. good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc head quarters in new york city. the unprecedented political drama hits a new level in the house as kevin mccarthy appears to fall short of the votes

needed to be the speaker for a fourth consecutive time. florida republican byron donalds appear to have received just enough support to prevent kevin mccarthy from getting to 218. so what happens now? the house remaining paralyzed this hour. no committees, no legislation, elected members can't even be sworn in. they don't even know if they are getting paid at this point after they have tried and failed again four times to elect a speaker. it's a level of dysfunction unseen in modern political history. so let's bring in an incredible panel. senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake. yamiche alcindor is our washington correspondent. doug high is a republican strategist for the rnc. peter baker is chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" and an msnbc political analyst. steve kornacki is at the big board. garrett, tell us what's happening this second and what

should we make of it? >> we're watching kevin mccarthy on his way going 0 for 4. byron donalds, the latest person to be the anti-mccarthy antecandidate of the moment is on his way to matching the vote totals of jim jordan yesterday when he was in that role. the fact that it's now donalds instead of jordan telling you a little something about the rebel's strategy here. it's not about the particular other person who they are voting for here. it's about communicating that they are not for kevin mccarthy under any circumstances. and they are sending that message here again today despite this renewed push from former, the figure head leader of the republican party, saying to vote for kevin mccarthy torks drop these challenges for the good of the party. and from that message being communicated throughout the ecosystem. it's been a message on fox news, in prime time last night throughout the day today. but the rebels are digging in. so we're going to see this fourth vote come to a conclusion in a not too distant future.

they are in the p's. i saw nancy pelosi casting her vote what happens after that is anybody's guess. republicans would like to adjourn possibly for the day to take more time to try to get organized and properly whip votes, but they need votes to do that too. and right now, the conservatives asks democrats are saying we're good zitting here so they will. >> so steve kornacki, what are you watching here? >> we have been keeping track of the 20 republicans who on the third ballot, which was yesterday, voted for somebody other than kevin mccarthy. the question was would mccarthy win evident over any of them, show any progress, make any end roads on this fourth vote. just before the vote, chip roy, one of the anti-mccarthy, put bron donalds into nomination. you see these are all the republicans. there were 20 of them that voted against kevin mccarthy yesterday. and we have just been tracking. you have see as they have gone through the roll call, all of

them have simply switched their vote to donalds. and none of them have switched their vote to kevin mccarthy. 19 to 20, chip roy just voted momentarily ago, donalds for him. so it certainly looks like they are going to go 20 for 20, the republicans rebellion is going to go 20 for 20 in getting the folks who voted against mccarthy on the third ballot to keep voting against him. the other two things we have seen is there are still a number of names to be called. no one who voted for mccarthy on the third ballot has peeled off and voted for donalds so far. so this addition of the new name putting byron donalds out there, it hasn't caused any additional defections. and democrats continue to be completely united all present, all voting, all backing hakeem jeffries for their speaker. there's still four dozen votes left here to be cast. but it certainly looks like

we're on track for jeffries, the democrat, to land with 212. for mccarthy, the republican, to land at 202. and this time for 20 to back byron donalds. that would match essentially exactly the final vote yesterday. this is what jeffries got in the third ballot. this is what jim jordan got in the ballot. with a couple dozen votes left, there's still time to see if there are any peel offs from mccarthy. so far there's been none. you can see keith sef, we're waiting to see the final. we expect that to be donalds. all the others have been. we are just finishing the fourth ballot stuck in the exact same place we were after the first three ballots. sglipt bring in brendan buck, who served for speakers boehner and ryan. but if you're looking at what steve just showed us, which is

that kevin mccarthy is going nowhere fast, if you listen to what we heard from garrett haake, what is get organized me it you're a speaker, or someone running for speaker, getting organized means you have the votes you need on the first vote. what does get organized mean? >> i don't think there is such a thing right now. they obviously didn't want to have this vote right now. they theed to adjourn. kevin mccarthy knew he hadn't improved his position overnight even after donald trump came out and supported him pretty clearly. they have been negotiating or at least trying to get in touch with enough people to negotiate. they made no progress. i they wanted to avoid another humiliating vote on the floor and couldn't pull off the ability to pause. i thus they want to get off the floor so they can continue having these conversations that apparently didn't get them very far last night.

but the people who are opposing him are completely in the driver's seat. and i think that's the problem. really it's getting organized as it is stopping these humiliations. these 20 people, maybe just a core 5, have no interest in letting him off the hook. so i'll be very interested to see after this vote are they satisfied that they have proven their point, that they have shown they are sticking together and they are going to adjourn after this, that's an open question. or they could make them vote again and again. at this rate, we could be going days here unless kevin mccarthy is able to shake something loose. his options to do so are very few. >> what are they? if you talk about somebody being in the driver's seat, that sort of begs the idea you know where

you're going. you're driving to a particular place. are they? are there tools? what are the tools left in kevin mccarthy's tool box that could actually get him where he wants to go, whether it takes another vote or another couple days. >> don't know that it is possible, but it maybe some combination of changes to the rules, particularly rules that affect the speakership and how much power these members would have in the next congress. i think those are tough things to swallow for a lot of the other members, including kevin mccarthy. the other thing is peer pressure. we maybe looking at a situation where this needs -- this is an absurd situation, but it may need to be so absurd that they are realizing something has to give. that may take literally weeks. i don't mean to sound hyperbolic, but it could take weeks for kevin mccarthy to wear these people down. i don't know he has that much stamina to go the length, but that's the kind of peer pressure

that would need to build. at some point, they will realize this is a really bad look for republicans. the problem is these 20 people, the type of republican they are, they don't care about that. they have been happy to blow up plans for republicans for years. and this is obviously just the biggest stage which they have ever done it. >> and peter, somebody you covered for years and wrote a book about, and shb who knows what it is to sew chaos, donald trump suddenly seems to be the one who is saying we have to get out of this chaos. had he gave kevin mccarthy today his most explicit endorsement yet telling people to get this done. but obviously, that hasn't moved the needle either, has it? >> no, it really hasn't. part of the problem is that the people who are creating havoc are his own supporters. they are the ones that enjoy this kind of disruption. he himself has been the chief

disrupter. they are following his playbook, in a sense. so they knew that going in that he in theory was backing kevin mccarthy. they were not persuaded enough to drop their rebellion. they don't seem to be persuaded now. it shows donald trump still a major tors in the republican party should be not underestimated, but doesn't get to call the shots every time. also he has failed before to determine who would be congressional leader for the republicans for the last two years. he's mad at because he doesn't support his election fraud claims. the republicans ignored ask paid zero attention to him whatsoever. this antimccarthy caucus is showing the same sort of willingness to defy him. >> so one of the lawmakers who has been negotiating on kevin mccarthy's behalf talked to mutt colleague hallie jackson a

little earlier today. they are watching to see if think reach the point where they might have to start working with democratsen on a consensus candidate. is that a realistic possibility? >> it's incredible to think we have arrived at this moment given the fact that republicans were just so celebratory when they won this slim majority. i think it's very hard for me to see a moment where democrats try to help republicans and bail them out by giving them some votes for a consensus candidate. all the democrats i talked to in the last 24 hours, even in the last week have been saying this is the republicans' problem. this is republicans proving why they shouldn't be trusted with controlling either chamber of congress because if it they can't elect a speaker, what else can't they do? some of them becoming more bombastic in their domination for hah keep jeffries calling him the pride of brooklyn, they are behind him 100%. i don't see how that breaks in

order to help out republicans. they weren't eager to help out nancy pelosi or chuck schumer. it's very, very hard for me to see that. instead what likely is going to happen is republicans are going to try to figure this out amongst themselves. maybe kevin mccarthy might find some breaking point where it's clear to him, as it has been to others that he's not going to be the person who is going to be house speaker. they will possibly have to come up with a consensus candidate. that means these anti-mccarthy caucus and the conservatives there along with the moderates and republican party because i think the thing that's fascinating is let's say you take mccarthy off the table. one that's a huge win for 20 republican who is have going against about 90% of their caucus, but also what about the people who feel bitter and have to be told you're going to vote for a new speaker after this small faction won. so i think there are a lot of problems here for republicans, but i don't see democrats helping them out. >> so then the question becomes if not mccarthy, who? let me play what part of byron donalds, we have been watching

now as fete gets 20 votes, here's what he said this morning on fox news. >> one thing i know about this place is every time there's something going on, we find a way to make it happen. i believe we're going to elect a speaker. but you have members who no's against kevin. they need to have meetings with him and hammer this stuff out. i don't know if that's happened, but from what i'm hearing, that's farther apart than it needs to be. >> so why does donalds have 20 votes? are we getting to the point where republicans might just throw out names and see what sticks? how do you see this right now? >> right now, it appears the only names we'll see thrown out there is a fifth vote that this group of 20 may vote for somebody else. then if there's a sixth vote, somebody else after that. we'll see the name changes at least in the short-term. obviously, this is a very difficult situation for healthcare car thi and his team.

what we're seeing here is essentially it you go back to the 2016 primaries, where there was a consensus among the candidates still in there, that somebody had to drop out or trump would be the nominee. the answer is you should drop out. what we're seeing is republicans defactions are playing a game of chicken. moderates are flexing their muscles and saying, yeah, you should cave. obviously, the 20 who voted against mccarthy think everybody else should cave. that's why we're at a stalemate and going to stay awhile. as we're looking at this tally, somebody voted present. that's the first time that we have seen someone do that. >> yeah, that's right. it's victoria sparks, who was a vote for mccarthy and now votes present. by my calculations, that doesn't help mccarthy. he needs the rebels to vote present. that's what happened for speaker pelosi when 2019 where she was able to get people who committed to not supporting her to

essentially vote present, which amounts to sitting on their hands and letting their vote come off the overall total when it comes to what a majority institutes. it doesn't do him any favors. i don't know the motivation on her part, whether that's a half step move away from the mccarthy, but we'll find out. they should be back out here soon. >> let me go over to steve. we are through that list. still not a lot of movement. >> not a lot of movement. and that voting present is interesting. for the first three ballots, 434 votes cast. you need 50% plus 1 to become speaker. so the magic number was 218. but that's where the magic number was. it was 434 members voting.

now spartz voting present, that means on this round, 212 votd for jeffries, 201 voted for kevin mccarthy. 20 voted for byron donalds. one voted for present. that means there were only 433 votes cast in this fourth round. 50% plus 1 of that is 217. so what that did is lowered the threshold from 218 to 21. neither jeffries nor mccarthy is anywhere near that, but the danger a little bit for mccarthy is present votes can help him in lowering the threshold. but he needs the present votes to be coming from this group of votes. the folks who were voting against him. when they starlet coming from folks who were voting for mccar thi, they do him no favors. they lower the threshold.

they don't bring his number up. and they bring jeffries now within five votes of that threshold. so what garrett was saying is what the motivation for spartz was, you can't imagine it was to help mccarthy. is that a half step away from kevin mccarthy? if so, we were saying this whole fourth round is any movement. is mccarthy winning over any of the 20 that hadn't voted. the answer is no. none of the 20 flipped and voted for him on this. the second question was any previous mccarthy supporters change their minds and starting to move away from him. that vote by spartz mathematically i would interpret as a move away from mccarthy. but the only shift is a bad one for mccarthy. >> so first of all, let's tell

people that spartz, if anybody has heard of her, it's related to the war in ukraine. she was born there. when she has talked a the lot, it's been about the war. as we wait iowa wait the motivation, certainly doesn't help kevin mccarthy. some other possibilities here. there was even the idea of fred upton sloet floeted floated. he's a moderate republican who just left congress. here's what he had to say. >> if the house body came to you and 218 members voted to make you speaker, would you accept? >> that's an intriguing -- i don't know i could even call it a possibility. it's an intriguing thought. i haven't ruled it out. but we're a long way from getting to that point. >> he hasn't ruled it out, but last hour former president trump

posted on truth social upton is the single worst person republicans could pick as speaker. as a number of people have been asked about this, most of them seem to be saying no. there looks to be some heated exchanges going on among republicans on the house floor right now. >> yeah, i'm watching this exchange. and on the fred upton thing, there's never been not a current member of the house to serve as speaker. i don't think we're anywhere close to a weird enough noemt time to get there. what you're looking at now is that group of republicans, matt gaetz standing, chip roy seated, and on the edge you have some of the more moderate republicans, including dusty johnson. he's an interesting figure and someone we'll get to know better in this new congress. he was just elected to head one of the more mainstream groups within the conference. he was a pretty quiet figure in the last conference, but think of him in the same relate the of

the problem solvers and the governing coalition if there is one within the republican conference. those rebels had been sitting on the floor entirely by themselves. they are in one block at the back of the chamber along the center aisle not talking to anyone other than themselves as we look at this now from a different view. scott perry with his back to us. they were in a group amongst themselves not really tug to the folks who are going to have to whip them and move them at some point. presumably, dust ji johnson is among those people who share kevin mccarthy's viewpoints. but is it kevin mccarthy and might be able to talk more effectively with that group. these moments here, you see johnson facing us in the glasses there putting that card back into his jacket. this is going to have to happen to move things. nothing is going to move during the roll call votes. members are tied to their seats. not a lot of conversation allowed during a vote where folks are speaking it you can't

get to an adjournment and any effective procedural pause, you get these moments where the tellers are going through and counting the votes and checking their math without the benefit of of our fine graphics team keeping score in realtime to do that work. you're seeing this heated exchange with matt gaetz on the left of your screen and some of these other folk who is are a mix of the pro and antimccarthy faction in the republican party. >> and gallagher in there. >> he's a rising star within the party. a younger mmber from wisconsin. cap tapped in the lead up to this sto head a new select committee that republicans ut to put in place to investigate and do oversight on all things china. so potentially a powerful figure in a new republican congress should one ever be seated. gallagher, somebody who has a little bit of swag, a little bit of oomp within the party. it's not an accident these people are getting picked to put

mccarthy's name in nomination. he's trying to highlight the breadth of the coalition. >> steve scalise looks like he's in an animated conversation as well. there's a lot of that going on. we also want to take you to kentucky. there you see joe biden, mitch mcconnell is there as well. governors from different parties, republican and democrat, the juxtaposition, i think, probablien couldn't be better for the democrats basically showing americans this is how a functioning government works. right? >> exactly. that's the point that president biden would like to get across today. two years has positioned himself as the person, the leader who can cut through the partisan gridlock at times and a time to

make deals as he deals with infrastructure. they are there to celebrate the rebuilding of this it bridge that's been so widely discussed between ohio and kentucky. being there with mitch mcconnell and the governor of ohio, the republican governor of ohio is meant to say this is how government works. and the contrast from the floor of the house right now very stark. >> if can, i want to play a little sound from joe biden earlier today when he was asked about this. do we have it? >> it's not my problem. >> it's not my problem >> the other interesting thing about this is that what they got

done and what republicans like much mitch, who are saying lots of money going to their states, are happy they got done, that ohio is happy about, very republican, very red state is exactly the thing that a lot of these folks who are trying to stop kevin mccarthy from being speaker, who are unhappy with the republicans, who believe that too much has been given away, that's exactly the kind of legislation they are not happy about. >> that's exactly right. in fact, they wanted to punish republicans who voted for that bipartisan infrastructure bill. the idea is you can vote for something that democrats also voted for was seen as a betrayal of the party of the conservative cause. and there has been a lot of spending in the last two years under president biden. covid relief, infrastructure, the new chips bill, the climate change package that they passed

along with other prescription drug and others issues. so the last two years has looked pretty troublesome. and they are frustrated that their party goes along to get along. this is the same argument you saw back in the '90s when newt gingrich pushed aside the old school republicans saying you don't go along with the democrats to create a better bill. you oppose them at all costs. that's what this group is pushing against mccarthy wants to do. one way or the other, they pushed mccarthy against this kind of legislating. if it he is speaker, you'll see him playing a different role than mitch mcconnell, who while being opposed to much of joe biden's agenda is willing to work with him on occasion when he sees something that is a good opportunity for the republican side the democratic side. >> democrats may love the optics, but at some point, they

have to work with these house republicans too. basic things like funding the government. so wonder what you're hearing from the democratic side. >> it's the big question here. i think it's why democrats are so focused on taking in this moment. this is the moment right now when republicans are in disarray, it might be the best moment for democrat when is it comes to the house. everything from here gets hard er. if you're in a minority, it's going to be so hard to pass legislation and for president biden, it's going to be hard to pass legislation like the big bipartisan infrastructure plan he's now celebrating and ro moting in kentucky today. it's really democrats will point to all the different things they believe president biden accomplished some really big bill when is you think about covid relief and the infrastructure plan. even with their small major tirks the same number that the gop has now with temperatures np at the helm, they were able to get through legislation.

it's going to be a lot harder now in divided government let's not even talk about funding the government and debt ceilings, but if you're a democrat trying to get across the finish line with big bill, the next two years are going to be incredibly tough. it's fascinating that mitch mcconnell and president biden are out together and having that split screen moment where you see both men standing side by side. this is possibly one of the last images of bipartisanship we might see. especially because we're also going into the election years. republicans are going to be thinking not only do we not want to help democrat, you don't want to help someone running for president if president biden decides to run. so there are going to be a lot of factors working against democrats getting big agenda items through. >> they seem to be having a little bit of fun there. i don't know how much fun this is because brendan buck, as i'm watching some of these republicans gathering in groups and how animated and it seems to me let's say energetic these conversations are, sewerly

there's a reck sewerly there's a recognition this doesn't look good for them. what kind of conversations can be had that might move the needle or are these just people letting off steam? >> clearly, you're seeing a lot of frustration there. this is a fascinating conversation to be happening on the floor right now. i'm actually wondering if anybody is able to overhear in the gallery. it looks like they are shouting pretty loudly in their seats. so curious if anybody is able to pick up on what's going on. in some ways, it's good they are having conversations. and there's some passion flowing. matt gaetz does not particularly surprise me in flailing around. he's someone who sees politics as a performtive art. but at least they are having the conversations. you have some of mccarthy's top lieutenants, people on his whip team trying to bring the votes together. but a tough spot right now after

that vote. i'm very intrigued by -- or confused by victoria spartz voting present. patrick mchenry was seen talking to her. i wonder if he was able to stop her from actually voting for someone else and present was where they landed. that's a bit of speculation. she's not of the profile of the rest of these 20. she's someone who kevin mccarthy has put on a pedestal a as prime example of his type of republicans. she's been somewhat of a mainstream member of the house republican conference. so very curious what's going on there and what it says about the direction that things are headed. certainly, curious what's going on with that conversation on the floor with members. >> no kidding. again, we keep saying we have never seen anything like this if my text chain is any indication, people say not interested in politics.

there's a new representative who fiepds hums being followed around. he seemed to be alone most of yesterday. fds certainly the most controversial member this terms of the things he said. brendan, thank you. we'll let you go for a bit. everyone else, don't go away. this fight is far from over. continuing to monitor all we're seeing on the house floor. and what all this chaos could mean for the democrats and whether they can use this moment to their advantage. even in the minority. you're watching chris jansing, on an historic day on the hill only on msnbc only on missisnbc ta® helps what's going on inside. qulipta® gets right to work. in a 3-month study, qulipta® significantly reduced monthly migraine days and the majority of people reduced them by 50 to 100%. qulipta® blocks cgrp a protein believed to be a cause of migraines.

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. right now to make sure everybody is up to speed, we're waiting for the gavel to officially come down on the fourth ballot in the vote for house speaker. so far it does not appear kevin mccarthy has the votes for the job. as chaos and confusion consume house republicans, the view

across the aisle be more different. democrats remin united and there's no sign that will change. but as the gop infighting drags on, is there a way for democrats to use it to their advantage? we have julie on chail. our panel is still with me. let me go to you first, garrett. why has the gavel not fallen yet? what's happening there? >> reporter: they are still in that process of counting the votes here, the tellers appointed to do this process. this is working to republicans' advantage. they don't have the votes to get off the floor. it takes a vote to adjourn. they are able to do some work. also i can tell you in the last few minutes, victoria spartz who voted present came off the floor surrounded by a gaggle of reporters. she did not surprise kevin mccarthy with that vote. she told him she was going to

vote present. it's something of a protest vote. not that she's ready to support the rebels, but she was trying to convey they need to get together off the floor and have these conversations. so i think a way of flagging the fact that whatever is happening, this contest ofs will is unsatisfactory and not going to work. in doing so as katty kay south carolina pointed out, she lowers the threshold fractionally here and it benefits hakeem jeffries more than.com county. the point is that this isn't working, she wanted to say. they need to do something different. they need to break this up and have these conversations, some of which we're seeing on the floor to try to move things along. >> and speaking of hakeem jeffries, he says there's no chance think of his members are going to end this. one floated ab intriguing idea. let me play that. >> i was thinking today, gosh,

kevin mccarthy was only short a few votes. i wish i could be part of some kind of a unity caucus that would yield him the votes because the republicans hold a majority. and maybe put us this a special category. >> so as a minority of one or is that something you have heard other folks talking about? >> you can say that. as you know well, there's no unity caucus here. while her comments are interesting, she's going to be the longest serving woman in the house. she is a party of one here. democrats have virtually no reason to throw republicans a lifeline here as they battle it out internally. as you mentioned in the last four speaker votes, all democrats stayed united giving jeffries the most votes and not kevin mccarthy, despite that's what he keeps saying. take a listen to what ryan nobles asked jeffries and what he told him. >> looking for a willing partner

to solve problems for the american people, not save the republicans from their dysfunction. we need a partner in governance to build upon the incredible progress that we made for the american people over the last few years. by the way, with a similar majority. >> reporter: democrats aren't even giving republicans the votes to adjourn. my republicans i'm talking about mccarthy and his leadership team. they want to take a break to sit in a room earlier and able to square this out. much like we're seeing on the floor in between these votes it's not look like they are going to do any favors this is one of the only times it will be easy for them as republicans take control of the chamber and are prepared to make democrats life a little miss rattle. >> so one of the folks we saw in one of those little groups who

was talking is a democrat, alexandria ocasio-cortez. a lot of people were talking yesterday because on the floor she was talking to two of the anti-mccarthy republicans. then she came on this network and i want to play you something intriguing that she had to say. >> is there anyone in their caucus that can build that consensus? if there isn't, mccarthy's team may have to come to the democratic party. if that's the case, then what would that even look like? it's rather unprecedented. could we get democratic chairs of of committees as a result? we don't know. >> we don't know, but what are you hearing about the likelihood of something like that? >> i would say it's very, very low. if you're trying to get some degree of republican votes, the idea they are going to give away anything like that to democrats to braengbreak through this moment is pretty close to zero.

conversations like that may serve to help mccarthy in this quest because it adds pressure to the rebels saying if you're not going to support the republican candidate with 90% of the vote, this maybe the only other choice. a little bit of chess, a little bit of guess work and games manship happening at the same time. >> all of those things. in the meantime, i'm wondering if you are still at the rnc what makes you nervous about the democrats might do. it you're a republican in general who wants to make this move in a way that makes it less of a debacle for the republicans than it might be, what are you watching for in terms of the democrats? are they playing their cards right? >>en honestly -- we i just. the to interrupt for a second. we just saw the gavel come down. it's official. let's take a listen.

>> the tellers agree in their tallies that the total number of votes cast is 433. of which the honorable hakeem jeffries of the state of new york has received 212. [ applause ] the honorable kevin mccarthy of the state of california has received 201.

[ applause ] >> the honorable byron donalds of the state of florida has received 20. [ applause ] >> with one member elect recorded as present. no member-elect having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast, a speaker has not been elected. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? >> madame speaker, i rise to nominate kevin mccarthy as speaker of the house. >> the gentleman is recognized.

[ applause ] >> now why would i as a conservative, as an army ranger, business guy, the first guy that the house freedom caucus backed in a congressional race, why would i nominate kevin mccarthy to become the next speaker of the house? why would jim jordan? why would other conservatives like thomas mass sit, jim banks, and others support kevin mccarthy as speaker of the house. something in our nature as humans causes us to dehumanize others when we engage in conflict.

dehumanizing others makes it easier to ascribe bad motives and engage in the fight. but it also makes it harder to understand one another. as actions push further disagreement, arguments tend to escalate rather than resolve. we're on the precipice of such a destructive argument today. i plead with all, all of my republican colleagues, let cooler more rational heads prevail. let us unite as republicans to elect the next speaker of the house. unlike democrats nearly every republican at least campaigns on some form of smaller, more accountable government. once we get here, the bipartisan consensus keeps growing a bigger, less accountable government. the american people know that the status quo is broken, that we become less free and more

burdened by debt, the american people are sick and tired of it and they keep sending us reenforcements. reenforcements that today help make up our small majority. but a majority is only a majority if we actually work together. now lots of people back home don't trust anyone in this town. perhaps, we would be wise to listen to them and some wisdom from ronald reagan. trust, but verify. trust is a fragile condition and easily broken. as i have listened to my friends, 20 of whom have opposed kevin mccarthy as speaker of the house, the root issue is this. they do not trust kevin mccarthy. what can heal that divide? right now, there are a lot of colleagues that don't trust 20 or more of my fellow

republicans. right now, though we remain divided, an actual majority of the house freedom caucus members do support kevin mccarthy. a unified caucus started the negotiations with a proposal for new rules. a different way to govern than empowers committees and regular members. we proposed that a set of tools could be structured to make trust more verifiable and allow recourse it that trust is ever broken. following the election, kevin mccarthy engaged in that negotiation. he led the conference to adopt substantiative reform this is will make our majority more effective. let me list some of them. andrew clyde's proposal to restore public access to the capitol, the proposal to reduce the linkage between the steering committee process, the proposal

to cap spending on suspension bills, the proposal to limit leadership reports and make conference more about engaging all members, the proposal to provide a notice for us is suspension votes, the proposal for additional conference meetings ahead of key votes, the proposal on stand alone appropriations bills, andy biggs' proposal limiting us is suspension waivers from committees, the proposal to make co-sponsored memt amendments an order. a firm 72-hour publication before a recorded vote, an end to remote participation by members of congress, the rule and an end to unblocked us is suspension votes, a major reform of what we hope to call the griffin rule, on bills subject to germaneness points of order

and amendment. diverse viewpoints on every committee. lastly a church-style commission was added to the judiciary committee focused on the abuses our own big government has unjustly collaborated with big business and big tech to silence, persecute or even prosecute fellow citizens. as thomas massy pointed out, elon musk bought a crime scene. now that we though and the public knows, what are we going to do about it? this select committee answers that question. with oversight and leadership by our most effective member, my friend and colleague, the future chairman of the house judiciary committee, congressman jim jordan. we as republicans are a big and duh verse conference. the real question goes back to strategy. can we accept incremental

progress? can we work for a victory, one first down at a time, or can we only accept the trick plays? can we set about the hard work of inwithing debates with our colleagues as we have done through this process? can we take a win every now and then and give hope to the forgotten men and women of america who no longer believe this place, this people's house cares about them. we're having achieved every concession that we have asked for, including a motion to vacate the chair with one privileged resolution. does it really boil down to this that 20 or more of my colleagues will never trust kevin mccarthy as speaker? i feel at this time we risk a worse outcome if we can't unite behind the man who helped us achieve these reforms. reforms that offer all of us, this whole body, hope for change

in this broken status quo. reforms that our voters have demanded, reforms that we have worked hard together to achieve and finally reforms that we risk forfeiting it if we do not work together as republicans to elect the next speaker of house. now is the time for deeds not words, and i nominate kevin mccarthy for speaker of the house. i humbly ask for your support. [ applause ] >> purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> madam clerk, i rise to nominate hakeem jeffries as speaker of the house.

[ applause ] >> madam clerk, the lead vote get ner the last four tallies, democrats are united behind a speaker who will work to codify the right to seek an abortion into law. like all of us -- [ applause ] >> like all of us, history akeem has spoken about consistently the disastrous dobs decision, he has spoken time and time again that it is well passed time to codify roe v. wade into law and he knows that young women should not grow up in a world with fewer rights than their parents and grandparents. [ applause ] >> he will ensure that reproductive freedom is enshrined into law so that is why madam clerk as chair of the democratic caucus i am directed by the caucus to present for election hakeem jeffries, represent-elect from new york, as our next speaker. [ applause ]

>> for what purpose does the gentle woman from colorado rise? >> madam clerk i rise to nominate congressman byron donalds. >> the gentle woman is recognized. >> i rise today to nominate byron donalds, my friend, an amazing man of florida, a man of leader, someone who almost even took leadership here in our republican party and came very close in doing so in a very brave run that he took. he's a man who understands what tough times look like, and has come out of those tough times even stronger, more liberated, and as a leader. we just heard from my respected colleague from ohio and he

stated some amazing rules that we have been able to get an agreement on, i think. we were threatened pretty heavily in conference saying if we don't do as we ought, then some of those rules may just go away. but even naming the germainness rule which is really fantastic after morgan griffith, well that was our idea, too. my question is, why didn't the supposed leader of the republican party present these rules? why where we fought so hard on these rules, the barrier that still stands and in the way of these rules is the structure that prevents us from rolling over, and as my friend from chip roy stated, we need the tools and the leadership to do our job correctly, and i believe that byron donalds is the man to lead us to that path of getting

america on track and uniting the republican party. my colleagues and i have worked tirelessly for months to build consensus, to negotiate in good faith, to help unify our party, on border security, energy security, debt reduction, term limits, earmarks, among other many common sense policies, but too often, our efforts have fallen on deaf ears. our border is wide open. inflation is out of control. the senate just passed $1.7 trillion without our input. so let me be clear. our job is not to coronate the biggest fundraiser or rubber stamp, the status quo, or keep on going along to get along. it's to use our votes to elect a speaker who will enable us to get our country back on track.

getting the job done is what we were elected to do. and that starts with having a leader who supports republican principles, builds consensus, and has a proven track record of success. byron donalds is that leader. republicans including many moderates have been impressed by byron donalds. they're impressed by his ability to work together, they respect his leadership, we see him as someone who can communicate what we are all wanting to do in this house, to americans, and he represents so much more than just his district in florida. many millions of americans all over this nation praise the work and the leadership of byron donalds. so let's work together, let's stop with the campaign smears

and tactics to get people to turn against us, even having my favorite president call us and tell us we need to knock this off, i think it actually needs to be reversed, the president needs to tell kevin mccarthy that sir, you do not have the votes, and it's time to withdraw. with that, i yield. thank you. >> yield back. >> yes, ma'am. >> the clerk will again call the roll.

>>. >> adams. >> adaholt. mccarthy. augialiar. jeffries. offlord. mccarthy. allen. mccarthy. allred. jeffries. amaday. mccarthy. armstrong. armstrong. arrington. mccarthy. aukenclaus. jeffries. babin. mccarthy.

benken. mccarthy. baird mccarthy. balderson. mccarthy. ballot. jeffries. banks. mccarthy. barr. mccarthy. baregan. jeffries. bean of florida. mccarthy. bede jeffries. bentz. mccarthy. bera.

jeffries. bergman. mccarthy. beyer. jeffries. bice. bice? biggs? donalds. bilirakis? mccarthy. bishop of georgia? jeffries. bishop of north carolina. donalds. blumenauer? jeffries. blunt

jeffries. boebert? donalds. bonamici? jeffries. bost? bost? mccarthy. bowman? jeffries. boyle of brecheen? donalds. brown? jeffries.