the house freedom caucus and the main street caucus leaders along with speaker johnson negotiated this agreement concession to raise the threshold to nine members. it's very interesting. two years ago, as you mentioned, this was a very key ask of the holdouts on speaker mccarthy. this time it seems like a settled matter. every what i am talking to a saying that the nine seems pretty locked in. speaker johnson doesn't want to change the rules package or deliver any kind of side deal. host: what sort of concessions is he willing to make? he did tell reporters he was open to ideas. guest: it is difficult because it is a lot more nebulous. speaker johnson doesn't want to do things like committing to changing the motion to vacate threshold. he does not want to do things like committing to put chip roi as chair of the house rules committee. but what the members are asking for is things like commitments on spending reduction. if you have new spending, offset that with a vote on spending reduction. if you have votes that are controversial, do not rely on democratic support to push them through

i mean, look, you have to say this about the freedom caucus or at least some members of the freedom caucus. >> they're always willing to take a hostage. >> in this case, i'm talking and it's usually their speaker, figuratively speaking, and they're always willing to shoot that hostage. and that's what they're doing right now. now we'll see how long this lasts. because as has been pointed out by patrick mchenry, you know, donald trump is the president. i'm sure he's going to be on the phone to a few of these guys saying, get, get on the team. but again, this speaks to the nihilism of some of the members who just simply want to blow the place up. they want to disrupt for the sake of disruption. now, i like to know, though, patrick, you would know the answer to this, but you were a chief deputy whip. you know, ordinarily, you know, you should be telling the leadership where you're going to be before the vote. and as a courtesy, even if you're going to be against them, tell them. but i'm sure that didn't happen here with a few of these votes. >> well, don't be certain of that. don't be certain

and then he has freedom caucus members and others who will pull him in different directions. that is a fight he has within his own caucus. then you have democrats who have a big minority. we have the numbers. we have a number of members who represent districts that trump won who have said they want to work together when their interests come together. they want to be there and negotiating at the table with house leadership to figure out ways that democrats and republicans can work together. which is a good thing for the country. when we have common interests. and when we have things that we all agree on. the common ground that we can find, it's very important. the problem then for speaker johnson is that there are many members of his caucus who will not allow democrats to come to the table. who do not want democratic votes to pass their agenda. who will really give him a lot of headache for that. -- headaches for that. you have three different points of power within this new congress. certainly, the speaker has a great deal of power. then you have freedom caucus members and the

and this is typical of what we see usually from freedom caucus members or even before there was a freedom caucus. sort of the genesis of that. but ultimately it's getting attention. you're going to be able to go back to your district or to cpac and things like that and say, look at me. i was a fighter. nobody fought harder than i. you don't necessarily have to have results. you just have to have to show your willingness to fight, because there aren't really any clear results here other than mike. mike johnson winning. clearly there are enough. now nine people that they they've demonstrated that they can, you know, put a gun to mike johnson's head whenever they want to politically. but is there any real satisfaction that they can get from that tangibly at this point? >> no. so let's talk about what they want to do. right. they want to shrink the size of government, and they want to reduce the debt and the deficit, shrinking the size of government. that's an opinion. the debt and deficit is actually a legitimate problem. i'm not saying the size of government is or isn't, but that's subjecti

minutes after johnson's victory, the ultraconservative house freedom caucus outlined their demands andectations of the speaker. they also added that they voted for johnson, quote, despite our sincere reservations regarding the speaker's track record over the past 15 months, end quote. for his part, johnson told reporters he wants this to be more member-driven and he's been, quoting aiming to decentralize the speaker office's power. how small and decal the majority in the house truly is. there are big and important issues, including funding for the federal government, border security and addressing the debt ceiling. but it appears there are still deep disagreements within the republican party regarding process, procedures and policies. and there's not much room for error if they want to advance donald trump's agenda without working or compromises with house democrats. republicans need to stay remarkably tight and united which isn't exactly what this current group of republicans is known for. joining me now, norm, american enterprise institute, the author of the book "one nation under tr

, far right conservative to join freedom caucus, far right conservative tojoin him freedom caucusnservative to join him and mikejohnson can't be speaker on that first ballot. he has to convince some members who are very sceptical that his leadership is right for the republican party. if leadership is right for the republican party.- leadership is right for the republican party. if he loses, then what? — republican party. if he loses, then what? it's _ republican party. if he loses, then what? it's a _ republican party. if he loses, then what? it's a great - then what? it's a great question! _ then what? it's a great question! his - then what? it's a great question! his allies - then what? it's a great i question! his allies would then what? it's a great - question! his allies would want him to proceed to another ballot. what micahjohnson wants to do is show, look, i may have some holdouts that i am by far the member who can garner the most votes. he wants to say there is no alternative to say there is no alternative to me. as long as he continues to me. as long as he continues to

, messages involving jim jordan, the freedom caucus.not going door to door. we remember kevin mccarthy going around the floor, being followed by the cameras. he is sitting there and figuring out what his options are. what kind of bargaining do you i catell you some of it, i'm watching it happen over my shoulder right now. nancy mace, who was just talking to the speaker on the floor is now huddled in one of the chambers just off the floor. i can see it, but i can't get there, with ralph norman. a no vote from her state of south carolina. her back is to me. i cannot tell you what they are talking about. at least, some of that work of either figuring out what can be offered or promised, what steps need to happen to get there, is happening just off the house floor, maybe 20 feet from where i am standing. >> you say you can't get there, is that in the speaker's lobby? where is that? >> reporter: no, for folks that have been here, it is, essentially, between the doors of the chamber. there are two sets of doors, the outer doors and inner door

. >> dana: punch bowl news talked about trump and the house freedom caucus and said that the house freedom caucus is home to some of the trumpiest members in washington and willing to defy trump at times. the hard liners are sometimes comfortable banding together and bucking trump at least when they have strength in numbers. is this what you mean by collapsing on its own weight on the republican side? >> if it can't pass the house. if all democrats say no and two republicans say no, can't agree, want something different in the bill, then all your taxes go up. you have to solve it by the end of the year. the pressure is on. but i disagree with that. the house freedom caucus is not the most trumpian place. the people that went against trump the strongest are in the house freedom caucus. they campaigned against trump. they campaigned to the very end against trump. ralph norman was nikki haley all the way. chip roy was against trump all the time. so the real trump support is in the caucus. so when house freedom caucus says they are conservative. they aren't, they don't want to vote for anythin

you know, i'm i'm not in the freedom caucus. i just voted vote conservative as they do, because the rules committee is the one in in the house of representatives that really determines how things are going to go on the house floor. >> it's very different from the senate. this is key. speaker johnson said to my colleagues this morning he's not going to do that. i think lauren fox asked specifically. yes, ma'am. will you allow chip roy to be rules chair? and he said no. and then i think he means it. >> i do, but i think also they they want to know that they have a conservative voice. they want to know that the mike johnson that they elected speaker the first time is going to be the mike johnson. they elected the second time. and we've had we had a little bit of falling out on those last three bills that we ended up voting for one. of course i did not. but just the spending that was involved in that and lifting the caps and things like that. we thought there was a disconnect between president trump, the speaker and us, and we felt

there was a suggestion this afternoon, abel, this battle between the maga wing and the freedom caucussorted one way or the other. do you think it was a battle won for maga, or a battle postponed? >> just a postponement. i will repeat what i said earlier. president trump will be president january 20. that is when these groups, whether you are freedom caucus or mega caucus, whatever you are, it is donald j. trump's white house. it is his congress, his senate. you can negotiate a little bit here and there, you may want to get some attention, but this is president donald j. trump's white house. he is not messing around. look at the nominating process for his cabinet, it is happening quickly. he is doing under secretaries, ambassadorships. he knows what to do this time. this too-hour shuffle, great. i can guarantee this. president donald j. trump knows who the two folks who kept that for two hours and he will not forget. now comes the 20th, seal the board or executive order, a lot coming down the pike here. republicans better be lock stock and barrel with him because he is the president. c

the house freedom caucus and the main street caucus leaders along with speaker johnson negotiated thisgreement concession to raise the threshold to nine members. it's very interesting. two years ago, as you mentioned, this was a very key ask of the holdouts on speaker mccarthy. this time it seems like a settled matter. every what i am talking to a saying that the nine seems pretty locked in. speaker johnson doesn't want to change the rules package or deliver any kind of side deal. host: what sort of concessions is he willing to make? he did tell reporters he was open to ideas. guest: it is difficult because it is a lot more nebulous. speaker johnson doesn't want to do things like committing to changing the motion to vacate threshold. he does not want to do things like committing to put chip roi as chair of the house rules committee. but what the members are asking for is things like commitments on spending reduction. if you have new spending, offset that with a vote on spending reduction. if you have votes that are controversial, do not rely on democratic support to push them through.

it's a reminder freedom caucus members.rump districts. getting them all on board getting the party unified. >> bret: apparently speaker phone kind of conference call in the office off the house chamber where the president-elect essentially told all of them a vote against the american people and disrespecting me leslie. so, democrats, how do they look at this in the message from hakeem jeffries was one of common ground in reaching across the aisle when they can. how much do you think they are going to do that? >> well, i don't know, there were a lot of kum ba yah moments. mike johnson hakeem jeffries good friend and the 11 caucus members stood up and supported the speaker johnson but the reality is you already hear from the freedom caucus. we saw the chaos in december when it comes to a government shutdown. that was a foreshadowing of things to come. you rightly pointed out earlier in the program, bret, that you are looking at probably a two seat majority so you already have thomas massie looking like the new joe manchin onl

that caused a rebellion amongst the freedom caucus and others, but unfortunately a lot of republican house members and a lot of republican senate ebb manies are all too happy to suspend pay go and not make the budget cuts. i always talk about the doge brothers, elon musk and vivek ramaswamy, and i hope mr. trump relies heavily on them. i want the tax cuts as soon as possible and one reconciliation bill and part of that along with the boarder and deregulation and defense and so forth u part has to be spending restraint and savings and the government is full and blowedded and there's a lot of crap we don't need and alphabet agencies and worked in the they're guiding them and party where everyone spends them and has to be a real change here. >> the republican party and it was the fiscally restrained party and we didn't like it's the partisan problem in washington. people spend money we don't have on things we don't need and ask for. this is a cause for pause and and shoot the federal spending and american households and small businesses had to restrain their own spending and we all broa

biggs, crane, cloud, all house freedom caucus did not answer. the clerk will come back alphabetically after all of the names are read and we will go back to the people who do not answer. so we will see their answer at that point, if they say present, then we are headed to another ballot. >> sandra: a live look at the house lower and brooke kelly live on our skin, karl rove joining, former white house deputy chief of staff and a fox news contributor. cakarl, that news coming woman o congressman biggs inning on house rail, your thoughts as this comes together? >> we have three, bigs, clyde, cloud. cloud of texas, clyde of georgia, and biggs of arizona who could hold the fate. >> johnson in their hands. they are going to wait till the end and may be joined by other member's of the freedom caucus, chip roy of texas is likely, i suspect, to join them come and how they decide to go at the end of this will decide whether we have multiple ballots or whether we have speaker johnson, and regardless they will have expressed their authority, their power, if

there have been occasions where freedom caucus has done that. think -- i said this two years ago on this day when we have the same dynamic unfolding within speaker mccarthy. i said any differences in the republican party pale, pale in comparison to the differences between republicans and radical left which unfortunately controls the democratic party. we have to compromise has republicans and come together to accomplish again what we told the american people we were going to do. >> brian: it will be an exciting time for republicans in washington officially january 20th. but it is already starting today so we will see. congressman chair jim jordan, think is much. president-elect trump vows to make erica safe again with security threats out there and his plans are next. ♪today my friend you did it, you did it♪ pursue a better you with centrum. ♪ it's a small win toward taking charge of your health. ♪ so, this year, you can say... ♪you did it!♪ i've lost 228 pounds on golo. i'm able to enjoy my life and keep off the weight. that's why golo works so

that is why these lawmakers are now saying openly a lot of these members on the house freedom caucus conservatives saying that they have not said whether they would support johnson on the floor because they want oaks conversations, they want to be able to say, i would like to be able to see on this committee in exchange for a yes vote or to be able to have a guarantee that my bill will see more time. those are the kinds of conversations taking place. but again you want to reiterate for my understanding mike johnson is not making any promises just add to any rank-and-file members. he is just listening, he is trying to reassure them, trying to be a great leader to them as the republican leader of the republican conference. so that is really what is taking place but it would be of course a lot of attention for these lawmakers to say no on that first or second ballot or third ballot, however many times it takes. >> and we see speaker johnson on the floor right now reading members. and perhaps doing some lobbying. just a minute ago, daniella we saw nancy pelosi on the floor and it is bein

regional trend to the house freedom caucus. it's more ideological in nature when we talk about the previous panel that catherine talked about more national media now with local and regional institutions that create those novel parochial interests that we used to see in congress. we now have an ideological divide in the republican party that's gotten topu the point in particular anything spending and debt related. so there are issues they will find a majority on. i have no question they will find that on taxes pay for something on energy, for something on immigration the coalition comes together for those issues but on basic stuff reauthorized in the national defensede apparatus or funding e government. or raising the debt ceiling they are very, very. so the question is has the president going to interact with this dynamic? are theyit going to bring over e holdouts across the line working eight majority was how the first iteration of this a few weeks ago in december when this started to pass continuingg resolution, recent debt c

now, trump is doing a very good job for this reason, he has the freedom caucus coming down, the freedomanti-trump are more in the freedom caucus for any other place so for them to play this card they're wrong. they're trying to leverage for their own personal positions they are not leveraging for the trump stuff. i know what the private meetings are about. >> where are you going to put me in charge? >> i want the rules committee, i want chip roy in charge -- >> the rest of the republicans say no way we are not going to take that. >> they couldn't win the vote by their own conference so they tried to leverage this. >> this makes house from the house perspective does it make sense from the senate perspective? >> it's easier for thune because, remember, for the first time in modern history he's got a bigger majority. >> okay. >> and they go along more than here. but what trump is doing next week he's bringing a number of members down. so trump is not only president he's pretty much the speaker now, too, because he's turning these votes. >> it's an lbj situation he's going to kick people in

what we are seeing is not that you do not see regional trend to the house of freedom caucus. it's more ideological in nature we i have but catherine was talking about we are more nationalmo media more local and regional institutions that create novel parochial interests we used to see in congress. now we have an ideological divide in the republican party that is gotten to the point where it is intractable on somes issues. spending and debt related. there are issues they will find a majority on. i have no question they will find a majority for something on taxes, for something on energy pay for something at immigration the coalition still comes to gather for those issues on basic stuff at reauthorizing the national defense apparatus. funding the government, raising the debt ceiling they are very, very focused. the question is how is the president going to interact with this dynamic will be bring over the holdouts across the line to maketo it a working majority question was our first iteration of this a few weeks ago in december when they try to pass a continuing resolution for

we don't see regional trend to the house freedom caucus. it's more ideological in nature. we've lost, more national media now, fewer kind of local and regional institutions that create those sort of novel parochial interests that we used to see. so now we have a sort of ideological divide in the republican party that's gotten to the point where it's intractable on some issues, spending and debt relegislated in particular. so there are issues that they will find a majority on. i have no question that they will find a majority for something energy, for something on immigration. the coalition still comes together. but on basic stuff, reauthorizing the national defense aprate tus or funding the government or raising the debt ceiling, they're very broken. so the question is how is the president going to interact with this dynamic? are they going to bring holdouts across the line to make it a working majority? we saw our first iteration of this in december when they tried to pass a continuing resolution to raise the debt ceiling. it didn't work. so again it's going to be a very

that come to the table and negotiate things in good faith and i think that is exactly what the freedom caucusdiscussions with them over the last couple of months, as we are moving towards today, i believe that they are honest brokers when it comes to trying to negotiate deals for stubs sometimes we do not agree on processes, but i think that this just shows that we are willing to come together and get things done. many people do not believe that speakerjohnson would be elected on this very first ballot, and certainly it took a little bit of time to get there, but we were able to get it across the finish line, and i think you would do this again in the hundred 19th.— i think you would do this again in the hundred 19th. what about workin: in the hundred 19th. what about working across _ in the hundred 19th. what about working across the _ in the hundred 19th. what about working across the aisle? - in the hundred 19th. what about working across the aisle? we i working across the aisle? we heard hakeem jeffries, nonminority leader, say he wants to make sure you're americans and notjust americans

mike johnson was an original freedom caucus member. he's seen as part of the right flank.e's an evangelical christian who's beloved with the base of the party, and i think that actually gets him pretty far. i mean, this conference will remembers the kevin mccarthy votes. they remember all the names that they put up, the jim jordans of the world and others who could not get to. 218 mike johnson is the sole figure in the house of representatives who can likely get to 218, but i think it's going to be a bit of a bit of a fight on the floor in the hours ahead. >> yeah, and go ahead, maria. >> i was going to say, you know, this also i think is an opportunity for democrats to not just underscore the chaos that we're going to see today regardless of what happens, but to remind americans there are 7000 votes that are the reason why republicans are in power today, right? that's not a lot. there is no mandate by any means of the imagination. and we live in a divided country where for republicans, compromise is a bad word. democrats understand that. that's how you get things done on

and first up was the house freedom caucus.one of the conservative groups on capitol hill. some of them have defied president elect trump and their own party in the past. so they could really be a problem as they're trying to push this agenda through. i'm told that trump talked about unity. he really preached and tried to hammer that message of getting on the same page. he even said something he says quite often, which is democrats have horrible policies, but at least they stick together. so that was something that i think some freedom caucus members needed to hear. but i'm told that even in the room, there was still a discussion over this strategy for their reconciliation bills. yes, exactly. and this has been something that has been dominating the debate among republicans on capitol hill over these last few weeks. trump did weigh in and said, i support the one bill approach. that means putting everything in just one bill, the thinking that it would be too enormous and too great for any one person to block it. right, because y

you mentioned the freedom caucus and at the threshold to remove a speaker is now nine members. there are 11 of them signing it. i don't think it was an accident showing, we have the numbers, if we want to, to kick you out. the first opportunity to do anything physical and they can't do much of anything, this will all come right back around. i think you are right, donald trump will only really tolerate him as long as he feels like he is moving his agenda. if there is a bunch of grumbling members that are most like him, i don't know how long donald trump will mail out mike johnson. >> you are my fiscal friend. >> i've never been called that before. >> they talk about entitlement reform and social security running out, and when you want to get re-elected, senior citizens are going to say to you, like hell are you going to touch that . >> cutting $2 trillion, no, you can't do it. discretionary spending is really the only thing that you can cut. then beyond that, economists have pointed out that donald trump's agenda, if fully enacted will cost somewhere between $5 trillion and $15

and there are nine to 10 to 11 members of the freedom caucus. i'd be one of them who are going to be breathing down his neck for the next two years. >> why would anyone want i mean, i know. >> well, that's true, i should it's been a long week. >> i'm going to give you more credit than that. >> okay? >> this is a vanity grift by the never happy caucus. >> look, thomas massie has never missed an opportunity to obstruct for zero reason. ralph norman is completely out to lunch. he's out of tune with south carolina by a mile. and keith self, i didn't even. i've never heard of him until today. look, these people were willing to put the certification of donald trump's election in limbo and slow down the implementation of his first 100 days. that is unforgivable. and it stands in stark contrast to the mandate that was given to congress and to the executive branch. with donald trump's victory, they had no demands. they just wanted to be involved. they had no alternative. who could get the votes. to me, it's unacceptable. and i hope donald trump learns a

. >> the house freedom caucus wrote a letter saying they only voted for johnson for trump's upcoming agenda. johnson tweeted his commitments going forward, working with doj, elon musk and vivek ramaswamy onwho want to cut $2 trillion o of the budget. we know there's not $2 trillion to cut. lots of us agree, way too much government spending, got to cut. but when you tick through, we saw it two weeks ago talking about the budget. congress doesn't want to make cuts. they can't get reelected. vivek ramaswamy and elon musk don't have to worry about that, they're private citizens not running for anything. how is legislating going to work? >> that's the problem that kevin mccarthy ran into. he gave people the impression they could do deeper spending cuts than practicable, and mike johnson will run into the same problem. you have to get through the senate, house of representatives can say you want to cut all day culong but doesn't make law. expecting $2 trillion in cuts that's impracticable, the bill will become due. the threshold to remove the speaker is nine members. freedom caucus put a l

familiar republicans, embers of the hard right freedom caucus. we have been staking out mike johnson's office and saw several walk into his office. they are having negotiations and it's like kevin mccarthy early in 2023. the members are not attacking mike johnson frontally and they're about to head into a republican trifecta where this matters. it's not a situation where joe biden is president and they will pass bills. it's their time to govern and if they can elect a speaker, they cannot do anything. that's the argument that mike johnson is making. get it done quickly and don't drag it out so they can get to work on trump's agenda. >> to be clear, for folks that have watched this before, it's usually a foregone conclusion the way this works. even if it is close that there have been internal leadership elections that have sorted things out beforehand. one party votes for its leader and the other party votes for his leader. you win out right and become the speaker. >> it usually works that way, but i never expect anything to go quite so smoothly i

kind of bearing down what he wants to see happen will have a huge effect on members these are freedom caucusmp has a ton of sway in their district going against president on the floor very public vote like this i don't think would be boe bode well for them aboard we want to move agenda around the other piece of this is only takes nine members, to move to vacatechair if president trump isn't happen the way speaker johnson is handling himself he will quickly be removed all trump would have to do say not happy with the way things are going. cheryl: congressman we've had several lawmakers on the program over the last, two weeks, and one congressman telling me, that, you know, in is about, this lawmakers they want attention they maybe for fund-raising maybe media hits they get from voicing opposition to johnson's agenda. you know. that is one, may be coming together with the rest of the republicans to make sure the business of the american people gets done, the your point to certify the election on monday, january 6, now, help us ns how this is a going to play out this afternoon. because is it po

we know we've talked about the freedom caucus. we talked about some of those members who they're very concerned about adding to the deficit. well, guess what? some of the things that the incoming president trump wants to do will add to the national debt. so what's that tension going to be? what's my extending his tax cuts, for example? let's start there. democrats are not. for that. you will have some republicans who may not be for that. and so in that instance, i think, you know, congressman jeffries as the minority leader, his job is to figure out what can democrats get out of a negotiation if it means getting a, you know, winning less or getting a slightly better deal of a bad deal. and so i think that's how he's going to be able to play those dynamics for a period of time. >> so former congressman davis, you served with a lot of these folks. we've heard the congressman ralph norman, for example, who was a holdout, who flipped his vote ultimately from north carolina. you know, we saw we saw the images of members of congress on

look, he still has a pretty big problem with the house freedom caucus. and of course, that's before he gets to how he's going to be working with democrats. and then over in the senate, of course, you have john thune, who is unlike mcconnell, he's not somebody who rules with an iron fist. um, and so look, they're they're dreaming big. and that's that's great. that's wonderful. but i don't see that with this incredibly slim majority where they cannot lose more than one person, that they are going to be able to pull very much off at all. i still think this is going to be a congress of chaos and dysfunction, and the type of thing that we saw when kevin mccarthy was speaker and scott christie talks about the house freedom caucus. >> look, we even saw it. ultimately, johnson did get there. but but you could start to see kind of a few of the cracks there with people who have been specifically very concerned about the debt. and that seems to be a key issue for them. and we know that the the previous trump tax law added to the debt. how do you think? and then the

and then he has freedom caucus members and others who will pull him in different directions. s a fight he has within his own caucus. then you have democrats who have a big minority. we have the numbers. we have a number of members who represent districts that trump won who have said they want to work together when their interests come together. they want to be there and negotiating at the table with house leadership to figure out ways that democrats and republicans can work together. which is a good thing for the country. when we have common interests. and when we have things that we all agree on. the common ground that we can find, it's very important. the problem then for speaker johnson is that there are many members of his caucus who will not allow democrats to come to the table. who do not want democratic votes to pass their agenda. who will really give him a lot of headache for that. -- headaches for that. you have three different points of power within this new congress. certainly, the speaker has a great deal of power. then you have freedom caucus members and then you

and then he has freedom caucus members and others who will pull him in different directions. s a fight he has within his own caucus. then you have democrats who have a big minority. we have the numbers. we have a number of members who represent districts that trump won who have said they want to work together when their interests come together. they want to be there and negotiating at the table with house leadership to figure out ways that democrats and republicans can work together. which is a good thing for the country. when we have common interests. and when we have things that we all agree on. the common ground that we can find, it's very important. the problem then for speaker johnson is that there are many members of his caucus who will not allow democrats to come to the table. who do not want democratic votes to pass their agenda. who will really give him a lot of headache for that. -- headaches for that. you have three different points of power within this new congress. certainly, the speaker has a great deal of power. then you have freedom caucus members and then you

>> well, that's a very good question, ashley parker, because the other piece of this is the freedom caucus and some of the others who really are not happy with mike johnson, not on a personal level the way they were unhappy with kevin mccarthy, but overspending and what happened with the debt ceiling -- not the debt ceiling -- well, yes, the debt ceiling, but more importantly, with the continuing resolution. and it's no accident that there were nine people who initially withheld their votes, three who voted for other people, six who didn't vote at all, and that was all a signal, a very strong signal, because it now will take nine to vacate the speakership. that was a signal to mike johnson, very clearly not a coincidence that they could take him down any time they want to. >> that's right. i mean, both things are true and it creates this fascinating fine line that the speaker will have to try to walk, which on the one hand as michael steele just articulated quite well, president-elect trump has tremendous power. republicans, the entire party on the whole, is incredibly loyal to him. and ev

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. >> you are in the freedom caucus a handful of republicans and the in thefreedom caucus have been ph speak speaker johnn with a 72 hour rule fills you guys have not have enough time to read some his bills which have come forward. you also do not like of these recent bills had so much democrat support in some cases needing democrats to push it over the line entirely. have you guys gotten any assurances from speaker johnson or his camp these next couple years will be different when it comes to that? >> it got a lot of assurances. we are just as frustrated as the american people are with congress. were frustrated with the people we work with. but the calvary has come in the fact donald trump is stepped in he's the one calling the shots which as we embrace the freedom caucus members absolute love trumps agenda and we want to do everything we can to help deliver on all the things he campaigned on. i think we see trump as the calvary. special elon musk we are welcoming that kind of change. >> final question about about a minute left, the first 100 days are crucial for any president very p

scott perry, who's, i believe, the former leader of the house freedom caucus but still very influential with some of the more far right members, and dusty johnson, no relation to mike johnson, who eads the main street caucus in the house republican party, really the center of the moderate establishment, he would hate that characterization. he was a key negotiator for kevin mccarthy during his speakership fight as well. wants to see the place run smoothly. those are the folks that need to get into a room to hammer out a deal. mike johnson, clearly aware of the cameras on them. clearly wanted to keep the vote open, keep the process going, keeping the conversations going off the floor. the key players are in a room, one of several cloak rooms that break up the sort of exterior of the house chamber where there are no cameras, no one who's not a member allowed, really one of the very few places that can speak truly privately just off the floor. also, alex, a place where they could theoretically take phone calls, especially from a perhaps interested president-elect, and noted cable news viewe

on the ajean and on this big, beautiful bill that trump wants passed, the house freedom caucus met with-a-lago. and if there's going to be trouble from republicans, it's likely going to come from the house freedom caucus. and with a razor thin majority that the republicans have, democrats have a choice to make here. heir boeing to -- they're going to help the president get some of this this done and those who elected him or not. your thoughts? >> well, yeah. i mean, look, the gop if ran on these bread and butter issues, but they've been distracted by bread crumbs of conspiracies. and i think that's a major problem. donald trump is talking about greenland, about canada, about panama. he's talking about everything but what really matters to the american people, and that's bringing down the cost of groceries, that's about making sure that our streets are safe. and while donald trump might be focused on these issues behind closed doors, he's using his bully pulpit in all difference types of ways. and if that's going to be very hard for democrats when republicans won't even support donald tr

you have on the one hand the house freedom caucus says it needs to be paid for and then you have thosenting the blue states that are saying no, the salt deduction, there's room for compromise but it can't be what it is right now and actually i thought that the senator actually argued against himself. he's saying he wants border security but he's got issues with something. that's why you have to put it all together. it's going to be a difficult development it's an up or down all of it. we need to deliver for the american people so i am with speaker johnson's plan, with the president's plan, need to put it all in one big package, put it through. it may be a difficult development you've got to -- difficult development you've go. no, i'm against that, but i love border security but i don't want to vote for that, we have to get the tax cuts through. maria: the more stuff you put in this bill, congressman, the more likely you're going to have people saying no, i don't want that and i don't want this. for example, now this latest thing is to put the debt ceiling in there. i've already spoken

there were negotiations between the conservative house freedom caucus, who we frequently hear about, and then the main street caucus, which calls themselves more of a pragmatic group. that group negotiated the nine-member threshold for motion to vacate. members in the main street caucus wanted to increase that threshold from one member because we saw what happened to kevin mccarthy back in 2023. former congressman matt gaetz brought a motion to vacate that was successful. members of the hard line freedom caucus did not want to bring it up too much. they negotiated this nine-member threshold. the thought being that if there is enough support to oust the speaker, it'd rise above the nine-person threshold. right now, it does not seem like, there is no indication, rather, that lowering that threshold once again is on the table. of course, that was one of the linchpins that led to former speaker kevin mccarthy's success back in early 2023 when he first tried to get the speaker ship. right now, though, i haven't heard from any hard line conservatives that they're pushing for that threshold

house freedom caucus chair andy harris is with us and new york republican congressman mike lawler. they will weigh in. plus, what a new york judge is suggesting about president-elect donald trump's sentencing only days before his inauguration. and a live look from georgia as the first phase of president jimmy carter's memorial services begin today. welcome; everyone. happy weekend. i'm david asman, and you are watching "fox news live." we begin with madison scarpino in new orleans with the latest on the new year's terror attack and the if first lawsuit that's been filed. madison. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, david. a local law firm representing one of the survivors of this attack says that if -- the nopd and the city could have prevented this tragedy. it's going to be filing the lawsuit on wednesday, if we're told that this could be the first of several lawsuits filed against the city. now, the firm says that the people impacted by wednesday's attack deserve answers, and their lives are now forever changed. the firm says in part, quote: the evidence will demonstrate that the ac

down, which tells me there is a hard—line group of 12 or so republicans who were part of that freedom caucusy what the president wants. i necessarily what the president wants. , ., , wants. i will tell you this. that block— wants. i will tell you this. that block of _ wants. i will tell you this. that block of nine - wants. i will tell you this. that block of nine or - wants. i will tell you this. that block of nine or 12 i wants. i will tell you this. j that block of nine or 12 or going to be very influential. however, in the past, that block of nine did not have donaldj trump as president of the united states. so come january 20 that block of nine or 12 if they decide to play the other side or make some waves, i can guarantee you that president trump is going to not be very happy, he is going to make calls, the president has a mandate. the american people voted for him, all of the swing states voted for him and he has his agenda in that agenda is going to move forward quickly. the tax cuts, sealing the border, deporting illegal criminal aliens, those things are going to happen quickly. obv

he's actually part of the freedom caucus, but has been one of those who has always stuck by johnson. was pretty significant for him, as he said, to make his displeasure heard in this form' that johnson has actually been able to keep to his own kind of leadership style, which is to not make deals with a certain flank of his own republican conference. he did give that promise, right, to include these members in more robust negotiations. trump so far, at least as far as we know, these last couple of weeks since endorsing johnson, has also stayed to his same message that johnson was frankly the only one who could really get 218 votes in just one vote. as we saw yesterday. we don't know of any promises that trump may have made to these republicans, but something that johnson did say and reassured these republicans was, if i break my promise to you all, if i am not able to deliver trump's agenda, there is that motion to vacate. and as we saw yesterday, besides those three initial republicans who voted against johnson, there were six who withheld their vote for some time. that's nine. those

freedom caucus puts out a letter shortly after this vote, there's 11 of them signing it. i don't think it's an accident they were showing we have the numbers if we want to to kick you at at some point. and it wouldn't surprise me which march, for example, if they have to fund the government the first opportunity to do something fiscal, this is going to come right back around and we're going to potentially see a motion to vacate. i think you're right. donald trump will only tolerate him as far as he feels he's moving his agenda. donald trump probably doesn't care about cuing spending, frankly. if there's grumbling from members aligned with him i don't know how much we can expect members bailing out mike johnson over and over again. >> ron, you're my fiscal phren. there's also, for example, wall street guys who talk about intitle reform and social security is going to run out, and it is. but when you want to go out and get re-elected, senior citizens going to say to you, like hell you're going to touch that. >> it's an enormous math problem here. so cutting $2 trillion, no

because i do encourage that, we should have a task force on major legislation and making sure freedom caucus members are heard, mainstream caucus are heard, the tuesday club, four or five major factions within the congress. they are all part of it. if we bring any legislation to the floor that doesn't have 99.9% of republicans, it is not going to pass, anyway, so we have to have people from cradle to grave on poured. >> sandra: would you care to share the two you are cautiously optimistic about? >> no. [laughs] >> sandra: if you are standing in the middle of that huddle you arc returning to any moment, what is your message? >> i think the message would be mike has an incredible difficult job. it was divided government. i think the expectations for some of the members were, to be fair, too high, but now we are unified government, let's do a task force on major legislation come as i mentioned a few times in this discussion, and have their voices be heard. they were a little upset about the debt limit, 34, 34-30 republicans voted no, that it was in the past and the last congress, let's move for

. >> i am not sure if you saw the letter from the 11 freedom house caucus members. >> i did. >> internalonflicts within the document, because on one hand they want to see the platform that incoming president trump was elected on which is including the mass deportation, and at the same time they say they want everything to be deficit neutral, and so they want to spend trillions to fund a mass deportation, and at the same time they don't want to spend any on tax cuts. >> right, you cannot do either without impacting social security or spending. so they will have to confront that, and that is why i say that democrats have to be strong, and sometimes we are caught up that we can save this program, but, i think that sometimes we need to make sure that we're seeing the forest and not just the trees. there is a big question here what the republicans are going to do to lower the costs, raise wages, and provide child care and provide housing. i thought that leader jeffries did a good job of talking about those things in his speech yesterday. >> yes, that is strong, but my only concern was the fir

we need the freedom caucus. i like jim jordan. i want a heavy hand. i want to spend to stop. want jerome powell to be, to go ahead, be more realistic about this inflation and stop lying to the people, gotcha. we will sharpen his comments a little bit. the economy was a big issue. democrats of said whatever republicans put forth their want to keep the economy front and center. the democrats and republicans find ways to find common ground specific on the economy? >> guest: it's a good question. on inflation is also true a number of the things republican said they want to do are unlikely to bring inflation down. it's unclear where we will land on tariffs but president trump during the campaign was very clear that he wants to pursue an aggressive tariffs strategy of some of the things in the terror of space he can to himself without going to congress. some of them he would probably need to go to congress for. congress may well, particularly replicants have an appetite for trying to kind of help president trump adopt aggressive tariff policy. that's a not likely to help inflation.