Lingering ill will among House Republicans after another messy spending fight could complicate Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to retain the House gavel — and potentially the Jan. 6 formalizing of Donald Trump’s election victory.
As president of the Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris would be the presiding officer during a joint session of Congress that day to complete the American presidential election process. It is a constitutional duty that essentially requires her to oversee the certification of her 2024 rival’s decisive victory.
To get to a swift and professional counting session, the House on Jan. 3 — or perhaps in the following two days — would need to elect a speaker, who would then administer the oath of office to the newly elected and reelected members.
If a protracted speaker fight lasts beyond 1 p.m. on Jan. 6, congressional scholars agree there are procedural options that could help ensure the counting and certifying of Electoral College votes that day. But that could prove difficult following yet another span of GOP infighting over government funding and the debt ceiling that saw Speaker Mike Johnson battling rebellious conservatives.
The drama has raised fresh questions about the Louisiana Republican’s fate in the next Congress and whether he would be able to comfortably win the floor vote for speaker on Jan. 3.
‘One big gray area’
As speaker, Johnson will not have a presiding official role during the Jan. 6 counting session. But what happens — or does not happen — in the three days before would be crucial.
“The country would be going into one big gray area,” Steve Smith, a professor of political science and global studies at Arizona State University, said about a speaker fight extending into Jan. 6. “The one precedent that is clear and could help determine what happens is at the start of a new Congress, the election of the speaker is the first thing the House does.”
“Nothing else happens until the speaker is elected. It’s been that way since 1789 when the first Congress convened,” Smith said. “Now, that worked just fine for the first Congress. But that could prove problematic here.”
Already, Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has said he would not vote for Johnson on the floor during the scheduled Jan. 3 speaker election. With House Republicans holding only a razor-thin majority in the 119th Congress, Johnson can’t afford more than a few defections.
The House clerk presides over speaker elections, including at the start of a new Congress. Among the early actions on Jan. 3, according to a Congressional Research Service report, the clerk will order a quorum call before the House proceeds to the floor election for speaker, which the clerk will conduct with the assistance of tellers.
But even if a speaker is not elected in time for Jan. 6, multiple congressional and legal scholars told CQ Roll Call that the clerk – if both parties agree — could potentially swear in all House members because the Constitution grants the chamber exclusive authority to organize itself.