the conference for three years under speaker john boehner and then for three years with speaker paul ryan. as chair of the conference, consider the number four position in leadership, so it is daily meetings with the speaker, the majority leader, the whip, touching gloves and discussing what our priorities are, what bills are going to be on the floor and how we are working to advance our priorities. specifically the conference does a lot to support the members. so it is really the arm of leadership that does a lot of -- well, we focus a lot on the messaging and making sure that the communications, what leadership is promoting about various bills is circulated around the members. we provided a lot of support to the members as well as the staff so they could do their jobs well. >> what would you point to as your successes during those times as conference chair? rep. mcmorris rodgers: well, we really took an innovative approach where we had a lot -- well, we had a lot of people that came in and met with us. we did this series where we would host leading people in business and other industrie

and rachel bay reports that forget about paul ryan's medicare, privatize zation plan the same with other entitlement reforms and never mind offsetting defense spending increases in almost every instance. sources describe a gop budget deal in which political practicality beats out ideology as republican leaders tack toward the party's center. now that they're in control of both chambers, well, so first off, i think it's impressive that we're actually going to get a deal this early if a deal comes. this has been decades since we've had this kind of. bicameral us negotiations this early in the process, which i think is absolutely fantastic. listen, this is weakness in the process. we look at ideology, we look at politics, and we see how much we can get done that's going to resolve a lot of the challenges that we face as a country. i mean, america understands we have an $18 trillion debt. i think they want us to fix the problems that we face, not just today, but in the long run. we pay $240 billion a year just in interest on the debt. that's about half the amount we spend on our military spe

and it was an important issue for then-speaker paul ryan. paul ryan was an expert on these issues. senator mcconnell really wasn't. but he and paul ryan had a very good working relationship. and they also had a relationship where they worked as a team to try to work president. trump and it wasn't always easy. e daone would handle it, one day the other would handle it. but they knew the one thing they could do is if they said, we'll call it the trump tax cut. and they thought that that would work, and it was an effective strategy to get the president on board. and of course, once it was signed, he was happy to take the credit for. what role did senator mcconnell play, the leader play in getting? it passed so he wasn't part of the fine green detail that was really paul ryan and that was really done in the house. but it was just getting those votes lined up in a really wasn't that hard to sell among republicans. did he get credit from president trump for his efforts? i think president trump did his own sort of victory lap on that. and i'm not sure he held a parade for senator mcconnel

. >> and you recall when paul ryan came in, he was drafted to be speaker and they were trying to make a lot of the same demands to him an he said no thanks. if you don't want me to do this job, i won't do it. the problem is i don't think anybody in this position is able to make these demands and get these votes with the small majority we had. the small majority, the narrow majority makes a huge difference. let's remember, though, kevin mccarthy also had changed the rule to change the motion to vacate. at the last minute, he had to negotiate that and gave it away. i'm not so certain that mike johnson won't have to give it away as well and be back in the same situation kevin mccarthy was in and a single member of the house can trigger the vote. it only takes three or four to kick you out. you will never be able to govern effectively. for some of these people, here's the problem, it works for them. it works for chip roy to have this chaos as long as he looks like he's the pure one. they are never conservative enough for me. it looks good for you. >> when you are chip roy and win the way

this happened to paul ryan.ned to kevin mccarthy and we saw how republicans revolted against speaker johnson just a few weeks ago. after he had cut a deal with akeem jeffries to continue funding the government. of course, there were a number of other policy provisions in there, so these are going to be some very difficult waters to navigate and add to the fact that the trump card, the trump call, clearly does not always work at the end of the last congress. again, just a few weeks ago, president-elect donald trump and elon musk, try to pressure house republicans to pass a suspension of the debt ceiling. almost 40 house republicans totally ignored that and said no. we refuse to do that at this point and, again, johnson had to go back and cut a deal with democrats, so this is a movie that we have been watching for a long time when it comes to house republicans. it is not just the last year or two. it has been happening for about a decade and until that group of house republicans understands that negotiation, compr

and i still remember negotiating with nancy pelosi's blessing, negotiating directly with paul ryan to get $170 million for my hometown town. and this was before there were anything like earmarks. this was this was a big lift to get that emergency funding, because a lot of my colleagues didn't support it. but if there was one moment that i had to point to that would be there are a few others. i worked to get some prisoners released from iran. i had a really proud moment when i flew to germany to bring them home. and more recently, you know, i helped write the electric vehicle tax credit. i actually wrote that portion of of the legislation that is now very much part of the debate in the incoming trump administration. but that was big policy for a guy who comes an automobile community. what will you miss? i'll miss the people. i've had some of my staff with me the entire time that i've been here. they've become like family to me. i have colleagues on both sides of the aisle that have become honest to goodness friends, not the, you know, not the sort of use of the term here in washington

you recall when paul ryan came in, draft tobd speaker, they tried to make a lot of the same demands of him. he basically said, no, thanks. if you don't want me to do this job, i won't do it. the problem is i don't think anybody in this position right now is able to make those kind of demands and get the votes with this small a majority we have. we had a 20, 30-something seat majority back then. the small majority, the narrow majority, makes a huge difference. let's remember, though, kevin mccarthy also had changed a rule to change the motion to vacate so that it would be harder to kick him out. at the last minute he had to negotiate that and give it away. i'm not so certain mike johnson isn't going to have to give that away as well, back in the position where a single member of the house can trigger his vote. a majority this small, it only stakes three, four, five of these folks to kick you out at any time. when these hanging over your head, you're never going to be able to govern effectively. here's the problem. it works for some of these people. it works for chip roy to have this cha

and rachel bay reports that forget about paul ryan's medicare, privatize zation plan the same with other entitlement reforms and never mind offsetting defense spending increases in almost every instance. sources describe a gop budget deal in which political practicality beats out ideology as republican leaders tack toward the party's center. now that they're in control of both chambers, well, so first off, i think it's impressive that we're actually going to get a deal this early if a deal comes. this has been decades since we've had this kind of. bicameral us negotiations this early in the process, which i think is absolutely fantastic. listen, this is weakness in the process. we look at ideology, we look at politics, and we see how much we can get done that's going to resolve a lot of the challenges that we face as a country. i mean, america understands we have an $18 trillion debt. i think they want us to fix the problems that we face, not just today, but in the long run. we pay $240 billion a year just in interest on the debt. that's about half the amount we spend on our military spe

we look back to the ads running against paul ryan with him dumping a lady off a cliff. we are not afraid to put up ideas. what happens in the negotiations, with the senate, we have to find out what comes from this negotiation but i think it is important we continue to address the drivers. we have both chambers. again, we have certain problems in the senate, we don't have 60 votes, and we will need democrat by in. you don't always get everything you want because in the senate you don't control everything without the 60 vote majority. x republicans were able to increase money for the pentagon, the defense hawks won out, putting money in the so-called emergency fund for national security concerns. but not offsetting those costs. that is ok with you? >> well, listen, there's a concern that all of us have about the strength of our military, and if you look around the world, there are rising at's, whether we are looking at what's happening with iran, with isis. china, russia, serious problems that we face in the world, and america has to have a strong military to address thos

no one knows more about the budget, for example, than paul ryan. as his staffer, what was interesting for me is that president romney --not president romney, then-governor romney's team had gone through many debates. there is only one vice presidential debate, historically. paul had not had a debate since his first congressional race. i worked with the romney campaign to make sure that paul had the preparation he needed. but what was interesting is that it was very unlike the way they prepared governor romney in terms of the briefing materials. and it was a lot of time spent with paul. it was eight full mock debates where we had a stand-in for joe biden. we would prep him and had specific questions and scenarios to play out. paul was very hands-on. he edited all of the materials. it was a constant work in progress. and by the end of it, the briefing materials had an entire briefcase. it was a 40-pound case of briefing materials that would go on the plane every day. and as we were flying to the various campaign stops, paul would practice various part

said don't send me any names of anyone who has worked for mike pence, his former vice president, or paul ryanliz cheney or her father, the former vice president dick cheney, i'm not hiring them, the message he is clearly sending, i only want to hire people who are true believers. >> norah: nancy cordes in west palm beach with that transition is underway. nancy, thank you. want to bring in our senior white house and political correspondent, ed o'keefe, and ed, you heard president biden mentioned the seeds are planted. he is talking about the idea, well, you may not be feeling the benefit of all of my big policy ideas, and i know inflation still exists, but the seeds are there and he will eventually feel them. >> reporter: that's right, as you mentioned, 39% approval rating, not the greatest number to go out with but what he is hoping for and what he is signaling his history is going to be kinder to him. in recent interviews, he has lamented the fact that when various covid stimulus checks went out in the early years of his presidency, he didn't sign them and put his name on them, to reinforce

paul ryan would ignore it. we are now in the situation we are as result of that negligence. >> host: the "washington post" headline earlier this year focusing profile on you, former trump eight crafting the house gop's that sitting playbook. is that a fair description? how much will have you had within the conference? >> guest: we are in the position where we are not because of what i've done but because of what the members of congress, the house conservatives have done. they are the statesman, the ones in the arena. our center puts out good ideas. we try to inform the art of the possible. we tried to explain when they think there's a bad deal on the table but the numbers are making this happen and they have shown tremendous statesmanship between january and now to be in a position with a massive leverage. unfortunately that leverage is being squandered by the leadership they have been an coalition government until now. >> host: is a time to change leadership? if they do come together and the white house and re

and the managing editor of daily slate and the communication adviser for paul ryan and jon weiner. let's start with you and mike johnson. this was obviously dramatic and made a lot of headlines but at the end of the day donald trump has one priority, to be sworn in as the next president of the united states of america. did anyone really think that there would be a single republican elected official that would stand in the way and block mike johnson and delay donald trump? >> there were enough republicans that thought maybe they could get some attention for themselves and keep everyone in session but when there are only three people at the end of the day that voted against him it was very clear that mike johnson was going to be speaker of the house again. when kevin mccarthy lost his vote he lost 19 people. a lot more than most people expected. these people were on an island very quickly and there was intense pressure that was going to come down, not just on donald trump at the rest of their colleagues. the real question for them, to what end are you doing this? mike johnson basical

managing editor of accelerate's daily news podcast, and former chief communications adviser for paul ryan and john boehner. start with you and mike johnson. dramatic, a lot of headlines, but end of the day, donald trump has one priority, to be sworn in as next president of the united states of america. did anyone really think there was a single republican elected official that was going to stand in the way and block mike johnson and delay donald trump? >> anyeah, there were enough republicans thought they could maybe get attention for themselves, have a weekend to keep everybody in session, but when there were only three people at the end of the day who voted against him, it was very clear -- i guess before they switched their votes -- that mike johnson was going to be speaker of the house again. when tkevin mccarthy lost his vote, he lost 19 people, a lot more than folks expected and ultimately rose to 20. these folks were on an island quickly and intense pressure not just from donald trump but the rest of their colleagues. to what end are you doing this? what are you trying to get out o

they are worried about healthcare, paul ryan drug his fight. i am for one, let's get it done. larry: senator tuberville, you are person after my heart. have a clear thinking senator, really remarkable. so happy to hear you take that position. now sinc senator sheehy, if you disagree it is okay, it is kudlow we believe in free speech, but i prefer you to talk about one big beautiful bill, we don't want to let middle class blue collar boom get away. once you promise, you have to keep them, mr. trump understands that i think it is not a hard thing to do, you are extends tax cuts put money on border, what do you think senator sheehy? >> i agree 100%, we have a mandate. and from a popular vote to ewell, rally vote to senate to house, we swept the table on this election people want results, we should not be bogging down on processes if one bill or two, or 15, let's get it done, right how it sounds like momentum is behind one bill beautiful bill. larry: all right terrific stuff, i want to turn to more exotic i thinks in the news conference, a president on this is such a nice sound to

when spending caps were imposed and implemented with particularly grand rudman spending caps but paul ryann mcc mccartney spending caps, it is not debt ceilings or limits it is spending caps that have to be enforced. that is where they should go in this big you know one big beautiful bill that will come up. >> well, you have it half right. it is true that you want when newt gingrich came in, we got spending caps we had first balanced think about in 50 years when bill clinton was president. you are right back to rodman cutting, i talked with phil gram about that the other day that is time high was boasting we tut the budget, and boehner cuts came, here is what you missed. all of those reforms and those caps and spending and reductions happened because republicans use used leverage of debt ceiling. larry: they did not. >> that and what you are missing. >> no they didn't. you are kidding yourself, stop, than you is not true. >> you will have phil gram on your show he will agree with me. larry: you know that not true, i just love this the debt sdebt ceiling never stopping anything, all that ha

doubt that he wants one bill and cleanly done as quick as possible but i'm sure he remembers with paul ryaner mcconnell and he is a much better understanding of how the sausage is made in the legislature and is using that to his advantage of the second term. he's open to the two bill option because it would make it easier to achieve the priority and i'm proud to see a little bit of a foot off the gas although i imagine he wouldn't like the phrasing but is taking his foot off the gas and letting the legislation play out the best way the two leaders can do it in. we gotta talk about the pentagon story which we gotta get into in a moment this is our story we totally focused on this the enemy on the fox nation special let me start on canada. president trump is setting his sights on our neighbor to the north justin trudeau signed entered resigned truck posted this, many people in canada love being the 51st state in the united states cannot suffer the massive trade deficit in subsidies that canada needs to stay afloat. justin trudeau knew this and resign predicated of march with the u.s. there wo

is when spending caps were imposed and implemented with particularly the spending caps but also paul ryanad spending caps, john bainer had spending caps and kevin mccarthy's spending caps and one of the reasons the first cr blew up last month because they were waived. by point is it isn't debt ceilings or debt limits but it's spending caps that have to be enforced and that is where they should go? this big -- one big beautiful bill that's coming up. >> you have it half right, larry. it is true when newt gingrich came in we got spending caps and first balanced budges in 50 years when bill clinton was president and you're right, going back to the graham cuts and i talked to phil graham about that the other day and boasting that was the only time we cut the budget and even bainer cuts came and what you miss about this, larry, all of those reforms and using leverage of the debt sealing dealing with democrats. larry: no they didn't. no they didn't. >> that's what you're missing. larry: you're kidding yourself. stop. you know that's not true. >> they have phil graham on your show and he'll agre

about is my political panel, brandon buck is a former communications advisor to republican speakers paul ryan and john boehner, and donna edwards is a former democratic congresswoman from maryland. both are msnbc contributors. brandon, mike johnson squeaked by yesterday getting reelected speaker by just three votes. friend of our show, republican strategist, wrote that it might turn out to be his easiest day on the job this session. the real work of legislating starts now. you worked for two republican speakers. what is your take? >> well i certainly wouldn't say it's an easy day and that should be credit to mike johnson for pulling this off on the first ballot. i think a lot of us thought that it was going to take several ballots if not several days to get there. but he did what he needed to do, certainly got a big assist from donald trump to get over the finish line but that's ultimately the key for success going forward. this is not a situation where some of these discontented members can push around the speaker like they pushed around kevin mccarthy or mike johnson last year, they are now

hakeem jeffries with me, and also i want to bring in former aide to then speakers john boehner and paul ryan here. if i can, garrett, let me start with you, and just talk about the mood on capitol, and are there conversations going on about how this was a peaceful transfer of power, that kamala harris did do what is expected of the person who is presiding over the senate, which is to ensure that the american people's votes are heard. >> yeah, chris, you heard the vice president there, essentially building on what she said to me on the way in to the chamber, which was that democracy needs to be upheld by the people. essentially saying she was here to do her job, now the american people need to continue to do theirs. trying to turn january 6th and the process of counting the electoral votes and certifying them, back into a normal, perfunctory, standard piece of the process and not have it be remembered for what it was four years ago. the mood here on capitol hill has been a little bit divided, frankly. it's been a celebratory mood on the republicans side. you saw that and heard that in the cha

and you know, joe talked about john boehner, driven from the speakership, replaced by paul ryan, who one of them but who also said, i am going to bring the freedom caucus into all of the deliberations. he did and it didn't make a difference. and he was driven out of the speakership. mike johnson has a leash that is about this long when it comes to his own members. the only way, as you said, he is going to be able to get spending bills through, a debt ceiling increase, is by relying on democrats, by hakeem jeffries what they have done in the past which is to pass these bills under suspension that takes two thirds and means you have to get the vast majority of democrats and a smaller number of republicans. and every time he does that, he drives these freedom caucus people further into a rage against him. so, remember, they're going to have 217 to 215 once these two people, elise stefanik and mike waltz are moved out and into the trump administration, there's no margin for error, and it's going to be a catastrophe. >> joe, let me ask you about, you know, in the last republican conferenc

going back to paul ryan and kevin mccarthy as you said, but to julie's point, the differences are large going to come out. they have been papered over the last couple of years as they have been an opposition party but specifically when it comes to spending and enacting those immigration enforcements, those tasks will become more difficult, and we've seen donald trump have transactional relationships with people. speaker johnson is working for him right now. will he be working for him in six months? >> george: hard to imagine democrats voting for any part of that end agenda, at least for right now. >> why? there's no reason. i thought leader jeffries laid it out really well. he said, here are the areas we can agree. we can agree to fix the borders, but we need comprehensive immigration reform. we can agree that we're going to raise the debt ceiling, but we're going to protect entitlement, social security and medicare. as an old house staffer, it's always interesting, george, to watch the first day, the swearing in ceremony, to see the democratic caucus, the most diverse caucus in america

paul ryan got so disgusted he left. the guy who actually created the current majority come a kevin mccarthy, was in a constant running war with about eight or ten members. a small group is congealed into a very hostile, very destructive group. fine if you are the opposition party, but astonishingly stupid if you are the governing party, and somehow trump and others, j.d. vance may have a big job cut out for him, deficit these guys down and explain to them, if that means trump goes and holds rallies in everyone of their their districts, and mounts a tremendous effort to replace them, whatever it takes, you cannot have a hostile contrarian negative group if you are going to try to govern. >> sandra: bret come if we could bring our viewers through what is happening right now, as it has been looking more and more likely that it appears mike johnson will be falling short, although we do caution there are two vote against johnson by name -- >> bret: now three. >> sandra: there is three? that just came in. we cannot definitive

erratic president-elect's good graces, but as previous republican speakers like kevin mccarthy and paul ryan have already learned, trump sees loyalty as a one-way street. trump has demonstrated time and time again that he will happily throw his own endorsed speaker of the house under the bus, when it suits them. and so, mike johnson gets to remain speaker of the house, for now, stuck between an unruly , narrow majority, in a demanding, vindictive president. i mean, who wouldn't want that job? joining me to discuss, it columnist for the washington post, an adviser to bernie sanders and founder and executive director of a more perfect union. good evening, to both of you. philip, i have to start with you. because a week ago on this show, alex asked you about how you thought this was going to go and i think it is worth playing that for our viewers again. let's listen to what she said a week ago. >> philip, tim, who here believes that we are going to have a speaker on january 6th? i will start with you, philip. >> oh, yeah. i already raised my hand. look, republicans in congress are focused on on

since may we have heard from paul ryan, mike pence, mike pompeo, chris christie, nikki haley, peggy noonan, and, recently, senator tom cotton. tonight, governor noem will add her perspective. let me know -- make one last point. despite the talk of legacies and monuments, this speaker series is not about the past. we aren't asking what would reagan do. we are trying to go backwards. president reagan was forward-looking. that is why he was successful. that is why he was transformative. we believe a successful republican party will need to embrace the future as well. to offer us a path to that future, welcome the 33rd governor of south dakota kristi noem. [applause] governor noem: thank you, roger. no pressure, right? [laughter] thank you for the wonderful welcome. it's an honor to be at the beautiful reagan library to share my thoughts on our party and our mission today. there is no better place to have days -- these conversations. i first visited the reagan library years ago. my husband, brian, and i stopped while we were on a business trip. we were a bit lost at first. i admit, i want to d

they worried about health care, paul ryan drug his feet, and they didn't get the tax bill to really savegress in the two-year election. i'm all for one, let's get it done. larry: senator tuberville, you are a person after my heart. you're such a clear-thinking senator, it's really remarkable. really. [laughter] so happy to hear you take that position, now, senate sheehy, if you disagree, it's okay. this is the "kudlow" show, we believe in free speech, but i prefer you to talk about one big, beautiful bill. we don't want to let the middle class, blue collar boom, we don't want to let it that get away. we promised tax cuts during the campaign as you well know. i'm sure you ran out on it. you were a guest on this show a couple of times. what's your promise, you've got to keep those promises, and mr. trump understands that. and i, frankly, think it's not such a hard thing to do. you're basically just extending the tax cuts, and you're to going to put on some money for the border and so forth. what do you think, senator sheehy? >> i agree 100%. i agree with the coach. listen, we have a mandat

and brandon buck is here, former chief communications advisor for both speakers paul ryan and john boehner. brandon, let's start with you with mike johnson. this was obviously dramatic, made a lot of headlines, but at the end of the day donald trump has one priority, to be sworn in as the next president of the united states of america. did anyone really think that there was a single republican elected official that was going to stand in the way and block mike johnson and delay donald trump? >> yeah, there were enough republicans who thought they could maybe get some attention for themselves, maybe have a little weekend where they keep everybody in session, but there were only three people at the end of the day who voted against him, it was very clear, i guess before they switched their votes it was very clear that mike johnson was going to be speaker of the house again. when kevin mccarthy lost his vote, he lost 19 people, a lot more than a lot of folks expected and that ultimately rose to 20. these folks are on an island very quickly and there was intense pressure going to come down not j

also with us, brendan buck, former aide to speaker paul ryan and john boehner. ise jordan, former aide to president george w bush. ryan, take us behind the scenes and through the week ahead. what are the expectations you're hearing there? >> listen, this is going to be a make or break week for many of these nominees or these picks that donald trump has made for his cabinet, many of them controversial, many of them who will have an uphill battle in terms of confirmation. and they really need to nail these hearings in order to make many of these republican senators who may be on the fence, comfortable in voting yes for them. remember, not one of these picks needs a single democratic vote to get over the finish line to be confirmed, but the margins are narrow. there's only 53 republicans, so that means they could only lose four republican votes. with j.d. vance breaking a tie, were they to become the next secretary of whatever department that trump has picked them to be. and that means this is going to be a very busy week, and that senators are going to have to pay

joining us now is brendan buck, former aide to house speaker paul ryan and john boehner and an msnbc political analyst. so look, democrats, as you saw brendan in their questioning, tried to paint hegseth as unfit for the post. but here's how republican senator markwayne mullin responded. >> how many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? did you ask them to step down? no, but it's for show. you guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy, because the man's made a mistake, and you want to sit there and say that he's not qualified. give me a joke. i mean, it is so ridiculous that you guys hold yourself as this higher standard and you forget you got a big plank in your eye. we've all made mistakes. >> overall, how do you think the strategy on both sides, which i think was pretty consistent, played out? >> yeah, it was interesting. i was searching for what exactly the democratic strategy was. i think they know as well as anybody that joni ernst is the key here. if joni ernst goes south on this nomination, it could spell trouble if she b

brendan buck, msnbc political analyst, former chief communications adviser to former house speaker paul ryanr house speaker john boehner. and maria teresa kumar, president and ceo of voto latino and an msnbc contributor. thank you both very much for coming back to the sunday show. so, brendan, do you expect trump to visit los angeles before or after the inauguration? >> i mean, i think he has to as president of the united states. >> you have to there's thousands. >> yes, he does. >> i mean, and i'm not saying that he will, but yeah, he absolutely should. i mean, this is one of the worst natural disasters we've seen in american history. and while it may be in a politically an area that is not politically aligned with him, hopefully he appreciates that he is the president of the entire country. >> i think obviously the feud with the governor there is really unproductive at the at this moment, and it is really discouraging that such bad faith can so quickly come at a moment when so many people are suffering. >> look, we need answers to what happened there. i don't think it is okay to just say l

i mean, you know, dating back to to pelosi, paul ryan, newt gingrich, all these folks invariably were were elected on the first ballot. so i think, you know, both of those things can be true at the same time. >> president-elect trump, though, really had to help johnson across the finish line. so i'm curious, your perspective, will republicans in congress fall in line? only if trump picks up the phone? >> yeah, it was kind of like, uh, you know, being called to the principal's office when you done something wrong. and then, uh, you know, they get that straightened out. i mean, look, i think his influence only grows when he is finally in the white house, but that is, you know, a pretty staggering amount of political capital. obviously, this is a big deal, but we'll have to see when we get into to legislative battles. we're talking about the tax fight. we're talking about government spending or a border bill. how much time does the president elect spend, you know, on the phone with 1 or 2 house republicans, folks who, you know, are just one of of 200 to to try and sway these votes. and i

he was communications strategist and former aide to house speaker paul ryan and john boehner, and alsoocratic senators joe manchin and chris. >> so two hill veterans here. >> i'll start with you, brendan. >> do you think that hegseth is going to be confirmed? >> i do. joni ernst coming out last night and announcing her support for him, i think was really the whole ballgame. and i think a lot of senators on that panel yesterday understood that where she comes down is ultimately going to decide his fate. she had questions going into this about his role, his view on the role of women in military. and democrats hammered that question over and over again. the problem for them is he just readily conceded he's changed his view on that. and so it made it really hard to stick. and after a while that that that sort of line of questioning ran out of steam and you could tell when she was not really going after him. she didn't want that glare, that spotlight on her. and that's what we saw early on when she first met with him. >> she was the center of the universe on pete hegseth. >> and as somebody

because at that point, paul ryan was a weak speaker.e doesn't want to go through that chaos again. we know what that script looks like, and it's a bad script for president trump. >> all right, may mailman brian lanza, speaker johnson, if you're watching, that's brian lanza right there. call him. all right. appreciate your time, friends. sarah. >> nice. john. all right. get ready for a winter blast. snow, ice and dangerous conditions are on the way for millions of people over the next few days. and that's not all. there's more thunderstorms, tornadoes, and an ice storm also could be in the mix. meteorologist elisa raffa is tracking the forecast this morning. all right, where does this all begin? >> we're going to be busy over the weekend. some of this could start saturday night, but a lot of it really blows up sunday into monday. we're talking about major impacts across kansas, missouri, illinois, indiana, all of that red is major impacts. difficult to nearly impossible travel heavy and blowing snow, significant ice that could cause powe

it is time for mitt romney and paul ryan, pam bondi, president-elect donald trump's nominee to lead the justice department, will face questions on capitol hill in just a few hours. >> her confirmation hearing, one of six happening today for trump's cabinet picks. pam bondi has been a familiar face in trump's orbit. the former florida attorney general was part of his defense team during his first impeachment trial, and she supported his claims of fraud over the 2020 election. bondi has frequently criticized the legal cases against trump, the department of justice. >> the prosecutors will be prosecuted. the bad ones. the investigators will be investigated because the deep state last term for president trump, they were hiding in the shadows, but now they have a spotlight on them and they can all be investigated and the house needs to be cleaned out. >> matt gorman, you saw her there. i mean, i remember she was flying all over the place on the romney plane back in 2012. it was a great surrogate. and suddenly she's, you know, right there in trump's orbit. it's a little bit head spinning, but

correspondent, garrett haake, correspondent karl hulls, political analyst and former press conference to paul ryanndan buck and former michigan congressman republican fred upton and former pennsylvania congresswoman democrat susan loyal. garrett, two years ago four days, 15 rounds of voting. what do we expect this hour? the speaker has been busy, corralling votes. maybe making some trades. things are being promised. arms are being twist. what's going on? >> reporter: yeah, andrea, the speaker has been holed up in his office since yesterday at that time meeting with some of these members who are hold-outs. he tells reporters he made no promises. >> we will now hear -- >> reporter: as they get underway on the floor. to get the votes that will be necessary to get across the finish line, i can tell you the vibes around speaker johnson are good. he and his allies have been predicting he will be elected speaker again today. possibly as quickly as on this first ballot. but none of them can say for sure because the margins are so thin. you talked about thomas massie, the kentucky republican who made it ab

also with us, the former press secretary for paul ryan and our msnbc political analyst. will massie vote no? >> reporter: what makes you think he is such a hard no, ana? in all seriousness, he's the only no that johnson knows that will not get them into the s column, but there are 12 holdouts that you can see on your screen. they are keeping their cards close to their vest and we will not know how they vote until they are going through the process on the floor. this will be alphabetical which is good for us. we could see names like lauren boebert in the b category. we will see how this will go for johnson if he ends up winning or losing in the first round just because of that. i mentioned some of those 12 holdouts. johnson has been working the phones in and out of his office trying to get them in his corner because if he loses any more votes, he will lose the gavel. just one vote because of this razor thin majority. just two voting for someone else other than johnson, johnson loses the gavel. we will have to watch in the next hour and a half, ana. >> any sense of what th

donald trump endorsed paul ryan that ended up leaving.evin mccarthy the got thrown out. he endorsed mike johnson has a dozen or so lawmakers against him. donald trump also endorsed lifting the debt limit, a legitimate request, 30 republicans voted against that on the house floor after mike johnson executed on that request. there is no question that donald trump is a powerful figure. that goes without saying, he will be president in however many days, 17 days. on internal house members, he has not had this way that he does in other rooms of his power matrix.. i think he is at incredible risk of losing the speakership. he needs one more. he says he is not negotiating on the internal machinations of the house of representatives. >> does it matter? let's say there's five, if the one that goes first get tarnished with that? >> i went down the list yesterday, alphabetically, goes alphabetically, everyone is sitting on the war. they say they are voting for johnson, hakeem jeffries, or someone else. it's a matter of the alphabet. if we get so ama

republican strategist, former director of communications director for house speaker paul ryan, and spokesperson for congressman hakeem jeffries, michael hardaway in studio. sahil, let's go to you first here, we're looking back to what happened to kevin mccarthy two years ago right now. it took four days, 15 rounds of voting. so it doesn't feel like it's going to be anything like that this time with johnson, but they are still open in this first vote. they have yet to gavel it, is my understanding. so what are they doing? >> reporter: and here we go again, alex. it is a lot like 2023, the early part of the new house majority where they struggle to elect the speaker in kevin mccarthy, but, yes, it is a bit different, in large part because now republicans have the trifecta. they have to govern, which means the stakes are much much higher than they were in 2023. and remember, this is just the easy part. after this, they actually have to govern, speaker mike johnson, if he does end up getting elected in a subsequent ballot, he has to govern with the wafer thin majority which is going to shrink by tw