a fair amount of radicalism within the republican party. in that sense, is not surprising to me that it would be a delegation that would generate a couple of these folks who are pretty vocal mccarthy opponents. there is no particular regional connection to their positions. host: we focus a lot on the houses focus on the senate. the house goes into the republican hands, what's this in his priority for the next two years? molly: while we have talked about shifting the house to the republicans, the democrats have gained the senate. we are working with the straight

majority for democrats and that helps democrats in the senate and that helps president biden concerning nominees to the federal judiciary and to executive branch appointments. the senate has been able to do that, sometimes with a tie-breaking vote from vice president harris. it gives them a little breathing room with the 51 votes and the fact that committees will no longer be evenly divided between democrats and republicans will make it easier for them to get nominees out of committee and onto the floor. legislatively, because it will be needing to contend with the republican-controlled house, we are not expecting nothing near what we saw over the last two years under unified government. on some of these things like keeping the government open and raising the debt limit, the government will be a major player. host: we had raphael warnock

reelected, kyrsten sinema going to become an independent, what those shifts mean internally? what is it mean for joe manchin? we saw him be a key player and trying to get things done. how did those things figuring? bob: they still have a significant amount of power. there is now question about whether mansion will be independent. they have to decide if they are running for reelection. kyrsten sinema will face a primary challenge. joe manchin, i interviewed him after his last election win against patrick morrissey. it was a very tough race. joe manchin said it took a lot out of him. he won by a few points. it will be very difficult, even though he is popular in west virginia. it will be difficult to win reelection in a presidential year.

you will see more campaign maneuvers because both kyrsten sinema and joe manchin will be thinking, i am in the cycle. the battle in the senate is going to be less on the senate floor. it will be who republicans recruit to run and 2024. they recruited some candidates who performed poorly. herschel walker did not run a good campaign and he still came relatively close. you are seeing a battle in the republican party between mitch mcconnell and donald trump on who will recruit and who will run in 2024. the math in 2020 four is very republican friendly. if they can get a valid candidate, they are facing a lot of democrat face days. a lot of people think the center republicans blew their chance here. they have another chance in 2024 and we will see who wins our primary challenge and struggle

between mitch mcconnell and donald trump and they will never get along again. host: you mentioned mitch mcconnell, he talked about bipartisanship in the politics behind that? bob: he is always been a backer of infrastructure and there has been some major needs, particularly abridging kentucky. he will deal with the president. there is tension between kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell. we have seen that on various legislation including the last fiscal package that got past late last month. mcconnell has said he is pulling for mccarthy. he wants them to win, he would rather work with kevin mccarthy than in andy biggs. this republican party, and republicans of said this recently including newt gingrich, they are a little bit in disarray and they have to get their stuff in order starting today.

the democrats will setback and they will enjoy the spectacle. nancy pelosi got the votes before they went to the floor. she had a little trouble becoming speaker second time. well, she was able to get them before the house floor. it was a different situation. molly: your last point about the comparison to pelosi's speakership, it's really telling. when she needed to shore up support for his speakership, she needed to make concessions. most notably that she would step down after two more terms. she had room to maneuver because there were concrete things that members of her caucus were asking for and said if you give us this then we will give it to you. that is in between what we're doing now. we are unclear whether the concessions that mccarthy has made so far, whether there are other concessions he could make that could get him the votes he needs. host: let's hear from georgia on

the democrats line. you are on with our guests. caller: oh, good morning. i'm so glad i got a chance to come on. i am 85 years old and i am deaf. but i am a news junkie. i'm a democrat since jimmy carter. i really do not represent north georgia and anyway. i represent our local democratic party. we are outnumbered four to one. i have been the local treasurer for our local party. until my deafness. , made it difficult. last night i wrote a list about the speaker of the house. heaven help us if kevin mccarthy

should be third in line to the presidency. he has lost all hope. he lost all evidence of any integrity. the man has no integrity. he does not care what happens to the citizens of the united states. i do have a list of people, but i do understand they do not have to be current, elected representatives. host: who would you like to see instead of kevin mccarthy? caller: instead of kevin mccarthy? that is my 85-year-old mind. host: that's ok joan, thank you. caller: she was the cochair of

the january 6 committee. host: liz cheney. that's another scenario. molly: there is no requirement that the speaker of the house be and elected member of the house. it's unlikely that we would see someone else fill that role. it's not entirely clear to me that anyone that could get the votes would want to do the job. i think it is pretty unlikely but the fact that we're even talking about this, even entertaining the idea that a person who is going to be the speaker of the house could come from outside the chamber just reflects how remarkable this moment is. it is not unprecedented. we have seen other times when the speaker has had trouble getting elected, even on the

floor with multiple ballads. we have not seen that in 100 years, but there is very little new under the sun in american politics. it illustrates the moment we are in. host: robert in texas on the republican line. caller: good morning, glad to get you. i want to elaborate on what the young lady said early. liz cheney should be the speaker of the house. she would bring the republican back in line and she would actually govern. that other gentlemen earlier, donald trump can't govern because he doesn't know about the government. liz cheney and 213 democrats would gladly vote for her. all we need is five courageous, red republicans to support her. host: that is robert in texas. we will see how this plays out? bob: the political danger for anyone voting for speaker should they decide to vote someone

else. if you like liz cheney, she was great on the january 6 commission. if you vote republican, you would likely get primary. you have to consider those types of things. liz cheney is certainly eyeing a presidential bid. we don't know if she will run as a republican or as an independent. she wants to make sure that donald trump, i don't think she can become the next president, but she just wants to prevent donald trump from being president again. that is her number one priority. the other thing i want to mention on january 6, kevin mccarthy's former mentor, bill thomas. he worked for thomas, they represented the same district in bakersfield. thomas has gone public with his criticism of mccarthy and his handling of january 6 and has continued that. that is very interesting because i used to be very close. now, they are not. host: let's talk about the white

house and how this will play out in the house. as president biden faces the government, what is outlook like? bob: of course joe biden is going to run. it will be more orderly for the party but some democrats, and if you look at polls, less than half of democrats want him to run and some of them cite his age. but he has struck deals before, what is the biden presidency going to mean? it was a disappointing night for republicans but they did when the house and the senate is still close and winnable. in 2024, the house, white house and senate are all up for grabs and republicans, we really need to unite and get ready for the next cycle. that will be very interesting to see. i think president biden, chuck

schumer will try to play this divide and conquer game. get mcconnell on some bills. and reject a lot of the house passed bills. even if mccarthy is speaker, he wants to boot democrats off committees. that has to go to a vote. there are some republican members, they voted to kick off congresswoman green off committees. maybe, they don't want to kick off the democrats and committees. every vote will be tough regardless of who votes. molly: one thing we will see once the houses able to get organized, they can't really start to many operations until their house speakers voted in. i think we are going to see aggressive oversight. another concession that was made

to some of mccarthy's detractors was a promise to stand up and select subcommittees on the weaponization of the government. it will be within the and do shary committee looking at the fbi. it's a focus on where their energy is in the house because of the challenges of getting anything done legislatively under divided government. host: nancy in indiana on the democrats line. think you for joining us. caller: i am calling from red state indiana, columbus. two things briefly, ms. reynolds noted earlier the desire to get attention and i would like to echo that. i think a lot of the behavior, nowadays, pretty much republicans.

it's attention-getting and also, just raw power. i think this has been sped by a lot of things in media. but particularly, fox news and now the even more radical, right-wing outlets. it just feeds this immaturity where only the things that matter are getting attention. i wonder if your guests would comment on, is there any hope for a return to the fairness doctrine? i can personally see a way out of this until there is some kind of standard for truth telling and what can be aired on public airwaves, which of course, that whole system is publicly, taxpayers funded. it's a different kind of infrastructure. but we all supported.

i am tired of hearing complete lies and george santos is the epitome of where we have ended up. thank you, i will take my answer off the phone. molly: i think the median environment plays a big role in what we are seeing not just in the house today, we talked about a little bit about the context of the speakership but generally, the challenges of the u.s. congress faces in the current moment. it is hard to see, how we get out of that. given the current media environment and the incentives facing the members of congress. they behave the way they do because they think it is politically beneficial to them. it's a little hard to know how we get out of that. the median environment is part of why we are where we are. bob: i think republicans have talked about the fairness doctrine in the past.

as far as their oversight plan, they will be going over tech companies, hunter biden, media and social media. jim jordan will be the judiciary chair. he supports kevin mccarthy. even though he has these allies, he is struggling. it's something that oversight will be the most important thing for house republicans and also, it's important for them not to go too far and not overreach with oversight and there is some concern that there will be a lot of hunter biden and not enough bread-and-butter issues like inflation and the economy and energy. i think that is a struggle you will see among house republicans. the script did not go well for house republicans. they expected a red wave. this is us then of a majority as

you can get. it has flowed from nancy pelosi's. nancy pelosi has been around a long time and she was speaker twice and she knows how to do the job and get it done. it's been tougher for kevin mccarthy. some of the republicans have not been like democrats who are like yes, if you give me this nancy pelosi i will vote for you. that's not how it's going down. host: from bill in florida on the independent line, good luck you are next. caller: oh wonderful. you guys are throwing around terms like agenda and ideology and i don't like to upbraid you. fighting the fairness doctrine, maybe it is not unprecedented. we have a wonderful opportunity here. i am an independent and i am in

florida. so many of the politicians run, maybe even most of them would say, we have to change things in washington. this is their opportunity to live up to it and say listen, we have to change the rules. i understand the politics, it's almost a dirty word that we have to make compromises. it's not about ideology and agenda. it is about ideals and these guys campaigned on that promise that we will live up to these ideals. we know what's right. we have to stop assigning people to committees based on who is playing their prompt the best way.

even with the original i know we had a lot of politics played in that. ideas mattered more than they do now. don't take a number one priority and if we don't take individuals to start living up to the ideals of what a republic should be -- host: we got your point, thank you for calling. bob: very few people get elected for saying i am for the status quo. they want to be outsiders, they come to washington if they are successful. it's really hard, you have to raise a lot of money. they come to washington, they want to get on the ways and means committee. i want my energy plan, we have the energy chairman working on the plan. there's a lot of frustration that bubbles up on social media

and the last 10 years have been very volatile. it did not start with trump, but when we go back a long time ago. i came to washington in 1998. the parties were at odds. it was newt gingrich and bill clinton. they made sweeping changes to medicare. though sweeping, bipartisan deals, we have not seen in a long time. we have seen the affordable care act pass along party lines. trump tax lines. there has been other stuff but the biggest bills in recent years, have been completely partisan. molly: suddenly we've moved away from a. where there was a bipartisan attempt around deficit reduction and everyone will have to bear some of the pain to get there. you have to increase taxes and cut medicare and lose half of that.

you see this embodied in the republican house rules package. there are a number of provisions that are targeted around cutting spending but don't say anything about having to impose the same on tax because. it's baked into the fabric of even the rules, the proposed roles at this point. i think bob is right, no one runs for congress saying they want to keep the same. it's a challenge for new members. one of the more interesting things the republicans decided at the end of last year was that they do appear to intend to keep what we are now calling community funding. if they can pass those spending bills, they would have targeted spending for communities. many rank-and-file house members

are now feeling they have a little more steak in the process. that will be interesting to watch. as we talked about what might change, there are some things that are likely to turn around from creative new members. host: on the republican line from florida. caller: i served in three wars, vietnam, the goal for in the cold war. i respect my american flag. mccarthy and the republican party has to get together, ok? the bickering that the republicans have has to stop. two, if mccarthy has a meeting with joe, he has to remember that the democratic party says things and does things totally opposite. they are not trustworthy.

the democratic party spends more money than we have in the bank. that is already outstanding. look at the energy crisis that we have? joe biden does not care about the american people. he doesn't care about the borders, we know that. we need to get together as republicans and say listen, whoever is telling you to do things needs to stop. we need to bring back the tea party, have a third party. it might just work out real good. the republicans have to learn that the democrats work as a team, not against each other. host: got you, thank you color. bob: humans the relationship between kevin mccarthy and president biden. he had a successful election but his numbers are still in the 40's. many democrats don't want him to run again, he's not the strong as president but democrats have

an upper hand. mccarthy and biden have no relationship. they have just started to talk to each other. they will have to talk a lot now and that is where mccarthy will be under tremendous pressure if you become speaker because he is going up against chuck schumer who knows how to win political battles in this town as well as the bully pulpit of the white house. then you have the 2024 backdrop where you will have republicans, more than just trump announcing. it will be quite a field on the republican side. they will be criticizing anything coming out of washington because you don't become president by embracing the washington insider. whoever the speaker is will be under tremendous pressure. host: one more call we will take from our guest in silver spring, maryland. caller: how can anyone vote for

kevin mccarthy? he is such an empty street. he will look you straight in the eye and lie. that's all he knows how to do. it is unbelievable that he would even be considered. he has as much backbone as a snake. as far as mr. phonic, she is another snake. but we all knew that. have let's have liz cheney be the new speaker of the house. host: we will end as we started, the speaker thing overall but what are the nuances? guest: it's how many people are not going to vote for mccarthy. as you see more and more republicans and we are talking beyond the five, this goes to a second nala, we will see more but how many are we dealing

with? are we dealing with 36 or 40 or 20? to be public -- the members have to think, kevin mccarthy could become a speaker and there could be some revenge served here if he does become speaker. they will remember that so if you want favors down the road, he's can remember how you vote on this one. guest: there will be a change between the first ballot and the second ballot. if mccarthy does get elected, you don't necessarily want to be on his bedside don't want to be on the bad side of the vast majority of the house members were voting for him. there are all kinds of places where it matters with these holdouts as to what they want to

get done and what their motives are, there is a little bit of a question. if there's things they want to get done, the longer they hold out on mccarthy, the more challenging that will become . host: thank you for joining us for this discussion. to both of you, thanks for joining us and happy new year to both of you. we've got three hours to go until the new congress comes and we will take your calls. if you want to call about what you think the top priority for the new congress should be, these are the numbers. we will take those calls when "washington journal" continues.

>> middle and high school students, it's time to get out your phones and start courting for your chance to win 100,000 dollars in total cash prizes or the grand prize of $5,000 by entering c-span's video documentary contest. we are asking students to picture yourself as a newly elected member of congress and tell us what your top priority would be and why. create a 5-6 minute video showing the importance of your issue from opposing and supporting points of view, people with your documentary and don't be afraid to take risks. the deadline for entries is january 20, 2023. for rules and tips on how to get started, visit our website at two and cam.org. -- at studentcam.org. >> if you are enjoying book tv, sign up for our newsletter using

the qr code on the screen. book tv, every sunday on c-span2 or anytime on book tv.org, television for serious readers. >> the new 118 congress convenes today at noon eastern for the first time in two years, they will return to washington as a divided government, republicans will control the house while democrats retain control of the senate by a slim majority, the new incoming members are younger with an average age of 47 compared to 58 in the previous session. the new congress will be more diverse with a record number of women serving including more women of color. the 118 congress gavels into session and new members will take the oath of office. new congress, new leaders, watch

opening day of the 118 congress today at noon eastern live on c-span and c-span2 and on c-span now, our free mobile video app or online at www.c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this program will go until noon today. the starting process of the 118 congress after noon. activity on the senate side as well. you can watch the house on c-span and watch the senate on c-span2 and follow along on our app called c-span now and follow along at the website at www.c-span.org. as we talk about the 118 congress, what do you think there top priority should be? should be matters of the economy or immigration or health care or what have you. call and let us know.

you can text us as well. you heard airgas talk about one of the things to watch for in the house today was the speaker election with kevin mccarthy of california facing a vote on whether he will become speaker of the house and one of the challengers was arizona republican andy biggs. he called a press conference last month for what he focused on including matters of immigration. [video clip] >> in august, 20 21, i introduced articles of impeachment against secretary mayorkas and now that we have the majority in the house of representatives, expect their party to pursue impeachment next congress. sec. mayorkas has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. his job is willful and

intentional. he has failed to maintain operational control of the border as required under the law. the secure offenses act of 2006 requires the secretary to achieve and maintain operational control of the border. it defines operational control as the prevention of unlawful entries into the united states including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics and other contraband. that is his duty and obligation. instead, the policies he has enacted have produced the exempt opposite -- the exact opposite of control. the current border control chief said under oath that the biden administration support policies have no consequences. for illegal aliens arriving in our country. as a result, more than 4 million illegal aliens have been apprehended under sec. mayorkas'leadership. this does not include known or

unknown got a ways. this is allowing deadly illegal drugs such as fentanyl to come into the country. fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for americans 18-45. his failure to maintain operational control the borders greeting a nationals 30 read because potential there -- terror threats are entering the country.immigration authorities at the border apprehended nearly 100 illegal aliens on the terror watch list. he may have lied to congress when he testified he was maintaining operational control of the border. congressman chip roy of texas showed him the definition i read earlier and sec. mayorkas double down that he felt the border was secure. third, sec. mayorkas is failing to detain illegal aliens as required by law instead, he is releasing illegal aliens into the country. illegal aliens shall be

detained, the law is clear but sec. mayorkas has released more than one million illegal aliens into the country. most of them will never be heard from again. we don't know where they are what they are doing and that's unacceptable. he is abusing the narrowest story the congress gave to him to bring aliens into the united states. it allows him to parole only on a case-by-case basis for urgent mandatory and reasons for significant public benefit. sec. mayorkas is using parole in a categorical generic matter and not on a case-by-case basis. i expect the house judiciary committee to open an impeachment inquiry in the 118 congress and formally investigate him and finally to proceed to impeach him. host: representative andy biggs, someone him to become speaker of the house. the 118 congress will be sworn

in today. what are their top priorities? democrats line, tell us what you think. caller: good morning, i think there is a number of problems that are hampering both parties. if they could just get to the middle ground and do some consensus work like on immigration. it's not a democratic problem and it's not a republican problem, it's a u.s. problem. what people fail to understand is there is a lot of mechanics that is preventing a comprehensive immigration law. for instance, instead of spending all of this money trying to detain people and deport people, we already have about 4 million or so illegals who enter the country illegally

which is upsetting. the people who say they stand in line and wait their turn as opposed to people who come in illegally. if i was sitting in that seat, my proposal would be these people are already here, some of them are hard workers and if people understood what these people go through to get to the united states, they must be running from something. sometimes the impact of u.s. policies working in their country where there is a lot of fraud and abuse of money but if these people are here and working legitimately and doing jobs that americans don't want to do, i say make these people viable and have them pay a fine, allow them to work in the other part of it is, the part about citizenship, i do not believe there should be a straight path to citizenship. people who come in illegally

should be permanently barred from getting citizenship. host: thank you for your thoughts of there. dave in illinois, republican line is next. caller: good morning at thanks for taking my phone call. here's the situation with all these speakership ships going on. the point of leveraging mccarthy's vote is to make him do the proper investigation and have the proper committee assignments. he cannot softball and capitulate because that's with the new congress concerned about. the point of replacing liz cheney was because liz cheney's dad dick cheney started the iraq war every congressman including mike pence and bob nate and tom delay push that war and lied about it and committed treason,

of course, by outing valerie plame. she mentioned in a speech about her grandfather fighting words and are great and father and forgot to mention her dad this is all about making sure the leverage against mccarthy works. what does everybody want? we want air investigations. did joe biden's family get in bed with russia and china? that's treason so there is no capitulation. they have to be followed and that's the point of the election. everybody is blaming donald trump and even though he doesn't read his speeches perfectly, the dobbs ruling caused zero-tolerance abortions to be on the ballot. if the supreme court waited

until january, you would've had 20 more members in the house. host: that's dave in illinois. we will take calls on your top priorities for congress. john mcardle will join us as we watch what happens and plays out today. host: the speaker fight is the story of the day at the start of the one hundred 18 congress and it's also the story of the day 100 years ago in 1923. that was the last time the speaker went beyond the first alec -- the first balance. this shows the headline from the new york times in 1923 headed into the opening day of congress. it took nine ballots and several days to elect the republican from massachusetts as speaker of

the house in 1923. we don't know how long it will go today but all of the congressional reporting is focusing on what will happen here at noon when the house goebbels m. punch bowl news this morning as their look at inside the speaker fight noting this is the 16th anniversary of kevin mccarthy being sworn into congress and they report mccarthy and his top aides remain optimistic that they can beat back the roughly dozen hard-line conservative republicans threatening his candidacy. mccarthy said monday that he will be exciting and good but he did not elaborate on why. the story notes that privately, some lawmakers are expressing concern. one on named close ally of kevin mccarthy gave him a 5% chance of winning the speakership and saying they don't believe he should stay on the floor for

more than two rounds of bows before outing out if it comes to that. they are looking inside the race. in terms of on the record, at least a phonic -- elise stefanik said she will be the one to formally nominate kevin mccarthy. she is the number four in republican leadership in the house and will make that official announcement. we also heard from congressman scott perry. a key block could keep kevin mccarthy from winning the speakership and he sent out a letter. it reads in part that we work in good faith for months to change the status of and we've been sidelined or resisted by mccarthy almost every turn. any perceived progress has been vaguer contained loopholes.

that letter what released today ended by saying kevin mccarthy an opportunity to be speaker of the house and he rejected it. scott perry, the chairman of the freedom caucus. there was a series of tweets this morning about the negotiating going on as of right now ahead of this speaker fight. this is three tweets this morning saying that kevin mccarthy as the house freedom caucus to present their offer to the house republican conference in the closed door meeting that took place this morning. kevin mccarthy did not see the offer is viable to look inside that offer from jake sherman. he said the offer from the freedom caucus was asking for subcommittee chairs for the freedom caucus, specific committee assignments for more than a dozen freedom caucus members. and the ability to control a new church committee designed at

government abuse and wanting that committee to have a budget and be bigger than the selected january 6 committee. conservatives wanted amnesty, no retaliation after this entire negotiation with mccarthy. the goal he writes is to show how deep their assets were last night. that's the inside negotiating that's continuing to happen. on the senate side, when it comes to republicans, a lot less drama this morning. mitch mcconnell who is said to be minority leader in the senate once again, abc news had this tweet about mitch mcconnell, that he is set to become the longest-serving senate party leader in u.s. history today, surpassing the record previously held by mike mansfield and no drama there when it comes to

leadership of republicans in the senate. ♪ host: thank you, jerome in michigan, independent line, good morning. caller: for the 118th congress, i'm not requesting that they look at eliminating the 35% or 21% tax cuts with no accountability in the 39.6% tax cuts done a few years ago. you have heritage foundation, american enterprise, brookings but no one ever talks about the 35% or 21% that the corporations were not asking for. and 39.6% -- i'm not asking to eliminated but congress should have some kind of credibility or accountability for the kind of numbers rather than worrying about medicare. we need some accountability.

c-span needs to put people on who will talk about the 35% and 21% that the corporations were not asking for. host: let's go to torrey in chattanooga, tennessee, democrats line. caller: i have a question. the republicans have been accusing the department of justice and the fbi and the white house of weaponizing their government agencies. if the republicans do and investigate the investigators type of in re-and if they attacked the justice department and the prosecutors in the white house, wouldn't they be actively obstructing justice in an ongoing criminal investigation? wouldn't they be actively trying to obstruct the investigations

that are criminal investigations against the x presence staff and his allies and the allies in congress but wouldn't that be an open and latent obstruction of justice? please discuss that. host: from alice in colorado, republican line, you were next area caller: good morning, i am a republican but i voted democrat. i do think house of representatives should nominate andy biggs as speaker. i think the border is my main concern. number two is kevin mccarthy come i never liked him and i always thought he was not sincere. it's hard because i don't know his background but on january six, he was begging the president to call off the people and i admired him for doing that

but then he backed down again and i listen to all the january 6 but most of my republican friends didn't and they have their opinion. i listen to everything an answer i am. the third point is when nancy pelosi ripped up donald trump state of the union speech come i lost a lot of respect for her and i absolutely don't respect ex-president donald trump. now with his trading cards and coffee table book, he is not qualified to be president. thank you very much. host: a shot of the capital down there with various shots including on the house side. a lot of the focus will be taking place on the house side, the determination of who becomes house speaker area they will start their process around noon and until then, they will do a

pro forma session around 10:00 a.m. then gavel out and finish up work and it will go to the senate side. noon is when you can expect the house to come into start their work and their first order business after a couple of other things is to determine who will be speaker. this is joanna and florida, independent line. caller: can you hear me? good morning millions if not more across the united states including florida are being ripped to shreds and dehumanized and abused by the predatory student loan system we have. the founder of student loan justice just finished fighting

for the passage of two bills, one in the house and the other in the senate. we are trying to get our bankruptcy rights restored. i would agree with many others who feel our bankruptcy rights should never have been stripped of these laws. we are currently trying to get more members and we would greatly appreciate more members. go to student loan justice.org and you've got to have a free twitter account. we need support in doing our daily actions. right now, we are currently sitting back watching to see what will happen. we expect to pick up the effort and the effort is to get our banker beat -- our bankruptcy rights restored host: let's hear

from lola in missouri, democrats line. caller: i have never seen such a mess as we have in washington right now. they need to stop the safer program where they are paying people to's day at home and do nothing but collect money. we need to put open trade school for kids in high school and trained them to do things and bring our companies back to this country and make is number one again. we are down to number 40 on the list because of the mess in washington and we need to go after biden. i'm on the democratic line but he has caused treason in this country. biden and pelosi and some of the

others should be in jail for treason. we need to get this country straightened out and the republicans have to stop arguing and get some balls and get to work area host: republican line, hi. caller: my top domestic issue especially for republicans is to legislate, try and legislate. i want to have these investigations but i don't think that's how you will win over the independence or any democrats who want to vote for a republican candidate in the future. the house freedom caucus is trying to take hostage every other moderate applicant who wants to say let's put something forward on the table. i entered in d.c. this past summer and isa all of these freedom caucus interns but they never wanted to talk to a moderate republican intern.

they want to talk to republican moderates on the floor but they say rhino this and that because they see any democratic cooperation is on except dish is unacceptable and that's no way to have bipartisanship. host: on the senate side, with the retirement of patrick leahy of vermont is patty murray becoming the president pro tem. we had a chance to sit down with her and talk to her about her new role, here's a portion of that interview. >> you in the one of 18 congress will serve as the senate president pro tem. how did you get this position? >> basically by being here long enough. it's a position of importance in the senate. it's the senator who presides over the senate in the absence of the vice president which is

most of the time. i see this as an amazing role an opportunity and i look forward to it. >> what are your responsibilities? >> signing bills for one thing. signing bills, presiding over the senate and i can give that responsibility to other senators. really overseeing how the senate works. >> you are third in line to the president. >> yeah which is a big step. >> what does that entail first security detail? >> that's a change for me. it's not about me, it's about making sure we have a session take place. >> what did they tell you about that succession? >> trying to give me as much

background as they can so should it ever occur, i am ready for it i hope it never happens. >> will you have do not attend certain events as the president pro tem? >> i will have good detailed security and i'm not worried about that. i'm looking forward to that. >> you will also be the first woman to serve as well so what does that mean? >> it such a great name because i remember when i came to the senate, there were two women in the senate before me and then there were six when i one. remembering this is -- that this is not about me. it's really saying to young girls today, go out and work hard and dream your dream and you will be able to do big things. it's always been about saying that if i did this, you can.

>> any thoughts about using that platform to reach out to young girls? >> i do that all the time anyway but this will give me another opportunity. >> you will continue to serve in leadership and chair the health committee? >> i will chair the senate. i am not one to sit back and take extra time because i love working in solving problems. i love working with other senators to do what we need to do to make this country a great place for families. >> what is on your legislative agenda for this congress? >> it's going to be an important congress. there will be a lot of change in his country and people are looking for stability and they want to know that someone is doing the job that needs to be done to make sure their kids can go to school they have enough money for rent and there is

housing and we tackle the challenges of this country. the main things to talk to each other and try to solve the problems. paul ryan and i reach the budget agreement when no one thought it was possible i work with my republican counterpart on the education committee to do no child left behind. i said let's fix it. going into the 118, a lot of people are concerned. i want to work with my counterparts to really try and be transparent and solve those problems and show people we can work together. >> you will have a republican controlled house so how will that work? >> i've always found you don't go in saying you can't do it, you go in saying how do we do this. the house will have issues they have to work out about their own leadership. it takes me back to when i work

with paul ryan and the government was shutting down or we couldn't come up with a budget agreement everyone but we would be in trouble forever. i remember calling paul in his position in the house and saying let's sit down and have breakfast and talk to each other and get to know each other i think that's how we have to look year instead of coming in as adversaries. where do we have common ground? >> who would you like to have breakfast with in the wonder 18 congress? >> the first one would be senator collins the ranking member and kay granger. we will be writing the spending bills for the country which is a big deal. for women who will be writing these deals and that determines opportunity.

how could we make sure our families are ok? what do we need to fund to make sure our families are ok? >> with four women writing the spending bills, do you think the congress can avoid an omnibus package? >> that is the goal. we have a big country and we are very diverse. i hope we can use this time to show that we can work together in a timely fashion to get things done so people can see what's in it. most people in this country have no idea their student would get a pell grant for whether we can do research on agriculture to grow our own food, how we make sure there is water in this country.

we need to do a better job of translating that. >> what is your timeline of getting these bills done? >> we have to get our committee members assigned but i'm already talking to susan collins how we can work together and what kind of process and timeline we can put together. >> what do you look forward to the most? >> just the opportunity to dive into every part of our country and how we work and learning all of that. i'm looking forward to the opportunity to translate what we do here in congress to every day average family so they understand what we are grappling with and what are the differences in how do we get to a common point area also what it means to them. >> when you were standing up

there as the president pro tem in that chair for the first time as a woman, what do you think you will be feeling? >> many different levels, a far cry from where i've been. i get into politics because i got mad because the state legislature was not funding a preschool program i thought was important. i had a state legislator look at me and say you can't make a difference, you're just a moment 10 issues. to all the moms and doesn't tennis shoes, you can make a difference. >> are used to still wearing tennis shoes? >> of course. senator murray, thank you very much. host: senator parity murray, the incoming president pro tem and some of the things you will see play out in the senate. matthew in kentucky, thank you for waiting on the independent line.

go ahead. caller: i'm not sure how much hope there is but the number one domestic issue in the country today is the power of the united states supreme court to cost intentionally destitute constitutionally review legislation. i think it's time congress and the president passed legislation that overturns that and says the power to constitutionally review legislation does not extend so we can keep moving forward. host: john in north carolina, democrats line. caller: good morning and happy new year to you. what i see is congress needs to get on a page that it supposed to be on to do the work of the people and the will of the people, stop with all this garbage going on with mccarthy

and the republicans because half of them need to be ousted anyway. marjorie taylor green and grassley, those will be the people who will be the problem. if mccarthy wants to be speaker, do your job like you are supposed to and get trump out of everything because he still got his fingers on everything. we need to get to the work of the people. hakeem jeffries will be a great leader. with that problem comes another set of problems because if mccarthy is elected and gets in as speaker of the house, him and jeffries will have to talk about everything. mccarthy, if he doesn't become speaker, you let mccarthy talk to at least five democrats and make a deal and get stuff done

until the other idiots over there acting foolish that we will not review. i'll make a deal with the democrats and we can keep this country going because we have a short time in a short timeframe before the next election comes through. . host: thank you for calling on our line for democrats. there is the idea of how congress functions under divided government area a recent poll had the headline, the public having modest expectations for the divided government. pew research center joins us now. thank you for your time today. guest: thank you for having me. host: what prompted you to ask the question? guest: we try to pull the public after every election to see how

they feel about the results and see how they feel about the future of the country. in this case, the expectations are pretty modest as they were after the 2018 election which also resulted in a divided government in washington. only about one third say they will be able to get their programs through. host: those who say they will be successful under president biden , 33 percent versus 65% and those saying they will be unsuccessful, break that down for us. guest: what you see is democrats who are a more optimistic about the resident as you would expect and republicans less so. this is the mirror image of what we saw in 2018 regarding president trump.

host: you know that congress is divided and has been divided before. u.s. people about the partisan relations this year over previous so what did you find out? guest: there is a lot of pessimism about the relationships between republicans and democrats in washington. we've done a lot of work on polarization and it's at record levels and only 8% no expect relations between republicans and democrats in washington to get better. 54% say they will be the same. that's not very good and 38% say they will get worse. host: then you go back to 2018 9% said it would it better. but those years into perspective. guest: it shows the long-term

pessimism about the partisan relations in this country and not just in washington. americans don't see partisan relations getting better and then expect to area host: you think they will look at the parties themselves and asking republicans democrats how they feel about their party. we are showing people the graph. republicans say they feel optimistic about the future of the party. 72% of democrats say they feel optimistic and 28% said they feel pessimistic. is this because of what will happen in the house or are there other factors? guest: this survey was conducted right after the election so it's hard to know how republicans

would feel about the future of the party today and whether that would have an impact or not. you see a little more pessimism today on both sides oh -- with democrats and republicans alike. host: because you watch this frequently, what are you watching for today in terms of what happens in washington but how it plays out in terms of how people think about washington? guest: does this mean that americans look at congress as a dysfunctional institution? the important findings are up long-term pessimism about the state of the country's people were satisfied were with national conditions, that hasn't changed for more than a year. host: carol dority is the director of the research.

you can go to their website at pew research.org. thank you for your time. let's hear from catherine in new york, republican line, thanks for holding on we are talking about priorities for the new congress. caller: i am a second time caller. the news this morning on channel 12 on long island is that the native american indian remains, a law was there to protect taking apart their grays was struck down by the democrats. my mind is shattered, my heart is broken my soul feels like it's going into quicksand. we say diversity and we say democracy and we say the words

unity and on the third day of the new year, native american indian dead bodies will not be honored or respected? that -- if that's not burying my heart at wounded knee all over again, maybe we need the black lives matter movement in america we need native american indians death matters. host: let's hear from robert in texas, independent line. caller: good morning, i believe the optimistic issue for the u.s. congress this session is cannabis. i say cannabis and not trying to cherry pick between hemp which is legal federally and in all 50 states but inclusive of marijuana which has bipartisan support by the populace. the priority should be that --

give the americans what they want, that being legalization of cannabis which includes hemp and marijuana. host: this is on our line for democrats. caller: i am a first time caller and i appreciate you letting me on. i agree with your previous caller. protect democracy, boy cap trumpism. host: darrell in kentucky, republican line. caller: good morning. i think kevin mccarthy would be the best party for speaker of the house. the rest of the democrats are a bunch of crooks in there. they are spending more money today than two years ago. this country is suffering really bad.

$31 trillion is the national debt area they are spending our money. our money needs to be stopped spending. kevin mccarthy should be speaker of the house and he needs to stop all the spending. host: do you think that's a priority of his to spend less? caller: he needs to stop all this spending, there's just too much spending money right now. we are spending over $100 billion and giving money to ukraine. we also should give a billion dollars to the border patrol. this needs to be stopped.

we need the people in the house to work for us and not for joe biden area host: that's from kentucky. a lot of things playing out today but we are asking you about domestic issues for congress but technical things you should be watching for the new congress. guest: we are watching for this speaker's race. this is the race update from the past 15 minutes or so. at 9:30 a.m., house republicans and members elect met in a conference room in the basement of the capital to try to hash out this speaker fight before goes to the floor at noon when the house gavels in. the reporter for nbc news took a video of kevin mccarthy walking to that meeting before 9:30 a.m.

>> do you have the votes yet? guest: they are saying he will have a good day today. plenty of reporters posted outside that meeting room including robert costa of cbs news, talking about that meeting room in the basement of the capital. he said many new members don't know where the room is. they say it's best known as the setting for many john boehner your showdowns between leadership and back bench deals. marjorie taylor greene say she will speak in support of kevin mccarthy and urging conservative critics to back down and take the concessions as a win.

matt gaetz of florida said he is still a no as he walked into the meeting. plenty of other reporters are there as well. max cohen says steve scalise is expected to be majority leader but who knows what could happen if kevin mccarthy is not speaker. they say republicans will elect mccarthy to be the next speaker and he didn't answer if he said he would step in. one more sign of the uncertainty, the washington post notes that none of the house gop leaders have been installed, not even the majority whip on the first floor.

we are not exactly sure how this will play out and he will have which office. host: throughout the morning, we will bring a that information. at 10:00 a.m., the house will come in for a pro forma session. when they are done, we'll come back and continue with your calls. the swearing in of the 118 congress will not take place until noon. robin in schenectady, new york to independent line. caller: i will piggyback on catherine. unless you get the developers out, the native americans are still being destroyed. it's only 90% of the original population and the developers are taking over the reservation. until you get that money out of politics, we continue a genocide

we started hundreds of years ago. big-money developers, big oil, all of that and even big solar, it all has to be taken out of politics now. they are still fighting on the front lines. they are disproportionally represented in the military and they are doing the dirty work and politicians sit back and reap the rewards. take money out of politics and keep it out now. host: phoenix, arizona, independent line. caller: first time ever calling you. the most important issue right now is transparency. this country was founded upon the pursuit of happiness.

i'm tired of it. host: that's john in phoenix, arizona. a lot to watch out for as you watch what happens in the 118 congress. we have asked reporters to join us to give us their latest and their take on what to expect in one of those reporters is joining us now. thanks for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: when you look at what the numbers will show us later today, what are you seeing and how much concern to speaker mccarthy have now? guest: i wouldn't call him speaker yet. he is addressing members of his conference in a closed-door meeting right now and going through rule changes and wants to get the free and caucus numbers on board. we saw a statement from the freedom caucus chairman saying he does not support mccarthy and there are additional demands

that have not been met. there is a majority -- a minority that's against earmarks. scott perry says he and his group between 9-18 are against mccarthy at this point. host: what is the expectation that the continual votes take place, what is the expectation -- the expectation that some will come over and support him? guest: some say they will not support mccarthy.

it's not clear the five hard-core opponents who hold some personal animosity toward mccarthy would come over. it will either be a choice for mccarthy to hold the vote on the floor and try to wrangle members on the floor and going to a closed-door meeting but in the 1850's, it took months to unravel this. maybe we are in for a bit of a stalemate today. host: what happens if this is held in limbo with putting committees together in the work of those committees and the agenda? guest: under the standing president of the house, the speaker has to be chosen and until that's done, members can be sworn in but they have to vote for speaker first.

this is one of the reasons why did mitch mcconnell try to deal with democrats in the on the biz build to get the government funded. the house may not be prepared for weeks. the impact of this is how good a speaker mccarthy will be. it speaker mccarthy really is giving concessions to the freedom caucus, we could see a standoff sometime after july. host: what was the issue, what they were asking for? guest: they are asking for things that are unpopular broadly. will he have to make further concessions? host: a lot of different

factions expressing their displeasure for mccarthy, why? guest: a lot of them feel he doesn't stand for something in particular. a speaker who is unifying a diverse caucus may have to do this. they are looking for someone who is somewhat more on the conservative side but moderates are worried about taking hard votes on a balanced budget or term limits for congress. i think mccarthy wants to retain the house majority in 2024 and going too far to the right could cost them. host: what have we heard from house democrats? guest: they say they are united and they will vote for hakeem jeffries. they will all show up so that would show unity in the face of this.

the number one job of the minority is to become the majority. host: before the house is about to come in, want to ask you about what we could expect to lay out when it comes to george santos today? guest: once the speaker is elected it looks like he will be sworn in. he is facing a litany of investigations in new york and from brazil on check kiting operations. the story of his career is not my no means set. host: as far as committees, for someone in his position, has there been a case where they get on a committee? is that of factor? guest: that would be up to the speaker. mccarthy could deny him

committees. that's happened in the past with controversial members of the house but it's not clear. host: before we let you go, remind our viewers what you watch for in the secular? guest: my eye is on steve scalise. if mccarthy fails, i think steve scalise is the next choice. he is popular and he has enough conservative credentials. host: his ability to cross ridges, he has been able to do that? guest: he is a good problem solver. host: if you want to see the writing go to bloomberg.com. thanks for helping us out this morning. guest: thank you. host: normally, we've finished

our program at 10:00 a.m. and say goodbye but for the next two hours, we will continue as we move to the seating of the 118 congress. we will take your calls on what you think the top domestic priority for congress should be. if you want to call us -- what we can exploit -- expect in the next minute, the house side will come in for the pro forma session and say the pledge of allegiance and gavel out. this is a prelude to the activity later in the morning when congress will come back and finish out the work of the 170 congress and move on to the work

of the 118 congress. if you want to follow along, we suggest you stay close to c-span. you can also watch on www.c-span.org or you can follow along on our app at c-span now. the house of representatives is a set to come in for pro forma session and we will take that pro forma session and when it done, back to your calls. . [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] host: if you want to follow along on the house side today if you have the ability to watch on c-span you can watch on your computer at c-span.org. and you can also follow along on our app at c-span now.

again, the house of representatives is set to come into a pro forma session and when it is done we will go back to your calls.

that we would be assured your grace plans whether because of our despite our best efforts. hear our prayer, o lord, for this past congress that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts will have been acceptable in your

sight,

host: that is one of the steps needed on this day before we move into the 1/18 --118th

congress. there will be another gaveling in and then the proceedings will take place at noon. he can watch that on c-span. betty, a republican in texas, thank you for waiting. go ahead. caller: i am calling to state that i am absolutely against speaker kevin mccarthy becoming the speaker. the reason i say that is, he, as speaker, did nothing when he -- he allowed speaker pelosi to select the people that were going to be participating in her hearing on this. insurrection hearing that she was holding. and what was so deceitful, is that he allowed her to select

only anti-trop -- anti-trump republicans to be part of that hearing. host: the speaker rejected some of those and in return kevin mccarthy said -- it was nancy pelosi herself that selected those two republicans. caller: this is something i have been trying to tell everyone that i witnessed. the day of the attack on the capital, i was sitting at home. i was on facebook. i happened to see this posting by john sullivan. when i first thought i thought, well, what is going on? john sullivan was recording live in the capital during the attack. host: ok we will leave it there some people leaving facebook

this morning as far as priorities for the 118th congress investigations and more work for the input -- american people. and edmund frost says stopping domestic terror attacks. muriel strand with climate chaos and nuclear weapons treaties. as far as priorities are concerned. let's hear from derek in pennsylvania independent line. caller: i think kevin mccarthy should not be house speaker because he has no power to control his congresspeople. there are too many young people being killed and all they are worried about who is doing this or that by joe biden's son. who cares. i am more worried about the kids. host: ok eric is in california democrats line.

hello. caller: high it is not eric, it is ed. my big concern --hi, it is not eric, it is ed. my big concern with the whole global situation is the same reason the supreme court said a tomato is a vegetable. it is all about money and greed. and shall we take care of money and greed problems in humanity, i do not think we have much of a chance of anything. the greed has to stop. i don't know if congress or legislature -- can legislate or do anything about it, but i think we are in for a big problem if we do not solve the greed problem. let's hear from craig, and oklahoma in republican line. i the good work you are doing

and c-span. i've my question is what kind of country will we have. people go back-and-forth. my general analysis is that there is -- it is like world war ii there were interventionist and isolationist. this is about america first or globalist republicans. i think people have to decide -- kevin mccarthy is more of an america first view. and i think we have to decide if we will take care of our people or if we will be more of a globalist country. i believe in capitalism, but i think it should be with a conscience. if companies make money overseas, that is fine, but not at the expense of american jobs. that makes me more of an america first person. that is the struggle going on now. mccarthy is america first. there are some people that are more global and do not like

america much. there is a balance and a battle going on right now. the isolation of world war ii i hope we are more america first. i hope we follow the constitution and i think we need to take care of our hard-working people in america. that is why i am america first. i understand the globalist as well, i understand some of that. we can make money overseas as well. but not at the expense of americans. host: tulsa oklahoma, republican line again we will continue with your calls of what you think is the top domestic issue of the 118th congress. and details of the seating of the congress. good morning. host: where we are right now ahead of the speaker that will happen when the house gambles in at noon. they will have a conference in the basement of the capital and

they are trying to hash out how this speaker vote will play out. and this is a tweet this morning from a couple minutes ago with reporters checking in on sources in the room. saying behind closed doors at the capitol, mccarthy is raising his voice and is animated as he tees off his opponents and details of all the concessions he has made an that hasn't been good enough. that is from two sources in the room. he i earned this job is what he said. his opponents have yet to speak but it is apparently open mike and many of the speakers are expected and they have until noon that is when the house will gaveling for the 1/18 -- 118th congress. and i want to focus on the members in the house starting with the one that is most well-known not for good reasons. that is george santos the

republican from new york. he is said to be sworn in a mint -- amid mounting scrutiny her. and condemnation. about some of the leaders that condemned him in the wake of some of the lies exposed about his resume. one of the outgoing republican kim brady of the ways and means committee longtime member of the ways and means committee saying he would not be on any committee he led. saying that it is time for him to step aside back home in new york where george santos is from. and they went silent on santos that is the headline from the times union out of new york. and she is rallying the republicans for unity. and a closely divided house. democratic in congress are not inclined to stay quiet about george santos and jeffries

pointing out that george stavros -- george santos having a seat in the 118th congress. the republicans are set to seat george santos. it is one of the many reasons why we must take back the house. at one other tweet from ted lieu a democrat from california catch me if you can is one of my favorite movies. i'm super excited to meet george santos on the house for. what would you like me to ask him when i see him? the democratic congressman asked his followers. and one more story about george santos, one more column that is from tom suozzi, the democrat that george santos beat in new york. he has a column in the new york times about george santos being seated. this is just the first paragraph of the column. today is my last day as member of congress and word santos is

about to be sworn in and take the seat that i held for six years. he will take this obligation down any purpose of evasion. i have lost track of how many invasions and lies he has told about himself, finances, and his history. and his relations with long island and queens. and he is seated, it will diminish our congress, our country, and my constituents. when it comes to george santos, his problems may not be over yet. the hill newspaper noting that resilient authorities are reopening a criminal fraud case against george santos for more than a decade ago and looking for his response. they informed the u.s. government that they have reopened that case. santos reportedly entered a small clothing store in a city outside of rio de janeiro before his birthday in 2008 and spent

$700 using a stolen checkbook and fake name according to court records. here is facts about the other freshman house members being seated today including becca valent she is a democrat who won the race in vermont's at large house seat. she is becoming the first woman to represent the state in congress. vermont being the last of the 50 states to elect or appoint a woman to congress. becca a teacher, parent, and a member of congress. and one other member being seated today is the youngest member of the house which is maxell ella hydro born in 1997. he will be the first member ration -- member of generation z in congress. the average age of elected house members is 46. the average age of the newly elected members in the senate is

a little older at age 50. host: thank you let's hear from an independent in michigan. caller: all for protecting the border and our country first. mitch mcconnell, lindsey graham, and mccarthy are rhinos and need to be disposed of as well as the rest of the rhinos. america does need to be first. we need to take care of our home and our veterans before we take care of anyone else. biden administration is running amok. and destroying the constitution. thank you. host: from kevin asking you to tell us what you think the top priority in the new congress should be. democrats line in florida, hello. caller: good morning this is my first time calling thank you for taking me. i have been popping popcorn is

my first priority to watch this steel cage match that the republicans will stage between themselves. but looking forward, beyond that, they promised that there will be hearings and etc.. and i wonder if they -- dhs or something like that. is the senate obligated to hold a trial? and they ignore this or delay it and how? ford had a two hour hearing where they say nice try, powell, but we will not deal with it. thank you. host: peer end south dakota republican line. hello. caller: i think the republicans should stick closely together in the house because it is the one thing we have in washington dc right now detained -- to change what is going on.

we shall revert back to our constitutional principles and our foundational principles and correctness coming about about. to do a lot of work in washington dc at this time. they should not fight amongst themselves. let's get it on to take care of this good country. because we are trying to spin this into -- dig a hole that we cannot get out of. i think spending money on the border, all of those people will need help. it will cost this country a lot for them to come up to be taxpayers in this country. i just feel that we need to be proper and to correct in what we do and refer back to our foundational principles which, i think, come straight out of the

bible. and that is very important for this country right now. thank you very much. host: that is. and south dakota the opening of a new congress is almost like the first day of school there are people taking pictures on the steps and a lot of activity towards the new knauer where we see the works -- the noon hour where we see the works started. and there will be rules and things that have to be approved. watch it play out on c-span.org or you can follow along on our c-span now at. and let's go to --app. let's go to scott in palm springs, california. on the independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. first and foremost, we have to have god in our every movement

and every move we make. god has to come first. as we saw last night in the nfl, the man was hurt and almost died . everybody came together and said prayers and now the man is alive and we need to have term limits. there are too many people who are too old to be doing what they are doing. things are not getting done. we need a new movement of younger generations to come forward to help america. not help other countries fight wars. we are finding our own more on our own borders trying to keep people out. or at least waiting for the right to do what they need to do to come to america to be free. that's not going to be 10 or five years, there has to be a

system where people can come to our borders wherever they come from, and have a system that is fair and fast and done right. we must protect america. host: ok that is scott in california. joining us as many of you will, as you see what is playing out pictures being taken on the steps of the capital. all part of a lot of activity taking place at the capitol building today. we've been showing you various perspectives. a lot of on the house side. the senate also comes to play in this 118th congress. joining us to talk about the news on the senate side is the senior congressional reporter. thank you for joining us. we had pay attention to the house but the senate has activity as well. what can we expect? >> it will be more tame on the senate side. they will swear in newly elected and reelected senators.

they will have house keys being -- housekeeping resolutions and they will adjourn for three weeks. but the big moment i am looking forward to is mitch mcconnell's big speech in the noon hour where he surpasses mike mansfield as the longest party serving in u.s. history. he has led since 2007. i am told he will pay tribute to the late mike mansfield he is a democrat from montana he served as -- majority leader from 1961 until -- and mitch mcconnell breaks that linked today. and he will certainly have a lot to say. host: has mitch mcconnell expressly said what he will say of -- what he thinks about the house and the fate of kevin mccarthy? >> mcconnell has been quiet about the house speaker's race trying to not get involved. he did express report for

mccarthy most republicans did but largely they try to stay out of it. they recognized this is a matter for the house conference to settle for themselves. host: the house being led by democratic majority. this is a day for chuck schumer as well. when you think about this senate makeup, and what it means reducing majority leader. >> chuck schumer has a little more breathing room as of today. he will have a 50/49 senate because the state of pennsylvania flip from republican to democrat when john fetterman one in november -- won in november. that gives him a chance to do a just laois in and put that on the floor that may be objectively to moderates like joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. but beyond that, we will function much differently than we have seen in the last couple years other than chuck schumer having one critical vote.

host: talk about the committee side of it. we hear on the legislative slide -- side, but what is it me that the committee makeup? >> it means democrats will have majority on most of the committee meetings. many of the large meetings like judiciary, farm relations are examples were split evenly 50 -- 50 -- 50/50. and it was hard to get those deadlocked because of democrats and republicans voting is a block in opposite ways it will be a easy airway for democrats to get things to the floor. it will be easier for democrats to manage the floor that way with an outright majority. what has chuck schumer scoped out as an agenda? >> chuck schumer has touted that the senate has been historically

speedy in terms of confirming judicial nominees. they are trying to make up the pace they lost wind mitch mcconnell controlled the senate and donald trump was president. of course, we saw the confirmation of many more conservative judges and justices on the supreme court. of course, donald trump had three nominees and mitch mcconnell was instrumental in getting them confirmed. he yawned that, i think it will be a year for the administration to focus on implementing any of the things that have passed the last couple of years. including the chips reduction act the science act, things that were critical for president biden in his first few years. as we transition into a presidential campaign in the season of 2024. host: what outlook what will outreach look like once it is determined? >> when they'd adjourn before

christmas they said they look forward to meeting with kevin mccarthy if he does end up becoming the speaker of the house. that is obviously a big if right now. he thinks that kevin mccarthy, if he becomes speaker, will not govern the way that house freedom caucus and conservative members want him to govern. chuck schumer things that kevin mccarthy will govern as a middle-of-the-road moderate in terms of working with democrats and potential spending deals. debt load increases, or aid for ukraine for example. that is obviously for chuck schumer's opinion but he is optimistic about the things that can get done. that is his view. host: you mentioned kyrsten sinema what is it mean as far as her and she and senator joe

manchin about this way they have in the senate? we've seen it play off many times before in joe manchin's case, what happens now? >> they have less sway now. but they can tame and nominations. i think one of the more interesting aspects of the last two years is that chuck schumer had every single one of his democratic caucus members to be on board for everything they were meant to pass. now they can't afford to lose one but no more than one on these matters. and the filibuster they want to preserve that. but it does give them more breathing room and allows for mansion and cinema to break from their party when they want to. and if they break from their party together and republicans are opposed to something is will you will see it will not get through. they have a lot of leverage but less than they had the last two years. host: many new senators coming to the side. who are the ones you're watching? >> the swearing-in of j.d. vance

will be significant. he will be the youngest republican senator at 38 years old. he will also join holly in a faction of the senate republican paul -- republican conference that is more nationalist on public policy and disclosing more aid to ukraine and wanting to focus on china and taiwan. and a focus on the current republican leadership he did not support him as leader when mitch mcconnell had that leadership post. late last year. but i think j.d. vance and his move into the senate will be significant especially because he on so many issues will break from the man he is replacing who is viewed as a more bipartisan member. and one of the strongest supporters of ukraine in all of congress. host: punch bowl news. he is the senior congressional

reporter you can see his work at punch bowl news. give her your time today. >> thank you for having me. host: back to calls. he have a color number republican line in west virginia. thank you for waiting. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you. first off, i appreciate you bringing up joe manchin because he is our senator here. personally, he is killing us. he has sold west virginia one too many times. so i am glad you mention him. to give me a chance that i need to state that. then i would like to say, that everybody that you guys have been interviewing has talked about chuck schumer. mitch mcconnell. all of the people that are going against our country. mccarthy is one of the biggest rhinos in d.c..

for us as republicans, he is another liz cheney. only at the congress level. he is doing nothing to serve us. and i do not know why the american people cannot open their eyes and see what is going on in d.c.. their people are killing us. i cannot believe that nobody is standing up and doing what is right for week, the people. host: when you say kevin mccarthy is not doing anything for the american people can you give me a specific why? caller: to begin with, he goes against everything that everybody on the republican side wants. besides with the democrats. to pacify them. -- he sides with the democrats to pacify them. he is supposed to be representing us, the people. that is what the establishment

in d.c. is supposed to be doing and they are not. they are doing everything they can against us. kevin mccarthy himself is sharing an apartment with the democratic lobbyist. now, where does that put him? host: let's hear from chris in new york. independent line. caller: hello, to go on top of that phone call, i would say i wish everybody would stop being obstructionist. that is what it has been for the past 11 years. it would be nice to changeover and you think kevin mccarthy would see it is really hurting him to do that. 22 years ago, we were all one nation. and now we are split. it breaks my heart. people would just start -- stop chip -- stop stabbing each other in the back and get work done in washington. i know everybody says that every

year that is my wish for the new year. thank you. host: democrat line in pennsylvania. hello. caller: hello. i just want to say first of all, i am happy to see the pennsylvania representative sworn into the senate. and i hope to see more bipartisanship because there is a split congress now. and the republican house and democrats, i hope that both sides can come together and actually get work done for the american people. and not put politics and their types of views ahead of the american people. host: that is dylan in pennsylvania. we have about 1.5 hours left to go in the program we are talking about the 118th congress. we ask during the course of that

time what is the top domestic issue when it comes to the new congress. you can tell us on the lines (202) 748-8000 for democrats , (202) 748-8001 for republicans (202) 748-8002 for independents (202) 748-8003 for texts. and social media sites are available to you as well. with more about what to watch today. we have john. host: a speaker update for the last 15 minutes or so as viewers have been watching with those all day long for the last hour, republicans, house republicans have been meeting in a basement room in the capital trying to hash out the speaker fight ahead of the new gaveling of congress. and the boot on speaker. kevin mccarthy does not seem to have the votes at the moment. the meeting today that started at nine was his last effort to bring the conference together. we do not know the result we know it got heated at least 15

minutes ago. this is melanie ms. zona of cne and many reporters outside of that room texting with sources in the room. melanie reporting that things are getting heated in the meeting. mccoury -- mccarthy's in his speech dropping a "god damn it" and another person said " b.s." but not in the full term as she put it. and we have another person talking on dan crenshaw teeing off this morning with a block of headliners -- hardliners against seeking mccarthy's ouster. they called him -- called in enemies and narcissist.

this is jake sherman from about 15 minutes ago as well. during his speech, mccarthy told the house that he knows more than five republicans who will vote against him on the first ballot essentially admitting he knows he will not win the first ballot for speakership. we will see what happens from there. paul keenan -- paul kane of the washington post congressional reporter he says watch who receives more votes mccarthy or akeem jeffries on the first ballot with potentially one dozen or maybe two dozen defections. he could lead after the first round know, he will not become speaker if that still happens, he would still be short of the 218 vote majority. but it would be deeply embarrassing to kevin mccarthy. and another member besides kevin mccarthy we have talked about this morning is george santos. the representative of new york who lies about his resume were

exposed by the new york times. some republicans calling for him to step aside and plenty reporters watching for him on capitol hill today. scott mcfarlane of cbs news has a full report about him. george santos approached his office in the long worth house office building where he -- and then he turned around and went the other direction upon seeing the press. i googled the new york times reporter finally found the word santos walking through the basement tunnels in the capital read the said george santos told him that he will vote for kevin mccarthy no matter how many ballots it takes for the speaker vote but he would not answer any questions posed by the reporter. saying that is the first time he has answered any questions from that reporter. and just scenes from around capitol hill today. this is one other fresh me --

freshman member of congress derek van orden a republican of wisconsin's third district. he arrived at capitol hill on his harley davidson. and the reporter that caught up with him noting that the question that everyone is asking was about the speaker race. and ask about the disagreement within the republican conference. the speaker van orden said the gop is full of diverse thinkers. the republican said he called the democratic party a monolith they all get up and do the same thing. i'm not trying to degrade them or anything, but that is what the democrats do. and andrea the congressional reporter was catching up with that freshman member of congress. it is getting busy on capitol hill we will try to keep you updated on all of it. host: thank you you mentioned george santos it was on the show sunday that brady was leading congress. and a position of ranking

member. the committee was asked about george santos and the impact on the gop and this is what he had to say. >> i think this is troubling in so many ways. but at the end of the day, this is a decision of whether he resigns or stays to be made between he and the voters who elected him. he will have to consider resigning. he has two choices. i do not know this young man he does not need my advice. but this will politically writhe out. we've seen this happen in washington dc or he can take the tether -- tougher choice and apologize for what he is done. but secondly, you have to change your life. there is a real problem here. we are a country of second chances. people when they are willing to turn their life around and own up and do what it takes to earn trust again we are willing to do that again. i am hopeful he chooses the

right path. >> were looking for a yes or no you chaired committees in the past. if you chaired the committee he was serving on would you be comfortable having him as a member? >> right now, he would not be on a committee that i lead. frankly, he has to take huge steps to regain trust and respect in his district. he has got to make that decision at the end of the day. host: representative candidate -- kevin brady talking about george santos something you will see playing out on the house side today. our program continues until noon. you can continue calling in with your thoughts on top priorities for the new congress. april in michigan republican line you are up next. hello. caller: hello. good morning can you hear me? host: you are on. yes we can. go ahead. caller: i support kevin mccarthy or whoever would be nominated speaker of the house if they

have and must have the courage to investigate and get the corrupt individuals under oh and have actual oversight -- under oath and have actual oversight investigations instead of this near muppets show investigations we have been subjected to. concerning the corruption of the 2020 election with the unconstitutional election laws that were changed. and ruled unconstitutional by pennsylvanian, wisconsin judges which led to these illegal male in ballots and ballot boxes

--mail-in ballots and ballot boxes. which led to -- elections of 20 and midterms of 2022 which led to basically a coup of our january 6 protesters inciting them to trespass so they could charge them with insurrection. host: you made your point let's go to terry in illinois. democrat line. hello. caller: good morning to you. ok. i have my popcorn ready because i am watching this speakership. i hope, i hope they do not vote for mccarthy and he loses. i think the perfect replacement

would be liz cheney. all the democrats would vote for her i am sure and i am sure there is a handful of republicans that would go along with it. that would be perfect. host: why do you agree with liz cheney in particular? caller: because republican threw her out of the party because she stood for principal. because they attack our capital and she wanted to get to the bottom. these republicans out there, they don't want to do that. they want to cya but i give liz cheney kudos for standing up and fighting for the truth. host: do you think liz cheney agrees with you politically or at least on policy positions? do you think she agrees with most democrats? caller: no liz cheney is outside of the panel but she had principles and she stood up for them. the republicans right now, they

talk about this administration he was so taken after. but excuse me, i remember bill clinton and all of the scandals they had. people already, -- tea party, ms. foster, china gait. they were out there all the way. i am sorry if this guy is he is pretty bad, fly the documents home. i would not be talking to you right now you would be talking to -- you would set my collect call from lebanon. host: let's go to edward in keyport, new jersey independent line. caller: hello thank you. domestic issues for the new congress i think it is hilarious every day i hear republicans calling and crying about we've got to save the babies but yet they do not want to give women

maternal care or anything to care for orphans. you don't want to increase firefighter pay. or make more empty physicians. these republicans are calling every day saying give all the money to immigrants and other countries but when it comes to eating money to homeless you're not doing anything for anybody you cannot do it. there are domestic issues that i want them to focus on which is to focus on america and not -- the other people they are concentrating on. i will go with the last caller on liz cheney. i think it would take more to be a patriot than wave a flag. she stood up for what this country is and the system that we have. and the party -- to save face. if there going to be viable for the future they need to embrace people like her. and on mitch mcconnell, the fact that cheney would stand in the

process, if i had to go back 10 years ago, it would be, it is silly, but it that is about it. like i said. host: let's hear from charlotte in walden, new york. republican line. hello. caller: thank you for taking my call happy new year. i do not want the congress to be -- to take the house speaker. i believe he has a lot of baggage and he has too much on the democratic side. i think police would be a better -- deke police would be a better choice. he is an open-minded person. i agree with melissa about different things. host: when you say kevin mccarthy is more on the democratic side would you say hal? caller: he is -- when you say how? caller: he is too wishy-washy

for me. seven the border he has been down there, law, blah, blah and we would start a donation and americans would put money in this. something because you cannot keep having these people come into our country. we will go broke. i believe in humanitarian efforts, but they are not being made for this. anyway, that would be my democratic issue for them to close the border and sees kalish should be the speaker of the house because he is more people in mind. to me, it is like mccarthy is power over people. host: ok that is charlotte in new york. not a supporter of kevin mccarthy but someone who is a supportive of marjorie taylor greene. and after the initial vote input

mccarthy on the path to potentially become speaker. he spoke and was asked about support and here is what she had to say. >> with the contention -- condition our country is in they have to show the american people that we are the party to lead. as we vote today, i want to remind everyone nancy pelosi lost by 32 votes and her conference two years ago and she had no challenger. i want to remind everyone that paul ryan lost by 43 votes when he was challenged by dona -- daniel webster some years back this is normal, productive, and healthy. i am sure our conference, we we come together to elect our speaker january 3, i know we will unify and come together to get this done. i would like to point out the way i look at this is that our republican conference and who we have is our leader and speaker of the house is also extremely

important going into 2024. kevin mccarthy has said bunbury -- set fundraising record after fundraising record and nobody can raises much money as kevin mccarthy as we support candidates and we will have to keep the house when the senate, and --win this in it and take back the house in 2024 that is extremely important as well. host: that was november and this is today a clearly different situation from the conference in november. here we are about one hour 15 minutes until the house is expected to gavel in and it starts with the 118th congress. and work on the speaker's race as well. as we told you about, we have been telling you about it all morning. if you want to call and tell as what you think about the top messy priority you think the congress should pursue. do so at (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8000 for --(202) 748-8001 for

republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. (202) 748-8003 for texts. jason is calling us. go ahead. caller: i want to correct the comment on drew santos. he did not lose to george santos he retired. some guy named zimmerman actually lost. but i want to say that i agree with congressman matt gaetz when it comes to kevin mccarthy. host: let's hear from terry. terry in maine, independent line. caller: i how are you? host: fine, thank you. go ahead. caller: i want to report something that is going under the radar the last few months and that is the home speakership

saying a moot point. that there is a scotus case at the -- host: let me stop you there because we have action going on and capitol hill we are taking you to it. >> washington is broken. he said as much in one of his recent responded this. interestingly enough, over the 14 years he has been in leadership, he's done virtually nothing to change it. and under pressure from a group of members who have said that we are not any longer going to accept the status quo. we have been able to force rule changes to make things better. even so, -- look, we've been working on this since last summer. i worked on it personally with -- and i went to the leader and said i anticipate this moment we would like to avoid this moment so let's start working on all these issues right now the issues that will work for the

american people because the american people do not care who the speaker is they care that they are paying five dollars for one dozen of eggs. they care that they cannot afford their energy bills. they care about a wide open order and rampant crime in their communities. they do not care a bill this. -- care about this. how will we fix this if we keep getting the same outcome? in the summertime we were rebuffed, i went back in the all, not interested in talking. once we get a slim majority after we were told it would be a huge, red wave area in the conversation got interesting. even so, what do you want? we sent you are the guy who wants to be speaker. tell us if you want to and -- earn our vote how will be transformed this place so there is a different outcome for the american people. how will you do that? yet, nothing. finally, he said put something down and we did. at the beginning of december, even at that point, there were

people that said i will not vote for kevin mccarthy. but yet, in still working to try and avoid this moment we are at right now the time. -- the entire time. that is one question you should ask yourself instead of saying to these people who are asking me why have you brought us to this went? we surely have not come here alone. there is one person that should -- could have changed all of this. all right? so, we sent the letter, you see the letter and you see what is in it and we start working on some rings. in trueness and fairness, some things i think on the single subject, i think we got to a decent place it was like pulling teeth and it took three weeks. none of the other stuff was working during that period of time. some of the big issues for people the rules that hold the speaker the most powerful person on this side of the -- powerful that thomas jefferson wrote that stood for over 200 years that

speakers from democrats, republicans, a single world war pandemic close majorities large majorities, somehow whenever thomas jefferson vote is not good enough for now. it is not good enough now. well, it is good enough now, but yet, we still cannot get to this week. we are at the 11th hour saying we want to avoid this area we will put a deal together to get to 18 vote including the people that said i will never vote or kevin. that is a tall order at this point. we take it to them, we list the things, and by the way, he requested we said who do you want on these committees? who do you want? we will give you the names of who -- there is a peril to doing that upfront. we waited until last night saying ok we will do our best final offer. he comes out saying it is a personal wish list. he requested that from us. we said we can get you to to 18 with this and he stood up and

shook his head and said i cannot do it or i will not do it. here we are. >> i said from the beginning my hard-line was the motion to vacate. you cannot demand more responsibility and less accountability. kevin mccarthy was taking the path of nancy pelosi and following her president with the motion -- her precedents with the motion to vacate. we are told we left the store we will give you a single mood -- single-member motion to vacate. just today that was the starting point for negotiations and everything we are wanting to transform the way washington, d.c. operates. if you go to the american people and congress is doing a good job -- ask them if congress is doing a good job, they like the way things are running washington dc you will probably get a big help

--hell no. we did not offer personal wish list we were told to provide a list of what members need to be seated on what committees. we did exactly that there were amazing items listed as well for our border security and term limits. just bring the bill to the floor so we can have a vote on term limits that is what the majority of americans want to see in congress. we said that any amendment that reduces the national debt needs to be made in order. this is not a personal wish list or something unreasonable. this is just for the american people. this is fair for the american people. so now, here we are. being sworn at instead of being sworn in. we could have had this solved months ago. i have been working every day to unify the republican party for the american people. and yesterday, we had a deal

that was not a selfish deal in any way, for kevin mccarthy to get him the gavel on the first ballot and he eagerly dismissed us. >> those of us who will not be voting for kevin mccarthy today had best take no joy in the discomfort that this moment has brought. if you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise. i am a florida man and i know of what i speak. we offer kevin mccarthy terms last evening that he rejected. we saw a bird on the first 1/18 congress -- 118th congress and he refused. we had a -- 180 border plan that the texas delegation put together on the floor and he refused. it is true, that we struggle with trust with mr. mccarthy because time and again, his

viewpoints, positions, the shift like sands underneath you, even chemical -- kevin mccarthy's own constituents a the lies always change. and he is not only responsive to pressure from the right time and again, he has failed to achieve the goals we see on spending and for months, we have been asking him for his capital -- battle plan. how do we ensure we stand up for people in the military who feel like they are being purged? how do we ensure that if there is a passage of arm bill and things like work requirements. all we got was a handful of howdy and eight now full of much obliged. and we would prefer to be in a unity -- in a moment of unity of purpose but we will not allow this party to run this town without a fight. there is very little difference between nancy pelosi and her california delegation made that seeks the gavel. we want to change because this

town is broken and misses a person who has acknowledged mr. mccarthy that the town is broken and he has been a part of that process for many years as a member of the legislation. we will take questions. >> please clarify something. are you saying that in this rank in the 11th hour before the speakers vote that he is unqualified to be weaker. otherwise the speaker leader would have worked this out a long time ago. >> i appreciate the question for many months we have been presenting these ideas to mr. mccarthy we have gotten stronger long and only on new year's eve do we see changes to the rules. what is interesting about the meeting we just had is our colleagues celebrated rules changes that many of us have been fighting for to ensure we had an opportunity to read the bills before voting on them to make sure we did not get bogged rolled of pieces of legislation that did not have the same legislation.

-- we did not get timely responses from mr. mccarthy and we did not get some stance of responses from him in either because i think he thought by going on your network and others that he would rally us into submission to the swamp and we are not going to do that. >> just to be clear. none of what you heard in therefrom mccarthy was enough to get your support. >> everything i heard part in my resolve that the town reporter: do you think you will be kicked off of your committees because of the conversation that happened? >> we were threatened by my committee chairman to be on the armed services committee that if we did not vote for mr. mccarthy, we would be removed from committees. our position is that it kevin mccarthy a speaker of the house and we don't have an ability to ensure there is -- behind the agenda and energy behind our

oversight that committees don't mean that much anyway. i am not here to pass bills, send them to the senate, watch them die, and don't hold the biden administration accountable. where it's just a to be oversight. we can do better than that and that is our purpose today. reporter: are there not enough votes -- how many people? >> you will see very shortly. unless something changes, if you vote for somebody else on the first ballot and nothing changes on the second or third, what is going to compel you to change? >> we just outlined some of the things? this meeting was not about trying to inform people about what it takes to get to 218.

this was about a beat down and the simulated unity in the room which really doesn't exist. reporter: is that what he was trying to do in this meeting? >> when you are threatened with being kicked off your committees if you don't vote as your order to come what we literally had people telling us to take orders and i can only speak for myself but i suspect my colleagues have the same sentiment. my orders come from my district. reporter: is it something that he can change that you can eventually support? >> we took an offer to him last night with things that are completely within his purview. he rejected it summarily. reporter: is it that offer or someone else? what would be the thing that

changes? >> if he wants to accept the offer, we would join the discussion but he has not accepted the offer. reporter: what specifically did you ask for? >> we just outlined some things. >> balanced budgets, the texas border plan, the term limit, those were three features. also earmarks. we believe there should be individual votes on mayor marx. that was rejected by mr. mccarthy and there's going to be an amendment in the republican house, we think it might -- it be made in order. we don't view these things as wild and crazy.

not be speaker jeffries. >> i'm going to vote for andy biggs. >> there are 221 alternatives. >> more than that. >> thank you all very much. >> republican main street caucus , we will each talk for about a minute. there is real work to get done. we need to secure the border, we need to address inflation, we need to return fiscal sanity to this town. that of that can happen as lungs we have 10 or 15 members who are holding back this process. our group is a group between 70 and 80 pragmatic conservatives who want to make progress on the border and on spending. i think you have already heard that frustration was rising in the room because apparently 10% of the conference thinks they get to tell the other 90% when

we get to start work. we will remain unified. kevin mccarthy is the right guy to lead this conference. he is the right guy to be speaker of the house. >> the american people are frustrated. they see one party rule and they don't like it which is why they were -- elected a republican majority. it's time to step up and lead. those opposing mccarthy have moved the goalpost time and time again. in the beginning they have mentioned they presented ideas to the speaker elect in the summer. we didn't have the house in the summer. there's no point in negotiating something you don't have yet and he waited. that was the right decision, but now they keep moving the goalpost. at the end of the day, this is where we are. we want leader mccarthy to be speaker of the house. you have a vast majority of this conference that is unwilling to

budge from that position. >> there is a small group of members in our conference to have a unique and enviable lyrical position. they win when they lose. if they lose to republicans, they will blame the establishment. they will continue down that path without having the responsibility of having to govern. we will test that theory today and maybe the date after that and the day after that. the majority of our conference believes kevin mccarthy it's the right person. we will continue to move down that path because we aren't doing this because we think it's better for kevin or dusty or kelly think it's better for our constituents and the american people. nobody cares this inside baseball. reporter: you talk specifically

about [indiscernible] taking this to this point is that an issue that has been worked out and that does undercut his potential to lead? >> at the end of the day, kevin mccarthy has made tremendous concessions to these individuals. a litany of things some of which are very good rules changes some i think are questionable. the motion to vacate, the majority of members do not want a single individual to be able to make that motion and there was a discussion around a variety of numbers. it ended up at five. not everybody was happy with a five-member threshold, but at the end of the date it's where we are. he is made so many concessions. last night it's another list of if we can have these people on these committees that we might be willing to get you to 218. where does it end?

at what point do you stop and say i'm leader i'm trying to move this conference forward and you don't get to dig it with the rest of the conference does. >> i just heard scott perry say he doesn't take orders from anyone and he's not the only one. >> there you have the two perspectives on kevin mccarthy becoming speaker of the house. you just heard from scott perry, lauren boebert, and matt gaetz. they had a different view on kevin mccarthy. this is just an example on what you will see play out less than one hour from now as votes are cast for the speaker of the house. you can watch the house on c-span. you can watch the senate on c-span two.

been watching what the priority should be from the new congress. ohio democrats line, go ahead. caller: i will tell you that i have never been so fearful in my life to watch the democratic party dissolve into the destruction of united states of america. we the people have a duty and that is to stop tierney. -- tyranny. >> i came into this position, we are now sitting in the majority. we put forth the commitment to the america. it's our members are only looking for positions for themselves for our country.

we worked together as a whole conference to develop rules that empower all members. we are not empowering certain members over others. last night i was presented the only way to have 218 votes if i provided certain members with certain positions to have certain budgets. they even came to the position where matt gaetz said i don't care if we go to plurality and we elect hakeem jeffries. that is not about america and i will always fight to put the american people first not few individuals that want something for themselves. we may have a battle on the floor, but it's for the conference and the country and that is fine with me. reporter: what do you do on the 10th vote, 30th vote? >> i have the records for the longest speech at -- ever on the floor.

i don't mind getting a record for the most votes. i don't see how a few people maybe it's five or 20 said because they want gavel they can earn for themselves, that would be interesting to meet. that's not what the constituents voted for. host: kevin mccarthy again in just about one hour from now we will see as he talks about what happens when he takes votes and if he manages to get votes and how many it would take. a lot to watch out for today. >> as we are watching kevin mccarthy, i was watching the tweets about the members that were leaving. as it was breaking up, it was jim jordan who apparently told

record -- reporters he's going to get the votes referring to kevin mccarthy. six minutes ago showing a shot of jim jordan with separate reporters. we are just about 45 minutes away from the house gaveling in. it might be helpful to go over what's going to happen. when the house gavels in, it will be cheryl johnson the clerk of the house who will be in chargef the house. she will be running theouse at the start of the 118th congress. er will be occult order, prayer, pledge, quorum call, then the first official vote is for speaker of the hou. speaker ofhe house not required to be a member of the hoe. all candidates have to be mited by a member of house. mbers and members elect call out there vote by calling out

the last name of their choice when their name is called in alphabetical order. members can vote for any individual and a person must keep -- must receive a majorit of votes cast by name. that doesn't mean the individual has to receive 218 votes to win the speakership. some members could choose not to vote for an individual and could just say present saying they were in the chamber but not voting for an individual. that would lower the threshold needed for the votes for speaker. if no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the rollcall is repeated. cheryl johnson the clark will be in charge of that. the court can theoretically repeat the vote until somebody gets the majority. there she is cheryl johnson will be in charge as politico notes

repeating it again. don't expect the session to get drawn out late into the night. the politico story on this -- speaking about the history of these votes saying that there has only been an appetite for three or four votes before members want to adjourn and get off the floor and wheel and deal a little bit to see if they can come to some conclusion. if that happens, this could take not just ours but perhaps days. the last time we had a speaker vote go beyond the first ballot has been 100 years. it was in 1923 when it took nine ballots for frederick gillett of massachusetts to be elected speaker of the house and that took a long time. host: as you heard him talk,

watch c-span for all these proceedings. miles in colorado independent line. good morning. caller: one of my top priorities i have to get this out of the way, we need to fix the way that american suburbs are planned. maybe that begins by congress passing laws emphasizing infrastructure that is walkable friendly where you don't need a car to get around so much and you can use light rail but maybe we will have to go to the extremes of reconstructing the suburbs. we might have to tear them apart. we might have to build cities again. host: president biden had the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell participated in an event tomorrow highlighting infrastructure and work that was done on the infrastructure bill. let's hear from bonnie in west

virginia. republican line, go ahead. caller: hello and good morning. why i am calling for was because the lady that called in before me from west virginia had talked about joe manchin. to be honest with you, i was a democrat and switched to republican and i voted for joe manchin and i would again. i think he is a great senator for west virginia. another thing that i am against is the way that my president trump was treated. i think that he was one of the greatest presidents that america

ever had in office. host: chuck in washington state, democrats line good morning. caller: i believe strongly that the most important issue for our country today in this congress is to eliminate or at least increase the debt ceiling. i have a great fear that the republican in charge of the house will repudiate the fullface credit of the united states and we will go into a global depression. host: independent line, lori calling from north carolina. caller: good morning. i used to be a republican and i switched to the independent party a year and a half ago because of kevin mccarthy. a year and a half ago, i called his office when our border was being invaded and i asked why --

i spoke with one of his aides and asked why kevin mccarthy did not declare a border invasion under article four section four of the constitution. his aid is so -- who was supposed to be a constitutional person had no idea he could do that under article four section four that they were more concerned about pandemic issues. i am a never kevin mccarthy person. i would love to see louie gohmert or chip roy take the speakership but because of kevin mccarthy, i became an independent. host: nell joining us from saratoga springs. republican line. caller: looking at kevin mccarthy, january 10 2022 he spoke with liz cheney in regards

to the resignation of one of the best presidents this country has ever seen president donald john trump. we had the january 6 defendants, he never went down and said anything that would help their situation. he sat back quiet. border security we are paying trillions of dollars for border security for foreign nations. house majority and minority leaders, they seem to always be coming from california. is that because of the west coast that has some sort of say in what's going to be run. a person on the floor, when a person is being defeated, they

tend to get violent. it seems to be that's what i see in kevin mccarthy for him to have to use such language he knows he has an uphill battle. host: let's hear from paul in north carolina emma kratz line. -- democrats line. caller: this is an amazing conversation. i hear the democrats -- i hear the republicans spouting their line but they have no specifics. when they won't listen to any of the good stuff that has been happening, they are in their false reality these days. if they had any sense for what is good for the country, they would be out there saying let's find out and prosecute this false president who went out and seditious lee decided -- seditious lee decided he wanted

to be prosecuted that the republicans should be ashamed i can't imagine why they call themselves patriots. it is so hypocritical and stupid. here we are having this silly conversation about kevin mccarthy who is a trumper to the end. they want to compare him to nancy pelosi. that is completely laughable. they are laughable. republicans are the laughingstock of the united states of america. host: again, 40 minutes until the house is scheduled to come in and start to work on the 118th congress. the question is who will be speaker of the house after today. if that is indeed determined today, one of the people following that is julie of the washington examiner.

thank you for your time. we heard from speaker mccarthy recently hinting at the links he is willing to go to to become speaker. guest: several members described the meeting as chaotic. kevin mccarthy getting into it with members of the freedom caucus withholding their votes. hague knowledge one point that -- he acknowledged that at one point the votes aren't there. the freedom caucus is holding strong in their position they are not going to support him. nonmembers say they will potentially vote for jim jordan. it will be interesting to see how things play out. host: from the people who came to the cameras, one of the things was a series of asks coming from the freedom caucus and what kevin mccarthy

responded. what are they looking for and why did he turn that back? guest: last night he had a brief meeting with lauren boebert, matt gaetz, and scott perry. they went in a brief meeting, they wanted promises for service on certain committees. certain investigative authority. mccarthy allies during that meeting asserted he is done with negotiation. that he gave them what they asked for and it's go time. both sides are digging in right now. host: as far as kevin mccarthy saying he hopes -- holds the record for longest how speech, and he will do the same for number of repeated votes. what could this look like? guest: it could go long. the clerk is in charge, they will need to pass a motion to adjourn with a set time my. -- set time limit.

whether they can get the votes to have recess for a path forward is in question right now. host: you talk to a couple people saying in light of what we have seen playing in the last hour, some would say there is a path for this speaker. who are those people and what are they basing it on? guest: the more moderate members of the caucus saying there could be a path that eventually conservatives will realize the moderates aren't going to cave either. i talked to one moderate members saying the rules package, they would hold -- withhold their vote on the rules package if it is kevin for speaker. both sides are saying they are and it until the last ballot. host: for the work of congress, is it put on hold for this and how far are they willing to go as far as the work of congress

if they can't decide on speaker? guest: the committee chairman have been tapped for some of those races. if there is a speaker today, the steering committee could meet on thursday but it's unclear who's going to lead these committees. things are on pause with a lot of their big priorities. host: kevin mccarthy was seen moving his stuff into the speakers chamber. if that is the case, what was the strategy behind that? guest: they had to vacate his previous office. hakeem jeffries is in his former office. the plaque isn't up there yet. host: one of the things also to watch, what have fellow members of congress said about george santos? guest: i talked to some members who have some concerns. that he needs to come clean. some put out statements calling

for ethics investigations. he is a yes on kevin mccarthy. it will be an interesting first few months for him. host: is there consensus that he will be -- they will be comfortable with him being seated in congress? guest: there are concerns on the democrat side with him having classified information with his history. republicans are trying to figure out that path forward for him. host: thank you for your time today. 30 minutes to go until we start the proceedings of the 118th congress. up until that time, we will continue to take your calls particularly on what you think the top priority the domestic issue that congress should focus on.

these are the numbers to call. california republican line, good morning. caller: are you talking to me? that's me. i see them get up on the podium and they are stating the constituents of america voted them in. we voted the republicans in office, we almost got the senate. they did it, we want change. that's the reason we voted them in. i'm sick and tired of them stepping and saying they voted us into do this and that. mccarthy, i am from california, he ain't done a darn thing for the people of california. that's why it's a democrat date

of a republican state. him and mitch mcconnell they don't put money where they are supposed to put it. mccarthy has never done anything for california people. he has worked with nancy pelosi every chance he gets. let's change what we voted them into do. it's change it. we are sick the rhinos. mccarthy was there the whole time that all this was going on all the way back. he has done nothing up until this date. host: let's hear from tony in pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i just wanted to know why we have an issue with paying off student debt relief for our american people. they can get trillions of dollars to another country and i

don't know why it was opposed to so many. america first, we need help. we should receive it. host: this is michelle in staten island, new york democrats line. hello. caller: hello, happy new year and thank you for taking my call. my top domestic issue would be the border. this new year's eve in new york city two police officers were attacked. they are looking into it as maybe an attack by what you call that -- terrorist. they are letting so many people in the border and they are not being responsible. that's not good at all. i just want to make a comment when somebody said they were comparing mccarthy to nancy

pelosi. that is a laughing matter. how could you do that? nancy was the best of the best. we will never have another nancy. host: let's hear from sean in colorado republican line. caller: equal justice for all. host: i looked like the senate is coming in from procedural work. let's go to them.

0 host: that is the senate coming into adjourn the work of the 117th session. now they will go into the work of the 118th congress. the senate is also involved in today's activities starting a new congress. the house side is also being paid more attention to today. your top domestic priority when it comes to the work of congress and the thing you think it should be focused on as congress kicks off. call the numbers on your screen. you can also reach out to us via text. sacramento, california independent line this is william hello. caller: hello i just want to say this whole fiasco with the republicans and the speaker is

unimportant because they are never going to do anything, they only represent the corporations to cut the taxes on the corporations. mccarthy is nothing like nancy pelosi. democrats are the only ones that put in the legislation to help middle-class and working people. if the voters ever figure that out, we will start having areas like in california where we have figure that out. now gavin newsom is putting in laws, anti-gouge laws so the gas companies can't gouge us. my gas prices have gone way down and also i can get a dozen eggs at the dollar treat for $1.25. these republicans and fox, they make the stories about these problems, there is no surge at the border, those people are lined up politely waiting to get

in because we sent criminals down there from l.a. and new york and whatever back to their countries and stood up so there are gangs down there that are forced to get out of their own country. we should go down there and help those countries straight now their crime problem. host: you put out a lot there, william. guest: less than 30 minutes before the 118th congress gavel's in. the speaker of the house is what we are watching. here's the latest. a republican from north carolina elected in a special election in 2019, this is the statement he just tweeted. i came to a dysfunctional congress to change it. one notch has no prospect of doing that and many don't want to change it at all but i will. kevin mccarthy is not the right

choice to be speaker, he has perpetuated the washington status quo that makes this body one of the most unsuccessful and unpopular institutions. this is not about personal differences, it's about serving the american people i will not be supporting the status quo. count dan bishop as unknowing kevin mccarthy -- as a no on kevin mccarthy. a former member of congress left in the end of the 116th, a former republican this was his tweet early this morning saying i am not a current member of congress but i do know what is at stake. i would gladly serve as speaker for one term to show the people the kind of legislative body we can have if someone at the top actually cares about having every representative in the work of legislating. a former republican eventually became an independent. a few other notes are for viewers this morning not

specifically about the speaker's race but on the house side, this story from the hill newspaper. a democrat from ohio is said to become the longest serving woman in congressional history when she is officially sworn in and just about 30 minutes. this is what lindsey graham from south dakota -- south carolina is tweeting this morning focusing on the war in ukraine. two tweets to suggest america should lessen its aid to ukraine would be repeating the mistakes from the past. he also tweeted victory by ukraine over russia resets the world in all the right ways. after all these atrocities if vladimir putin is still standing, every other bad actor will be off to the races refer ukraine. -- victory for ukraine.

one other tweet to show viewers, looking at the official congressional pin that members will be wearing in the one who did 18th congress. it stands out the distinctive green color. the pin that members where on their lapel or somewhere on their clothing, it allows them to often move past security in the congressional offices to let people know that a member is coming through. cbs news taking a picture of that congressional pin. all of the members start wearing those pins after they get sworn in at noon eastern time. host: 24 minutes from now. we will take this program up until the point when the house is set to come in. the senate as well. you can watch the senate on c-span two. follow along on c-span now.

caller: good morning and happy new year. i'm going to post this to you guys. it's a domestic issue that is happening in canada. canada's ban on handgun sales has already taken effect. drug decriminalization in british columbia is occurring i believe january 31. have two markets that have to be watched because there is now a black market for individuals wanting to get handguns. the further northward push of guns from mexico going into canada that is an issue and drugs obviously i am not for drugs but the decriminalization of drugs will pose an issue

transnational issue that congress needs to take a much bigger approach toward if they want to make sure they keep our border safe. host: sebastian in north carolina, our photographers in and around capitol hill this morning. this was outside of george santos office. a republican of new york, we have talked plenty about the situation you have heard plenty about his background but that's his office location. it sets the scene of what's going on there. you will see him play out being sworn in later today. lynn in houston, texas. republican line good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call and happy to america. i want to echo the world -- words of the gentleman from california about representative mccarthy. he's been there for a very long

time and i know he is a great fundraiser. i am a republican, but it's time for a change. we want a meaningful change this time not just lip service. regarding my top domestic issue, it is hands down the spending and inflation. i remember my first house cost me in 1976 $18,000 in a very nice suburb. let it put that in perspective, you are being robbed. your future is being stolen away from you. the second thing is hands down also the border. i live in houston, texas. if you would like to come down here, i will take you to some schools in my school district here where i pay taxes and exorbitant amount of taxes by the way for people here who are illegal. there are entire schools in my district that are nothing but hispanic. another thing that has got to change is the way that

washington does business. it's like matt gaetz just said, you can't put an alligator in charge of draining the swamp. host: can i ask you a question about the speaker's race? are you concerned about public perception about where the republican party the decision they have to make and the infighting going on in the party? caller: that is a red herring. if they get in there and they do something and they make meaningful changes, people in this country will applaud them. it's a red herring to raise that issue. also the other one is this. we have got to absolutely look into these agencies that have conspired with the government that is coming up from twitter. this is very dangerous. caller: you put a lot out there -- host: you put a lot out there.

we will go to paul republican line. caller: i watched matt gaetz and lauren boebert. i worked in a past administration for a conference chairman. it is been pitched they are looking to put the former 45th president's name into contention so today's going to get very ugly. one thing the democrats are very good at and republicans aren't so good at is handling things behind closed doors. not airing their public grievances so heavily. i'm not sure this is a good look. host: daniel democrats line orlando florida good morning. caller: good morning. a couple of things that really stand out to me that i think the new congress for the next two years needs to focus on is the drug addiction crisis.

it's one of the greatest and in my opinion most ignored health crises that hit this country over the couple of decades and we need to make greater investments into resources and opportunities for people to get back on their feet and rebuild their futures whether it's through investing in community centers or amnesty for local drug crimes. we need to find ways to support those individuals. secondly, gun control. time and time again, we see people getting killed in supermarkets and schools. it seems like the issue continues to get ignored time and time again. someone who spoke two times ago from texas made me think about the shooting in uvalde, texas. it seems like it was kind of ignored especially by governor abbott some hope in the congress remember the lives they are supposed to represent that are being lost.

host: daniel in florida, it was earlier when matt gaetz was speaking in florida he said he would vote for andy biggs. it was back in november that representative biggs in arizona spoke about the things he was concerned with particular when it comes to immigration. here are his comments from november. >> i was the first member of congress to introduce the articles of impeachment against secretary of mayorkas and know that we have a majority, i expect our party to pursue impeachment next congress. secretary mayorkas has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. his conduct is not incompetent it is not negligent it is willful and intentional. he has failed to maintain operational control at the border as required under the law. the act of 2006 requires the secretary to achieve and maintain operational control of the border. he defines operational control

as the prevention of all unlawful entries into the united states including entries by terrorists other unlawful aliens instruments of terrorism narcotics and other contraband. that is his duty and obligation. instead the policies he has enacted have produced the exact opposite of operational control. current border patrol chief role ortiz said the by the administration border policies have no consequences for illegal aliens arriving in her country. as a result, more than 4 million illegal aliens have been apprehended. this number does not include known or unknown getaways. his failure to maintain control of the border has allowed deadly illegal drugs to come into the country. fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for americans age

18-45. his failure to maintain control the border has caused a national security threat because terror threats are entering the country. immigration authorities at the border apprehended nearly one million illegal aliens on the terror watch list in 2020 two. second, he may have lied to congress when he testified he was maintaining operational control of the border. a congressman of texas showed him this definition the one i read to you earlier as secretary mayorkas double down he felt the border was secure. third, sec. mayorkas is failing to detain illegal aliens as required by law instead he is releasing them into the country. the law is clear illegal aliens shall be detained. sec. mayorkas has released more than one million illegal aliens into the country. most of them will never be heard from again. we don't know what they are or what they are doing and that's unacceptable. he is abusing the narrow

authority the congress gave to him to parole aliens into the united states. the act allows him to parole agents into the united states on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or pacific public and if it. sec. mayorkas is using parole in a categorical generic manner and not on a case-by-case basis. i hope the congress formerly -- formally investigates secretary marcus. host: one of the duties of the vice president is to proceed over the actions of the senate from time to time. the security for kamala harris is expected to arrive on capitol hill. things you will see as things play out today. about 15 minutes until the house and senate expected to come in to do the work of the 118th

congress. that is the outside of congress as people show up including eventually, the vice president. with more on what to expect, here is john. guest: the big story is the speaker vote. one of the reporters we have been following all morning as the house republican, -- conference met his jake sherman of punch bowl news. one of the reporters on capitol hill especially when it comes to the republican conference. these are his observations after the meeting that took place this morning. he said kevin mccarthy went into the meeting this morning to seemingly highlight the challenge he believes he has negotiating with the house of freedom caucus. the group of conservative republicans who has been his biggest opposition to the speakership. it is clear he writes that he

was successful in highlighting that opposition. he says kevin mccarthy will lose on the first ballot of the speaker vote. number three, it is not clear that kevin mccarthy could win on a subsequent ballot and number four, the gap between the vast majority of house republicans and the house freedom caucus is widening fast he said. very very fast. one of those reporters on capitol hill giving his take a few minutes before the speakers vote will happen. a few minutes ago, we showed you the scene at the end of the 117th congress in the senate it was patrick lahey who closed out the 117th congress and a picture of him there in the chair officially closing out the senate. sworn in on this day back in 1975 48 years in congress. that will be one of the scenes from today.

when it comes to the 118th congress, it was -- with this tweet a few minutes ago. noting that it is a big day ahead for this network as it always is on the opening day of the new congress a big day for c-span hope you stay with us all day along to cover it. host: thank you for the information throughout the morning. we will stick around until the house and senate come in. indiana republican line, go ahead. caller: my big domestic issue more often than not is the debt and the economy. and inflation. it is out of control. the debt is now at $30 trillion. the amount of money that we are pumping into this economy and spending and spending no and. -- no end. my senator has voted for a lot

of the spending bills. our governor is not much better. we need to get our spending under control. we cannot spend our self into debt. i am a young guy. one woman said the border crisis is also a disaster and i would gladly go down there and show people as well just how bad the border is. with all of the illegal crossings coming in, it's a disaster we need to secure the border. the economy is a total disaster. we were in a recession come the white house denied it they changed the definition. in terms of who i would rather have a speaker, i don't think kevin mccarthy is a good choice, he is much like mitch mcconnell, they don't get anything done and i would say to everyone regardless of what side you are on, you get the government you deserve and this congress is not going to get anything done. caller: -- host: cindy in texas,

independent line. caller: i wanted to make a comment about people calling in claiming that the democrats were responsible for january 6. when mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy made a comment that trump was behind all of this that he should be taken out of office. also trump was wanting to pardon these people that were involved. we have hannity we found out was under oath and he said he knew that trump didn't win the election and as far as the national debt, is he aware that the tax cuts to the rich cost us $4 trillion? trump put over $7 trillion on the new debt. host: as far as parities for the

new congress, what would you specify them as? caller: that there spending on one side -- both sides and they don't need to blame one person because it's been going on for years. obama was paying down the national debt and donald trump brought it back up again. host: washington state democrats line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i agree that the most important issue for me would be immigration reform. we need to make sure daca people need a path to citizenship and we need more funding to process asylum-seekers. asylum-seekers are legal and we need everything from border patrol to judges to process those asylum-seekers. if our economies going to grow, we need those immigrants who are willing to work and we are not

replacing our population our birthrate has been dropping and i believe that past immigration has been responsible for the success of our economy and why we have done so well. host: republican line north carolina this is raymond, hello. to finish out the 117th congress. go ahead. caller: good morning. i just want to say that the border needs to get under control and somebody needs to treat this thing as a war on china headed also the department of education needs to be disbanded they are indoctrinating our children and donald j. trump is my vote for speaker of the house. get rid of the department of education indoctrinating our children and if you control the next generation you control the children and that's what the democrats are trying to do right now.

before we lose our country. host: we are expecting the house and senate to come into the house to finish out the 117th congress and to start the 118th congress. you can watch the proceedings play out particular early you're interested on the house side on our main channel at c-span. we are taking calls up until that point. in virginia, this is carlos independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. my domestic issue is a little bit different than most people. i believe we need to have another party in our country. we have the republicans democrats and independents, but we also must include maga because they have a message but the way they deliver it hurts a lot of people. republicans are forced because there is no other way for them to call. they may not identify themselves

as magas. why? because they do not attack law enforcement. they are not racist. republicans stand up for what is morally and legally right when their members do something like this guy who lied about being jewish. we need to give republicans the opportunity to differentiate themselves between them and magas because if we don't all of the issues we have deficit, or security, threats from overseas, the economy, we are going to yell at each other because when the maga people come in, they have the right to spew their hate and ideology but we need to understand they are not republicans. true republicans like senator dole and john mccain and from utah and all this people. host: again we are waiting from the house -- we are waiting for the house to come in.

democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning, happy new year. my pressing issue and it doesn't bode well was the restoration of some civility and the quorum. that's not off to a great start today. my question is for john in the control room. they keep talking about how they flip the house, i would like him to take a look at how many democrats actually lost, how many lost to redistricting and what that scoreboard actually reflects. i think they're pushing the message and creating a situation that is not reflexive and where it stands. you can do the simple math and count the change in seats, but that's not the whole story. i will get off and let another caller get a chance. host: arlene in florida, republican line. caller: my back injury is a blessing in disguise because i am laying here with ice on it

enjoying the show. my main concern is how communism and marxism have infiltrated our country. you can see it. it is very disheartening. host: as promised, the work of the 117th congress is just about to end. the house side, we will take you to them now. host: again, that was the conclusion of the 117th congress.

the 118th congress will start its work. you can continue to watch that on c-span, o main channel follow along on our website c-span.org also c-span now app. the senate you can follow along on c-span two. that is it for our program today as far as our coverage of the 118th congress, it is opening day. you can contue to follow along and follow-up as the speaker fight manifest itself and plays out. you can follow along and check out everything on our website the app and our main channel. another addition of washington journal comes your way tomorrow at 7:00 a.m., we will see you then.