Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Event/Special

Johnson Re-Elected As House Speaker; Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) Discusses Speakership Vote, Johnson's Win; Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Speaks After House Speaker Vote. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 03, 2025 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:30:00]

PATRICK MCHENRY, (R), FORMER SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: Members have families here. It's opening day stuff. Can you just let us know so we can get people back here? Let's just have some basic courtesy. And that's why it's just a lighthearted moment between the two.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And that's Ralph Norman right there.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: It looks like he's going to change his vote. That's him with the gray hair and then Keith Self behind him. It looks like they are about to change their votes so that Johnson actually will win on the first ballot in this space where time -- the space time continuum is, is upset.

MCHENRY: And there's Speaker Johnson and Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, who was a key negotiator here for the speaker.

What -- there are two pieces of news here. First, we'll see that Mike Johnson is elected speaker of the House in short order here. And the second piece of news will be what transpired.

TAPPER: Yes, what did they get?

MCHENRY: What did they get?

TAPPER: Yes. it's fascinating stuff. And we presume that the gentleman with the glasses, who is Texas Congressman Keith Self, and the gentleman with white hair leaning on the desk --

MCHENRY: The gentleman with no hair is Keith Self.

TAPPER: Oh, OK.

MCHENRY: And the guy behind him is Andy Ogles of Tennessee.

TAPPER: Oh, the guy with no hair. OK, I see that is Keith Self. And then the gentleman -- here we go. Let's listen in.

(GAVEL)

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Norman is recorded as Jordan. (GAVEL) KEVIN MCCUMBER, ACTING HOUSE CLERK: House will be in order.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Norman, Johnson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Now go to Mr. Self. Report.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Self is recorded as Donalds.

Mr. Self, Johnson.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

TAPPER: All right. So there we go. So Congressman Mike Johnson is now officially Speaker Mike Johnson. There were two no votes, two votes for other House Republicans.

Ralph Norman voted for Tom Emmer. And Keith Self voted for Byron Donalds. And Keith Self, who is about to start, I think his sophomore term, and Norman have now officially changed their votes after this -- after some negotiation, presumably.

So I stand corrected. You were correct. Speaker Johnson did win on the first ballot.

MCHENRY: Barely.

TAPPER: Barely, barely.

MCHENRY: But it barely matter. A win's a win. A "W" is a "W." And this was -- this is tough.

And what we saw is the last vote was -- was voiced around 1:40 p.m. Here we are 50 minutes later with a lot of back -- backroom negotiating to get the final deal done.

TAPPER: Yes. No, I mean, compared to what we saw with Speaker McCarthy, this is a -- this is a landslide victory, 218 to 215. What's done is done. And Speaker Johnson is there.

Although I have to say, and I'm sure he's -- he's rejoicing. This was a muscle flexing of a minority of the party of the Republican party.

Nine members, demonstrating to Speaker Johnson, we can take you down if we want to, according to the new House rules.

MCHENRY: Yes.

TAPPER: And we can make your life very difficult. Please pay attention to us or not. Please pay attention to us.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Flexing. Maybe it was a spasm, I don't know. I mean, remember, ultimately, maybe some of my colleagues here today

will want to revise and extend their remarks about the relative influence of Donald Trump. He is the head of the Republican Party. He wanted Johnson.

Johnson's going to get it on the first ballot. After a little bit of conversation on the House floor. That is -- that is unequivocally a good thing. We're not -- we're not going to sit here for 18 ballots or whatever. We're not going to sit here all night.

Here at 2:30 in the afternoon, the Republican Party is showing that it can unify itself in relatively short order for the purpose of helping Donald Trump get started on his agenda for Republican voters all over the country.

This will be a really a piece of really good news this afternoon.

TAPPER: I mean, I'm -- Johnson won and Scott's happy. And when Scott's happy, I'm happy always.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: But I will say, Kristen Soltis Anderson, I just want to put a flag in this moment because these nine individuals made it clear to Speaker Johnson, we can take you down.

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & POLSTER: They sent a message, and the math does not get better from here.

Note that there were at least two names that we're mentioned who voted today, who will likely not be part of the House of Representatives in just a couple of weeks.

TAPPER: Stefanik and Wallace.

SOLTIS ANDERSON: Because they have been nominated to important positions by Donald Trump. So this is just the beginning. If this is supposed to be the easiest vote, it does not get easier from here.

[14:35:09]

MCHENRY: I was about to say this is the easiest vote, and it really wasn't that easy today. And so this does not bode well.

(GAVEL)

TAPPER: Let's listen. I see that gavel coming down. Let's listen in.

MCCUMBER: The tellers agree in their tallies that the total number of votes cast as 434, of which the Honorable Mike Johnson of the state of Louisiana has received 218.

(CHEERING)

MCCUMBER: The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries of the state of New York has received 215. (CHEERING)

MCCUMBER: And the Honorable Tom Emmer of the state of Minnesota has received one.

(SHOUTING)

MCCUMBER: Therefore, the Honorable Mike Johnson of the state of Louisiana, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected speaker of the House of Representatives for the 119th Congress.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

MCCUMBER: The clerk appoints the following committee to escort the speaker-elect to the chair.

The gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Scalise. The gentleman from New York, Mr. Jeffries. The gentleman from Minnesota, Mr. Emmer. The gentlewoman from Massachusetts, Miss Clark. The gentlewoman from Michigan, Mrs. McClain.

The gentleman from California, Mr. Aguilar. The gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Hudson. The gentleman from California, Mr. Lieu. The gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Hearn. The gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Neguse. The gentleman from Utah. Mr. Moore.

The gentlewoman from Washington, Ms. DelBene. The gentlewoman from Indiana, Mrs. Houchin. The gentleman from New York, Mr. Morelli. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Reschenthaler. The gentlewoman from Michigan, Mrs. Dingell.

And the members of the Louisiana delegation, Mr. Higgins, Ms. Letlow, Mr. Carter and Mr. Fields.

The committee will retire from the chamber to escort the speaker-elect to the chair.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: So as we wait for the Escort Committee that was just named to meet with the now re-elected House speaker, Mike Johnson, let's talk about what just happened.

And Kasie Hunt, as we heard from our colleagues with Jake, certainly this is the one that is supposed to be easy. It wasn't easy. But it happened and it happened, you know, with blood, sweat and tears. But it did happen on the first round.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: And it could have been harder. And we did go back and forth. You know, Mr. Burchett was here saying they had gaveled that vote. There was going to be a second vote.

As it turned out, they changed their votes at the end, which means that Johnson does get to say he did this on the first ballot. And he clearly was also, I think, trying to demonstrate strength by going to the floor without cutting these deals. Right? Saying this is what -- how I'm going to do it.

Ultimately, he had to with that kind of show of force from these people that could ultimately strip him.

BASH: And the question right now that I have, that I'm trying to get that I know our terrific team on the Hill is trying to get is, what happened in that room?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF & POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. I mean, that will be the next part of this story is, what -- what did they get? How did their votes change?

But listen, yes, these nine sort of put Mike Johnson on this. Mike Johnson didn't need notice. He seized the math of what his majority is, the slimmest in 100 years.

[14:40:03]

So he understands the -- the problematic path he has ahead to get Trump's legislative agenda through in a clean way in this first year of full Republican control in Washington.

The fact that it took a little bit longer than it normally does, that will be a blip in history here. The reality is going to be the legislative work that is now ahead of him.

And I will just say, I don't think voters put too much stock in all of this. This-- they will focus a lot more on what this new unified Republican control of Washington attempts to deliver for the American people.

BASH: And the person on the left, with the goatee, Chip Roy, he is one of the people. Despite the fact that he was a holdout at the beginning. And then he ended up voting for Mike Johnson. He is one of the people who is going to determine the answer to that question.

David, I want to go to Manu Raju.

Manu, what are you hearing about what happened in that room, how those two, those two holdouts flipped? Did Donald Trump call?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is one of the things that we are -- we are still chasing down here, Dana. It does seem that there was some pressure that was exerted from them, from the person who has endorsed Mike Johnson. That's, of course, Donald Trump.

We do know that Mike Johnson just came out of the House floor and spoke to our colleague, Annie Grayer, and said that there is -- he did not cut any backroom deals. That's one thing that he has been saying all along that he didn't cut any backroom deals.

And in fact, I just caught up with some other folks who were familiar with what's happening, and they indicated that as well, that that was not part of the negotiations. So they said there was no horse trading. We still have to learn a bit

more of the details there.

But that is one key piece here, Dana, that the speaker said that he didn't give anything up. Remember when Kevin McCarthy won the speakership?

There were a lot of concessions that he ultimately had to make, putting some people in some key committee positions or making other commitments as well.

Some of those we're not even written down. They were just discussions between some members and the like, that ultimately got him the speakership. We'll see.

Johnson contends he didn't make any deals, Dana, but we'll try to learn more as we talk to more sources about all those conversations that happened, because there were a lot, as we saw play out in real time on the floor.

BASH: Yes, and that's really interesting, Manu, that the speaker said to Annie Grayer that he didn't cut any deals. you know, as we report out and I'm sure it's just a matter of minutes before you learn, and Lauren Fox learns what happened in that room. Exactly what did happen.

It is my impression that there was a phone call that came into that room. I don't know for sure who that phone call was from. I can't imagine that it wasn't somebody who has a lot of sway.

And there's really only one person who has a lot of sway right now, and that -- and that is Donald Trump.

RAJU: Yes, that would seem very likely. Remember what happened when -- when Kevin McCarthy was struggling to get the votes himself on the House floor?

There was that famous photo back in January 2023 of -- of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene handing over her cell phone with the initials D.T. on her cell phone to a congressman who was on -- was opposed to Kevin McCarthy and try to get him to talk to Trump on the House floor.

So that would certainly be expected that Trump is really the one person in which some of these members would listen to.

Keith Self is a very conservative member from Texas, someone who is very much aligned ideologically with Donald Trump. Ralph Norman actually endorsed Nikki Haley in the Republican primary. He then, too, of course, from South Carolina. But Norman ultimately did back, ultimately did bac -- ultimately did back Trump in the primary.

We're going to try to grab some of these members to here as they're running off the floor, Dana. And some of them were involved in some of these discussions. We'll probably get some more details.

But at the moment, Dana, we know that those two members flipped after considerable discussion behind the scenes.

BASH: Manu Raju, I'm going to let you go do your Manu thing and -- and report and talk to those members coming off the floor.

I'm actually here now with Congresswoman Stephanie Bice of the great state of Oklahoma.

Thank you so much for running over here from the capital.

What is your understanding of what happened in that room?

REP. STEPHANIE BICE (R-OK): Well, I think there were certainly a few members that had concerns, and I think they voiced that by abstaining from voting originally. Three members decided that they wanted to vote for a different speaker candidate.

But in the end, I think we all recognize that Mike Johnson is the perfect person for this role and will continue on in the 109th Congress as speaker of the peoples House.

BASH: I'm guessing you weren't in the negotiations.

BICE: I have been in negotiations off and on for the last couple of months, but in the last hour, I was not part of those negotiations.

[14:45:00]

BASH: So do you have any idea if -- Mike Johnson told our colleague that he didn't horse trade, that he didn't give up anything? Do you have any idea -- I'm not saying that you're going to tell me that Mike Johnson isn't telling the truth.

But if you have any idea if there was anything, maybe just -- just short of that?

BICE: He absolutely stuck to his deal. He was very clear with all of the members that he was not going to negotiate to get to the speakership. I think that's really the challenge that Speaker McCarthy had is that he had made some deals that some members we're not happy with.

And so Speaker Johnson was clear to all of us that he was not going to negotiate to get that chairmanship. And I believe him.

BASH: You are about to get sworn in for the third time for your third term in -- in the House. The first time was Covid, so it wasn't exactly your normal first day of Congress, normal swearing in.

Two years ago, you had to wait however many days until Kevin McCarthy --

BICE: Six days.

BASH: Six days. So presumably in just a little while, you're going to get sworn in. Is your family here? BICE: My -- my youngest daughter is here. My oldest daughter and

husband are at home watching. I haven't had the opportunity to have my entire family see me sworn in, which is kind of a funny, given this is my third time.

But hopefully, at least one of my kiddos will get to see me sworn in today.

BASH: And I want to bring Kasie in here in a second.

But before I do, what does this tell you, this drama and suspense, all for the past few hours on the floor, tell you about the challenge that you are going to have in this slimmest of majorities that you are in and actually governing and getting through the soon to be president's agenda.

BICE: Look, I think that the American people gave us a directive, and that is to change the trajectory of the country. And we're excited for that opportunity.

But governing is messy sometimes. And I think we've proven that not only today but over the last two years.

But well get there. There's a lot of important work that the American people are expecting us to do, you know, work on the economy, improving the economy, securing our southern border. These are important things for my state. Energy dominance is incredibly important.

And so we're looking forward to getting to work as quickly as possible to implement the America first agenda.

BASH: Kasie?

HUNT: Congresswoman, you said that you believe the House speaker, when he says to our Annie Grayer that he didn't cut a backroom deal, if he didn't cut a backroom deal, and we'll say, OK, you believe him, we're willing to give him that, what did he do in that hour?

BICE: Well, I think he listened. That's one of the things that Mike Johnson has done remarkably well is listening to all of the concerns that members may have.

You know, keep in mind that he was elected to this role 14 months ago, just as a rank-and-file member. He was secretary of the conference but really had no leadership roles prior to that.

And so it's a tough, I think, road to be thrown into this incredible responsibility. And he's done a remarkable job. And part of that has been listening.

HUNT: Do you think part of what happened today was this set of members giving a shot across the bow that says to the House speaker, we could remove you under the -- the terms of the new rules if we wanted to?

BICE: So we talked a little bit about negotiations prior to today, and I have been part of the negotiations and making sure that that motion to vacate threshold has been increased. It will be nine. So not a single member will have the opportunity to remove a speaker of the House. And I think that's important.

You know, there are going to be people that may not agree with every decision that Speaker Johnson makes, but I think removing the speaker is going to be something that is off the table moving forward.

BASH: That's really critical because Kevin McCarthy was kind of on a knife's edge the entire time he was speaker. Because, as you said, that was a mistake that he made. It didn't seem like he had much of a choice.

But he did horse trade, and that was one of the things he agreed to, which is to allow himself to be thrown out at any given moment just by one person.

And Mike Johnson is going to have -- have his work cut out for him with the slim majority.

BICE: That's right.

BASH: But it's going to be a lot harder for the people who don't agree with him to take his gavel away.

BICE: That's correct. And I think that we, as sort of governing members, I'm a part of the Main Street caucus, and we want to make sure that we have an opportunity to govern.

That doesn't mean, if you disagree with the speaker that you file a motion to vacate, which has happened. We want to make sure that we're, you know, using the appropriate processes and procedures to govern.

But we have to do the work, the hard work to get this country back on track. And having a one-vote motion to vacate threshold is not a conducive to governing. And that's why we had to change it.

BASH: Congresswoman, thank you so much. Congratulations in advance, getting sworn in with at least some members of your family here.

Thanks for sitting out -- it's getting cold out here. I appreciate it.

Jake, back to you.

TAPPER: Thanks, Dana.

[14:49:50]

So let's take stock on what Congress is going to look like given this relatively orderly speaker vote, but still with some indications of potential trouble to come.

Let's -- let's start with Manu Raju on the Hill.

Manu, what are you hearing? RAJU: Yes, we're hearing from multiple sources that Donald Trump, in

fact, did weigh in late. In fact, he spoke to Ralph Norman and Keith Self. Those are the two Republican Congressmen who initially voted for a different Republican candidate for speaker.

But Trump, according to our sources, sources are telling me, as well as Annie Grayer and Lauren Fox, that, in fact, they did have a conversation with the president-elect.

And the president-elect's message, I'm told, was essentially get this done. He wanted to get this done. He was concerned about how this could hurt his agenda.

Then afterwards, there was a closed door meeting that occurred between the speaker as well as others, and the discussion was about being more inclusive, of these rank-and-file members wanting more, say, in the legislative process.

And ultimately, there were some commitments that were made that sounded good enough for these members that ultimately got them to yes.

Now, one of those members, who is part of the discussions, I just caught up with is Congressman Dusty Johnson of South Dakota. You may have seen him on the House floor himself speaking to Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, and then going over and meeting with some members.

I got a chance to talk to him, and he indicated, Jake, that -- that those meetings were very productive.

And, Jake, I'm going to toss this back to you.

TAPPER: Let's listen in.

(APPLAUSE)

TAPPER: So, former Speaker McHenry, we see the new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, returning to his job. He's got the congratulations of well-wishers. A good moment for him, a good moment for President-Elect Trump.

But still, an indication that there are going to be -- it's going to be difficult to manage a four-vote majority, soon to be two-vote majority.

MCHENRY: He's got an enormously challenged position, obviously, with the narrow House. But this is a special moment. This is a special moment where he gets to lay out how he wants to treat members, the institution and his message to the American people.

A rare moment for speakers to be able to talk directly to the American people.

But this -- this challenge of this one vote that took a long time shows that it's going to be a dicey run for this House Republican majority. Just to be fair about it.

But it's enabled. And his speakership is enabled by having President Donald Trump in office. And without Donald Trump, this vote might have been a different outcome, based off the final two holdouts and the -- the reportage that Manu just shared from the CNN team.

So it really is a -- it's a special statement about having it be one vote. That's a rewarding thing, I can tell you, after two years ago. And, but winning is the key. And this speaker knows that without President Trump, that gavel may not be his.

TAPPER: Yes. Very interesting.

Let's listen in. We expect the Democratic leader, minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, to give a speech followed by the newly elected, newly re-elected speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

As the House comes to order, let's listen in.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Speaker Johnson, Speaker Emerita Pelosi -- it's great to see you back in the chamber.

(CHEERING)

[14:55:06]

JEFFRIES: Whip Clark, Chairman Aguilar, thank you for your kind and generous words of nomination.

To my colleagues in government, new members of Congress, families, friends, all those assembled, it's a high honor and a distinct privilege to welcome you to the peoples House and the 119th Congress.

(APPLAUSE)

JEFFRIES: The Bible teaches us, in Ecclesiastes, the third chapter, first verse, "That for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven."

It's fair to say that in a democracy there's a time to campaign and a time to govern. The election is over. This is a new Congress. The American people need us, as their elected representatives, in this season to put down our partisan swords and pick up bipartisan plowshares.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

JEFFRIES: It's time for us to come together, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to get things done for the people.

In that spirit, House Democrats will work hard to find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues and the incoming administration on any issue whenever and wherever possible, in order to make life better for everyday Americans. For far too long, in this country, the cost of living has gone up. But

the size of the middle class has come down. Housing costs are too high, grocery costs are too high, childcare costs are too high. Insurance costs are too high. Utility costs are too high.

America is too expensive. There are far too many people in this great country who, for decades, have been struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. That is not acceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world.

(APPLAUSE)

JEFFRIES: We need to build an affordable economy for hard working American taxpayers, and we need to build it now. It's time for us to come together and finally lower the high cost of living in the United States of America once and for all.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

JEFFRIES: And we will work with anyone of any party to get that done. We will work with anyone to secure our borders. And we will work with anyone to fix our broken immigration system in a comprehensive and bipartisan manner.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

JEFFRIES: At the same period of time --

(APPLAUSE)

JEFFRIES: At the same period of time, we will push back against far right extremism whenever necessary.

(APPLAUSE)

JEFFRIES: So let me be clear. Social Security and Medicare are not entitlement programs. They are earned benefits.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

JEFFRIES: Hard-working American taxpayers pay in to Social Security and Medicare every day, every week, every month, every year, throughout their entire adult life. They've earned those benefits, worked hard for those benefits, and deserve those benefits.

So as Democrats, our promise to the American people is that we will fight hard to make sure that no one in this town takes away Social Security or Medicare from the American people.

(CHEERING) JEFFRIES: Not now, not ever. "No" means never.

(APPLAUSE)

[14:59:47]

JEFFRIES: Our position is that it is not acceptable to cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut Medicaid, cut veterans benefits, or cut nutritional assistance from children and families in order to pay for massive tax breaks for billionaires and wealthy corporations.