The Charlie Kirk Show - Well, What Was the Point of All That?: The House Speaker Race

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, the Charlie Kirk Show.

00:00:01.000 The Speaker of the House fight is here.

00:00:04.000 We walk through it piece by piece and explain it all.

00:00:06.000 What is happening on the floor of the House of Representatives.

00:00:09.000 Email us as always, freedom at charliekirk.com and subscribe to our podcast and become a member today.

00:00:14.000 Members.CharlieKirk.com That is members.CharlieKirk.com Get involved with Turning Point USA at tpusa.com Buckle up everybody, here we go.

00:00:24.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

00:00:26.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

00:00:28.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.

00:00:31.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

00:00:35.000 I want to thank Charlie.

00:00:36.000 He's an incredible guy.

00:00:37.000 His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA. We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.

00:00:54.000 That's why we are here.

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00:01:21.000 Honored to be with you guys.

00:01:23.000 We have right there a picture-in-picture look of the new Congress.

00:01:29.000 It is the opening day of the 119th Congress.

00:01:34.000 The American people spoke, and despite all of the prognosticators and experts, Republicans are going to control all three chambers of government.

00:01:44.000 The House, the Senate, and the Presidency.

00:01:48.000 Well, it'll be two branches.

00:01:49.000 Yeah, I guess three chambers is fair.

00:01:50.000 Well, two chambers.

00:01:52.000 All three levers of power, you could say.

00:01:56.000 There's a lot of questions, though.

00:01:58.000 And today, as we are doing this broadcast, it's going to be happening live.

00:02:02.000 We have a very serious Speaker of the House situation.

00:02:06.000 Mike Johnson's tenuous speakership might collapse today.

00:02:11.000 The new Congress is assembling, and that means Congress must select a speaker.

00:02:15.000 Republicans have the narrowest majority in living memory, and that's making things very complicated.

00:02:21.000 Two years ago, Kevin McCarthy needed 15 rounds of votes.

00:02:25.000 Do you remember that?

00:02:26.000 That was only two years ago.

00:02:27.000 15 rounds of votes to become speaker.

00:02:29.000 And he lasted less than 10 months.

00:02:32.000 McCarthy went into the House vote with 222 Republicans.

00:02:36.000 He could lose more than one and still become Speaker.

00:02:40.000 Mike Johnson is going to this House vote with only 219 Republicans.

00:02:44.000 That means Mike Johnson can only lose exactly one Republican vote.

00:02:48.000 That means if he loses two, there's no majority.

00:02:52.000 Thomas Massey has said he's not voting for Johnson no matter what.

00:02:56.000 So that's one vote that Johnson can lose.

00:02:58.000 He needs everybody else.

00:03:00.000 It's very, very little margin for Mike Johnson.

00:03:04.000 Now it's possible we could be in for a day of theatrics.

00:03:08.000 There are Republicans who may vote against Johnson on the first ballot to show their independence, but then back him by the end of the day.

00:03:14.000 Of course, every speaker vote takes about an hour.

00:03:17.000 So these stunts could waste quite a bit of our time, but that is Congress for you.

00:03:22.000 A lot of people are saying that if there's no speaker, it could prevent Trump from becoming president because the House can't conduct business, and so it can't certify the election results.

00:03:32.000 In my opinion, I think this is actually very much mistaken.

00:03:36.000 The Constitution clearly describes how the presidential results are certified, and it does not require the Speaker of the House because the Constitution says what to do directly.

00:03:47.000 We went through this, by the way, with the last Kevin McCarthy carousel of votes.

00:03:52.000 With the Kevin McCarthy carousel, remember, you can pass pieces of legislation without a Speaker.

00:03:59.000 You can do emergency pieces of legislation without a Speaker.

00:04:03.000 You can do anything without a Speaker.

00:04:04.000 A Speaker is not technically necessary.

00:04:06.000 A Speaker is not prescribed legislation.

00:04:09.000 As far as the constitution of the House of Representatives, new members can be sworn in by anybody.

00:04:15.000 A Speaker House does not need to do that.

00:04:17.000 This is all just tradition and House rules.

00:04:20.000 So, but I guess for tradition's sake, you need a Speaker.

00:04:26.000 Trump, for his part, has loudly come out in favor of Mike Johnson, posting on Truth Social saying that, quote, a win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party.

00:04:36.000 That, if nothing else, may be enough to salvage Johnson because far more than ever, this is Trump's Republican Party.

00:04:44.000 And any Republican seen as sabotaging his agenda will be primaried very quickly.

00:04:51.000 So look, the circumstance in front of us, as the new House meets right now, the 119th Congress, is will Mike Johnson stay as Speaker of the House?

00:05:03.000 And the answer is likely yes.

00:05:05.000 By the way, I want to hear from you, freedomatcharliekirk.com.

00:05:09.000 Do you want Mike Johnson to stay?

00:05:11.000 Do you want Republicans to stay behind him?

00:05:14.000 The reason this is even a discussion...

00:05:18.000 was the way this ridiculous December spending bill was negotiated.

00:05:24.000 The reason that this is even being discussed, the reason that this is even in contention, is the way that all went down.

00:05:34.000 Remember, Speaker Mike Johnson Quietly and secretly negotiated a deal behind the scenes to create a multi-thousand page bill.

00:05:46.000 I think it was like 1,500 pages to be specific.

00:05:50.000 With Hakeem Jeffries and with Chuck Schumer.

00:05:55.000 And create this behemoth.

00:05:59.000 Call it a continuing resolution when it really wasn't.

00:06:02.000 That included funding Ukrainian bio labs.

00:06:08.000 That included the worst funding for the Democrat NGOs censorship organizations.

00:06:17.000 All to try to cut a deal for a continuing resolution.

00:06:22.000 House members were not let into this negotiation.

00:06:25.000 They were not allowed in on this conversation.

00:06:32.000 They were not in the room.

00:06:37.000 At all.

00:06:38.000 House members were not involved in any of this or made part of the process.

00:06:45.000 And it now has turned them pretty angry.

00:06:48.000 It has fired them up.

00:06:49.000 And for very, very good reason.

00:06:52.000 Many of these House members that we had on our program, such as Byron Donalds and many others, They've said, we were not even involved in this process.

00:07:01.000 And look, the final deal was better than it was, thanks to you, the grassroots, standing up.

00:07:05.000 The final continuing resolution was better, but we still did not win the way we should have.

00:07:10.000 A CR should have just been one page, we should have got a debt ceiling, and we got zero spending cuts.

00:07:15.000 All because why?

00:07:17.000 Members of Congress wanted to get home for Christmas.

00:07:23.000 Members of Congress wanted to get home for a Christmas vacation.

00:07:28.000 Nurses, airline pilots, ER doctors, police officers, firefighters, they all have to work on Christmas, but members of Congress did not.

00:07:39.000 And so look, on this program, we're not going to lead the battalion and say, we must remove Speaker Johnson.

00:07:45.000 But I will say passively, we just won a mandate election in November.

00:07:52.000 This should be a no-question speakers race. 0.57

00:07:57.000 But the reason it isn't is worthy of emphasis and reflection.

00:08:02.000 Is that they've been trying to play games with every major issue against the will of the American people and against the will of the Republican Party for quite some time.

00:08:11.000 Spending cuts, secure border, defunding the FBI. Instead, we have more money going to the FBI. We got nothing on the border.

00:08:18.000 Remember when we were told by House leadership, we must give money to...

00:08:23.000 We're not going to fund the government until we have a secure border.

00:08:26.000 And that was all just a bunch of rubbish.

00:08:27.000 It was a bunch of balderdash, a bunch of nonsense, a bunch of horse-pucky.

00:08:33.000 And so then, of course, the counter-argument is, okay, then who?

00:08:38.000 We don't have a good answer to that.

00:08:40.000 That's why I'm kind of in a passive position here.

00:08:47.000 But no Ukraine, we are told that there should be no money sent to Ukraine without border security.

00:08:53.000 And yet we spent hundreds of billions of dollars on Ukraine thanks to this Congress.

00:08:58.000 Has Mike Johnson and the House leadership earned, emphasis on the word earned, your trust and your vote?

00:09:08.000 Is this the best that we can do?

00:09:11.000 And I see the argument the president wants him and the president should get what he wants.

00:09:15.000 President Trump wants Mike Johnson.

00:09:17.000 President Trump should get Mike Johnson.

00:09:19.000 He's gone all in.

00:09:20.000 He's going to bat for him.

00:09:22.000 Trump wants Johnson.

00:09:24.000 Trump deserves a honeymoon.

00:09:25.000 I totally respect that.

00:09:27.000 There is an anonymous letter right now circulating around Congress over the last few days all regarding very valid criticism that we share.

00:09:37.000 A group of conservatives and potential opposition votes against Speaker Johnson are circulating a document laying out a scorecard that lists out multiple failures of this last Congress.

00:09:48.000 While the author remains unnamed, it hits the talking points being shared by Johnson's critics.

00:09:54.000 How Republicans have repeatedly added to the nation's debt, passed aid to Ukraine without the support of the majority, the GOP majority, reauthorized FISA, In particular, they took issue with how the last government spending bill was handled ahead of Christmas.

00:10:12.000 Is this the best we can do?

00:10:14.000 I suppose that is, I guess, the threshold we're at.

00:10:17.000 President Trump wants Mike Johnson.

00:10:18.000 That is what we are going to get.

00:10:22.000 However, I'm not convinced that he's going to pass on the first vote.

00:10:26.000 Can we continue to have that picture in picture, please?

00:10:28.000 I think the roll call is going to start soon.

00:10:30.000 And if it's not Mike Johnson, and then who?

00:10:34.000 And some people say, well, give him a 100-day honeymoon.

00:10:36.000 Well, we're not giving Mike Johnson a honeymoon.

00:10:38.000 The person who has earned what he wants and what he demands is President Trump.

00:10:44.000 If President Trump wants Mike Johnson, he earned a mandate to get the Speaker of the House that he wants.

00:10:50.000 Period.

00:10:54.000 Charlie Kirk here.

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00:12:00.000 Bobby emails us.

00:12:01.000 Charlie watching the opening ceremonies.

00:12:04.000 Very upset with what we're seeing with Speaker Johnson, but I'm afraid we have no choice.

00:12:08.000 We're getting thousands of emails, by the way.

00:12:09.000 I want to hear from you.

00:12:10.000 Freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:12:13.000 President Trump has gone all in behind Speaker Johnson.

00:12:16.000 He's gone all in, all chips on the table.

00:12:19.000 And he says, I want Speaker Johnson.

00:12:21.000 And look, I've gotten to know Speaker Johnson.

00:12:23.000 We have a very up and down relationship.

00:12:27.000 It's very well publicized.

00:12:29.000 And I try to give people second and third and fourth chances.

00:12:33.000 I'm not going to say, hey, we need to oppose him.

00:12:35.000 I get it.

00:12:35.000 You got to vote for him.

00:12:36.000 You got to vote for him.

00:12:38.000 The thing that bothered me the most was the FISA vote, the border deception.

00:12:43.000 This last CR was very demoralizing.

00:12:46.000 It was very demoralizing.

00:12:47.000 Not because, I mean, look, you know that they're going to do their thing in D.C. where they spend a bunch of money and don't do any spending cuts.

00:12:51.000 But it's that he was demoralizing.

00:12:53.000 We're not involving President Trump in the negotiation process of this monstrosity bill, the incoming president, and all of a sudden, here it is, 1,500 pages, and we have Ukrainian bio labs and censorship industrial complex and just nonsense and rubbish all throughout this bill that was just thrown at us at the last second. 0.92

00:13:12.000 We said, oh, we have to read this thing.

00:13:16.000 Look, President Trump wants him.

00:13:18.000 And President Trump has earned to have the Speaker of the House of his choice.

00:13:21.000 By the way, nobody else wants this job.

00:13:23.000 It is thankless.

00:13:26.000 It's not easy.

00:13:27.000 And it's not an excuse, by the way, to lie.

00:13:30.000 I just want to be very clear.

00:13:32.000 When people say, well, you know, it's a really hard job and all this, but telling the truth takes zero talent.

00:13:40.000 Telling the truth is not something that requires a PhD in physics.

00:13:47.000 Telling the truth is elemental to a free society.

00:13:51.000 And you in the audience are fired up right now because when you are told there is no choice, you say, wait a second, what kind of prisoner of another binary that does not exist do I have to be?

00:14:09.000 How many times are you told, well, you have to vote for this trashy bill because there's no time?

00:14:15.000 Well, there's no time because you waited to the last minute.

00:14:19.000 So there's no choice and there's no time, there's no option, so therefore we must go with what's in front of us.

00:14:25.000 And this is what creates widespread distrust, widespread rebellion against our institutions.

00:14:36.000 Cynicism.

00:14:37.000 And it's very difficult for me to say, you know what, actually you should trust all these institutions.

00:14:42.000 Actually you should think very highly of Congress.

00:14:46.000 Very, very difficult.

00:14:48.000 So I get it.

00:14:49.000 I get the fury.

00:14:50.000 I get the rage.

00:14:50.000 In fact, this CR that turned into an omnibus, I can't defend that.

00:14:58.000 And then we're going to have that pass and there'll be no consequences?

00:15:02.000 Yes, because...

00:15:05.000 Yes, because President Trump's in a very difficult position.

00:15:09.000 I'm not going to say I even agree or disagree.

00:15:11.000 I told the team I'm very indifferent about this entire thing.

00:15:13.000 I don't have strong opinions either way in the sense where I totally sympathize and understand that removal is based on a track record like what to do for us.

00:15:24.000 However, removal is probably not very wise at all.

00:15:27.000 And let's say President Trump said, I want Mike Johnson gone.

00:15:30.000 Let's play this out.

00:15:31.000 Let's say President Trump said, I want Mike Johnson gone.

00:15:34.000 That will infuriate every single moderate that he needs with a two-seat majority, a two-seat majority to pass his premier legislation.

00:15:43.000 So Lawler and Jason Smith and all of them would then get infuriated at President Trump and not vote for any of the pieces of legislation that President Trump wants.

00:15:53.000 Don Bacon, they would all say, President Trump, go pound sand.

00:15:56.000 We're not going to vote for your border stuff.

00:15:58.000 We're not going to vote for your tax stuff.

00:15:59.000 We're not going to vote for any of it.

00:16:02.000 And then you don't even have a replacement.

00:16:04.000 So there is no choice.

00:16:05.000 There is no replacement.

00:16:06.000 So President Trump's in a very, very difficult position here.

00:16:09.000 So I can understand why he has made the decision that he's made.

00:16:15.000 And it's very annoying for everybody in this audience.

00:16:19.000 And to be perfectly honest, it's irritating and it makes us very angry because we worked so hard and we won this election triumph.

00:16:28.000 And then we look at Congress and we say...

00:16:32.000 We could do a lot better.

00:16:33.000 That's not just a Mike Johnson thing.

00:16:34.000 It's a legislative results thing.

00:16:37.000 By the way, I have become a premier expert on this program in every single excuse.

00:16:43.000 Oh, it's too close to an election, so we can't do spending cuts.

00:16:46.000 Oh, it's Christmas, so I need a vacation.

00:16:48.000 We don't have any other option for a speaker.

00:16:50.000 It's too late on a deadline and the debt ceiling and the whole country is going to go into default.

00:16:55.000 We know all the excuses.

00:16:59.000 And the base, you, the backbone, the spine of the Republican Party, the vanguard of the nation, you're not buying those excuses much anymore.

00:17:11.000 So I want to hear from you.

00:17:12.000 Freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:17:14.000 President Trump gets what President Trump wants.

00:17:17.000 He wants Mike Johnson, and I bet he's going to get him.

00:17:22.000 Hey everybody, Charlie Kirk here.

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00:18:21.000 Joining us now is Matt Gaetz, host of the Matt Gaetz show on OANN, One America's News Network.

00:18:31.000 Great American.

00:18:33.000 Matt, welcome to the program.

00:18:36.000 Matt, congratulations on your new show.

00:18:38.000 And also, Matt, tell me what is going to happen in the speaker fight.

00:18:43.000 My suspicion is that Mike Johnson will be elected speaker, that it will likely be today, and I would anticipate either the first or the second vote.

00:18:52.000 That's because for my friends who are concerned about Mike Johnson's inability to deliver single-subject bills, his inability to put downward pressure on any spending, to open up the process where you can read the bills with sufficient time to analyze their impact in advance.

00:19:08.000 Mike hasn't done those things, but to vote against him now It does not create an ecosystem to change that dynamic.

00:19:18.000 That will have to be done after President Trump's certification and after President Trump is in office.

00:19:23.000 And I knew when we put a little pressure on Speaker-designate McCarthy to give us some concessions, concessions that put key conservatives on committees where the product, at the end of the day, we hoped would be more reflective of where our voters are.

00:19:39.000 That was because Joe Biden was president.

00:19:41.000 And there was no real eagerness on the part of the Republican base to get to the Joe Biden agenda, whereas now there's great hope and opportunity that a lot of Americans see in the Trump agenda.

00:19:53.000 So Mike Johnson will be speaker.

00:19:54.000 I've suggested to my colleagues that the best way to make Mike Johnson the best version of himself is not to put him through the ringer today, but instead to start talking about the policy concessions fiscal conservatives need in the upcoming budget bill.

00:20:10.000 And you'll hear it called reconciliation, which it always seemed like a weird word to me, reconciliation, because that's like when you're getting back together.

00:20:18.000 But the reality is this bill often creates a lot more tension than reconciliation.

00:20:22.000 But there'll be demands for border policy in there, tax policy.

00:20:26.000 There'll be a desire to reduce spending in a lot of the agencies that have had mission creep, like the Department of Education and the EPA. And, you know, our hope is that you get a speaker willing and confident But let me tell you something, Charlie, if this had been a close one, I would have been there.

00:20:45.000 I have a certificate of election that I think still would have worked today, but I spoke to Mike Johnson last night, and he exhibited great confidence that after President Trump spoke with a number of our colleagues and excited them around a unifying agenda, that today would be largely ceremonial.

00:21:02.000 So yeah, you could have actually showed up and voted today, if I'm not mistaken.

00:21:06.000 Is that what you're saying?

00:21:07.000 Is that right, Matt?

00:21:08.000 Yeah, my vote was needed.

00:21:09.000 I would have been there.

00:21:11.000 I had a flight booked and everything, but the speaker gave me a ring and said he felt as though that people's concerns had been heard, that they were being addressed, and that they would have a unified Republican team coming out of the day.

00:21:23.000 So, Matt, let me speak on behalf of the audience.

00:21:25.000 We have about 3,000 emails that have come in in the last 30 minutes, and it's 99% against Speaker Johnson.

00:21:33.000 They can't stand him.

00:21:34.000 They call him a gutless wonder.

00:21:35.000 They say he's a liar.

00:21:37.000 He's deceived us.

00:21:38.000 He has misled us.

00:21:40.000 What is your message to the grassroots that are incredibly disappointed with Speaker Johnson?

00:21:47.000 I'm disappointed as well.

00:21:48.000 When we voted for Speaker Johnson, he was for single-subject bills, he was against the war in Ukraine, and he wanted to curtail federal powers of surveillance beyond the constraints of the Constitution.

00:21:59.000 And he reversed his view on all those things and then constructed this terrible spending bill.

00:22:04.000 The hope is...

00:22:06.000 That courage is contagious.

00:22:07.000 That if you believe Mike Johnson is a gutless wonder, that once President Trump is dictating the agenda, Johnson will be merely a vessel for that agenda.

00:22:17.000 He has shown he is not going to be a change agent for the House of Representatives.

00:22:21.000 Now, where I will disagree with your monologue earlier when you said, well, nobody else wants the job.

00:22:26.000 That's not true.

00:22:27.000 Tom Emmer, the current whip, wants the job.

00:22:30.000 Jim Jordan wants the job.

00:22:32.000 You know, they're going to vote for Mike Johnson today as a show of unity.

00:22:36.000 But nothing, I mean, those two guys ran for speaker in 2024. That's typically an itch that doesn't go away with one scratch.

00:22:44.000 So what can be done through this process to try to ensure the next six months are better for President Trump?

00:22:53.000 So let's say he does end up getting the speakership.

00:22:59.000 Is there any concessions from rules changes or packages?

00:23:03.000 Because Matt, a lot of those concessions that you were able to deliver after the vacation of Kevin McCarthy were actually never followed through upon.

00:23:13.000 Right.

00:23:13.000 Here's what I learned, Charlie.

00:23:15.000 The only concessions that are durable are personnel concessions.

00:23:19.000 When someone says, oh, I promise this bill we'll get a vote, I promise we'll get a vote on term limits, I promise that we'll have spending cuts, with the right accounting tricks and the right political excuses, people can always weasel themselves out of those commitments.

00:23:33.000 The commitments we got from McCarthy that are durable to this day, putting strong conservatives on the Rules Committee, putting people like Andrew Clyde on the Appropriations Committee.

00:23:45.000 And when those folks first get on, they don't have the seniority or at times the juice to drive the agenda of those committees.

00:23:51.000 That's why Lauren Boebert came on my program on One American News last night and said, if Johnson would agree to make Chip Roy the head of the Rules Committee, a lot of those fiscal hawks Would fly in formation behind him in supporting Johnson.

00:24:04.000 I don't know if that deal was made.

00:24:06.000 Johnson was indicating that he wasn't interested in any quid pro quo on personnel.

00:24:10.000 But if I were the holdouts, I would be holding out for getting the people who are not financially compromised by the lobby corps or special interests into some of the key budget positions.

00:24:24.000 That's how it goes best for Trump.

00:24:28.000 Let's dive into the legislative calendar.

00:24:31.000 It seems as if the consensus in D.C. is one big reconciliation bill.

00:24:37.000 What is a reconciliation bill?

00:24:40.000 You've mentioned this previously before.

00:24:43.000 Educate our audience on how this process works so that we can avoid 60 votes in the U.S. Senate.

00:24:50.000 Right.

00:24:51.000 Well, that's the essence of it.

00:24:52.000 On everything from immigration policy to a Mother's Day resolution, you typically need 60 votes into the Senate to proceed on to anything of substance.

00:25:03.000 And here, there is a unique kind of breakthrough on the Senate filibuster that only requires 50 votes plus the vice president if it is budget policy.

00:25:16.000 There will be an analysis done of everyone's ambitious goals and ideas for this piece of legislation that already folks are working on this month to see what is true budgetary policy versus what is a policy that is not spending.

00:25:32.000 But otherwise in nature.

00:25:35.000 And then that will be excluded from what is negotiated.

00:25:38.000 Now, our friends, the border hawks, will say, darn it, we want every bit of amnesty reform in this bill, and that will be challenging.

00:25:46.000 And then you'll have some of the fiscal hawks saying, well, we won't vote for it unless we get the trillions of dollars cut that Elon Musk has talked about with Doge.

00:25:55.000 And my suspicion is That the big spenders still occupy a sufficient majority in both the House and the Senate once you peel away party labels and that they will resist that greatly.

00:26:05.000 So I think that President Trump has got the debt limit to deal with.

00:26:10.000 That could be a function of the reconciliation bill.

00:26:13.000 It's going to be everybody trying to get their priority in this one thing.

00:26:17.000 And ultimately, this is so bizarre, but the Senate parliamentarian is the person empowered to determine Yeah, and so let's dive deeper into that.

00:26:35.000 The Senate parliamentarian, when do they weigh in?

00:26:38.000 Potentially they could weigh in once the bill's already passed the House.

00:26:41.000 Is that correct?

00:26:42.000 They could, yes, and that's when they have to officially determine whether or not provisions qualify.

00:26:48.000 But here's what will happen.

00:26:49.000 Lobbyists and special interests will go and work the Senate parliamentarian's office to try to get a specific idea or proposal either deemed included or excluded.

00:27:00.000 And so before you even get a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian, you'll have committee chairs and other people who are just vessels of special interests show up to representatives and say, oh, well, we'd love to include this Amnesty reform, but we've heard the Senate parliamentarian isn't going to allow it under what's called the Byrd Rule.

00:27:19.000 That's the rule that empowers the Senate parliamentarian to make this calculus.

00:27:23.000 And then when things fall out of the bill as a consequence of the Byrd Rule, they are inaptly described as the Byrd droppings of the reconciliation.

00:27:33.000 But this is not constitutional.

00:27:35.000 This is just a Senate rule, right?

00:27:37.000 And so this one person, who I don't know if she's good or bad, her name is Elizabeth McDonough.

00:27:42.000 She's been there since 2012, is one of the most powerful people in America. 1.00

00:27:46.000 Is that correct?

00:27:48.000 That's right.

00:27:49.000 That's how the senators behave. 0.79

00:27:50.000 But it is sort of, to your exact point, it is a prison of their own construction, right?

00:27:55.000 If I were Senate Majority Leader, if Rick Scott were Senate Majority Leader, he would just say, no, no, no, no.

00:28:01.000 This is what we deem appropriate.

00:28:02.000 We're in the majority.

00:28:03.000 The majority deems that for the reconciliation to pass, this is what's in, this is what's out.

00:28:08.000 Probably J.D. Vance could do that as the constitutional presiding officer of the Senate.

00:28:12.000 He could just go and, by function of the Constitution, seize that power from the Senate parliamentarian.

00:28:18.000 To do that, we would then have to awaken all of the senators with smelling salts after they've They clutched their pearls and passed out aghast with the violation of norms.

00:28:28.000 But we're either all prisoners of the Senate parliamentarian or there has to be some exercise of the power of the majority to get our accomplishments into this first critical piece of legislation.

00:28:40.000 Matt, you have a new show.

00:28:42.000 Tell us about it.

00:28:43.000 How is life?

00:28:43.000 You are going to be Attorney General.

00:28:45.000 Then life takes different detours.

00:28:47.000 Tell us how things are going in Matt Gaetz's world.

00:28:51.000 No, I'm excited.

00:28:52.000 I've got the Matt Gaetz show on One America News.

00:28:54.000 And the same day my show premiered, One America News was added to Sling and was also added to the Dish Network.

00:29:01.000 So we're in 10 million more homes than we were the day before I started.

00:29:04.000 And I'm really excited about the growth of the network and the opportunity to have the discussions that I used to have with lawmakers on the floor and in committee for the entire country to see.

00:29:14.000 So folks can get the OAN Live app as well or follow me on X at Matt Gaetz.

00:29:18.000 And we'll make sure to include you in the conversation.

00:29:21.000 Matt, thanks so much.

00:29:22.000 Talk to you soon.

00:29:23.000 Really appreciate it.

00:29:25.000 Thanks, Charlie.

00:29:25.000 Hey, everybody.

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00:30:35.000 The House is beginning to vote.

00:30:37.000 Can we have the picture in picture up, please, as we continue to talk about this?

00:30:41.000 Here's what I will say about Congress.

00:30:43.000 There are some rock stars in Congress and hopefully even more coming.

00:30:48.000 Ana Paulina Luna is a rock star.

00:30:52.000 There are rock stars across the board.

00:30:55.000 Brandon Gill, who is a very promising new rock star.

00:30:59.000 However, I'll be honest, most members of Congress are incredibly unimpressive.

00:31:04.000 You would not hire them to be a dog catcher.

00:31:07.000 And this is the greatest thing they've ever done.

00:31:10.000 And they ever will do, by the way.

00:31:13.000 They've never run a hot dog stand, nor could they.

00:31:16.000 They're incredibly ambitious.

00:31:18.000 They're cunning and very interested in vanity.

00:31:21.000 Now, again, I want to make sure it's very clear.

00:31:24.000 There are some rock star members of Congress like Daryl Issa.

00:31:28.000 I don't agree with him on everything.

00:31:29.000 Very impressive.

00:31:29.000 Very smart man.

00:31:31.000 Built a business.

00:31:31.000 Very, very smart person.

00:31:33.000 There's plenty of them.

00:31:35.000 However, there are far more than the impressive is the unimpressive.

00:31:40.000 They are just there to be important, to feel as if they've done something.

00:31:45.000 And for them, this is the student council equivalent for the rest of their life.

00:31:51.000 They get paid a nice wage, which by the way, remember that other continuing resolution bill that got shot down?

00:31:57.000 Had a pay raise for Congress, adding insult to injury.

00:32:02.000 By the way, I will give a member, you know what I think the bill should be?

00:32:06.000 I think someone should introduce this bill.

00:32:08.000 I think it's a great bill.

00:32:10.000 If we balance the budget, every member of Congress gets a $1 million bonus.

00:32:17.000 I think it would be a great, great use of $535 million.

00:32:21.000 I think that if we have, if every member of Congress, if they balance the budget, everyone gets a million bucks.

00:32:29.000 Say two million bucks, make it a billion dollars.

00:32:32.000 Breaking news, by the way, Representative Tim Burchette has said he expects multiple rounds of voting.

00:32:39.000 But I thought it was just going to be one round.

00:32:40.000 That's what some of our sources were saying.

00:32:42.000 Turns out they were wrong.

00:32:43.000 Multiple rounds of voting.

00:32:44.000 That's why we are here on the Charlie Kirk show to monitor all this, to manage it, to see what's happening in real time.

00:32:50.000 By the way, you shouldn't be surprised at multiple rounds of voting.

00:32:53.000 People are angry, and they should be angry.

00:32:55.000 People are fired up.

00:32:57.000 And you got these elevated student council dog catchers out there. 0.75

00:33:01.000 Some of them.

00:33:01.000 Some are wonderful people.

00:33:03.000 Some are very impressive.

00:33:04.000 That have bankrupted the country.

00:33:08.000 It's indicating that there's another no vote.

00:33:11.000 Look, this is all going to get sorted out.

00:33:12.000 Mike Johnson's going to become Speaker.

00:33:14.000 It might take two rounds, three rounds, four rounds, five rounds.

00:33:16.000 They want to try to create a PR spectacle around it. 1.00

00:33:19.000 Fine.

00:33:19.000 Good.

00:33:20.000 In some ways, it's warranted to have the spectacle because what has Congress delivered for us?

00:33:26.000 In some ways, you've got to send a message to the American people.

00:33:29.000 You've got to shock the system a little bit.

00:33:31.000 I get it.

00:33:32.000 Johnson's going to be Speaker.

00:33:34.000 It's got to have a little bit of a reminder that he's on a little bit of a...

00:33:38.000 Dangerous terrain right now.

00:33:40.000 But you can't extend this beyond Sunday.

00:33:42.000 You don't want certification to get in the way.

00:33:44.000 Totally understand it.

00:33:45.000 That's a fair argument.

00:33:46.000 It's fine.

00:33:47.000 Look, the emails we're receiving, freedom at charliekirk.com, are 99% against Speaker Johnson.

00:33:55.000 Just overwhelming.

00:33:57.000 That's probably an unsustainable political equation.

00:34:01.000 When you have 99% of the base of your party that does not want the speaker to continue, it's not good at all.

00:34:09.000 It is a formula that is a recipe for disaster.

00:34:13.000 We said the same thing during the McCarthy fight.

00:34:16.000 What is the alternative?

00:34:17.000 What is the plan?

00:34:18.000 And eventually, the dam broke.

00:34:20.000 Now, the difference, though, is that we have President Trump and we have the White House.

00:34:25.000 President Trump is going to get one big legislative shot.

00:34:29.000 Take your shot.

00:34:31.000 And I think it's going to be a big, beautiful bill.

00:34:33.000 It's going to be border.

00:34:34.000 It's going to be taxes.

00:34:35.000 It's going to be everything.

00:34:37.000 So I get it.

00:34:38.000 If I was President Trump, you almost have no choice but to get behind Mike Johnson.

00:34:43.000 Almost no choice.

00:34:44.000 You can't tick off the moderates.

00:34:48.000 You got to try to bring people together.

00:34:50.000 I get it.

00:34:51.000 Governing is hard.

00:34:52.000 It's very hard.

00:34:54.000 I do not envy those that have to govern.

00:34:57.000 However, I will not continue to make excuses.

00:35:02.000 And I will not continue to dodge and weave when people don't tell the truth.

00:35:12.000 That is a category difference.

00:35:14.000 You tell the truth.

00:35:16.000 It takes no talent to tell the truth.

00:35:20.000 Email us, freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:35:22.000 Voting is underway for who shall become Speaker of the House of Representatives.

00:35:29.000 Betting money says that Mike Johnson will survive.

00:35:31.000 How many rounds it will take?

00:35:33.000 We will see.

00:35:34.000 Tell the truth.

00:35:35.000 That is your one job.

00:35:36.000 Tell the truth.

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00:36:38.000 That's charlieforhillsdale.com, the register, C-H-A-R-L-I-E for Hillsdale.com.

00:36:46.000 Okay, our coverage continues of the speaker fight on the floor of the House of Representatives.

00:36:53.000 It is ongoing right now.

00:36:56.000 Tim Burchette has tweeted out saying he thinks it's going to go to multiple rounds.

00:37:01.000 And it's currently 64-64 tied in the House of Representatives.

00:37:08.000 And it's going to come right down.

00:37:10.000 In fact, they called, they said, Andy Biggs from Arizona.

00:37:12.000 And he remained silent, which means they go back to him at the end.

00:37:15.000 It's the most melodramatic moment.

00:37:18.000 I have a feeling Andy Biggs, based on that, might vote for Abraham Lincoln.

00:37:24.000 Just a gut feeling that he might vote for Donald Trump for Speaker.

00:37:28.000 We'll see.

00:37:31.000 The anger of the base is real.

00:37:33.000 What has Congress delivered for us?

00:37:35.000 And it's always an excuse.

00:37:37.000 Well, I gotta go to Christmas vacation.

00:37:38.000 It's too close to an election.

00:37:39.000 We don't have enough seats.

00:37:41.000 Well, actually, you have a House majority.

00:37:44.000 There is no trust between the American grassroots and Congress.

00:37:47.000 Trust is earned.

00:37:49.000 It is not given.

00:37:51.000 You don't just get trust for existing.

00:37:54.000 You earn it.

00:37:56.000 You get in the arena.

00:37:57.000 You work hard.

00:37:59.000 You produce results.

00:38:02.000 Massive chasm of a disconnect between what the American people want and what Congress has been doing.

00:38:13.000 I want to play this piece of tape here of JD Vance and Kamala Harris.

00:38:17.000 I don't know if we've loaded it up or not yet.

00:38:20.000 Pretty remarkable.

00:38:22.000 Let's play cut 50. It's one of my new favorite pieces of tape here.

00:38:25.000 Kamala Harris swearing in the new Senate majority with JD Vance.

00:38:29.000 Play cut 50. Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which you are about to enter?

00:38:55.000 So help you God.

00:38:57.000 I just love JD Vance smiling and grinning as it's occurring.

00:39:09.000 J.D. Vance is now the senior senator from Ohio.

00:39:16.000 The senior senator.

00:39:18.000 It feels good to say.

00:39:20.000 Senior Senator J.D. Vance.

00:39:22.000 And so therefore, J.D. Vance will resign his post.

00:39:29.000 Creating a vacancy, the governor of Ohio will replace him, making Bernie Moreno the senior senator from Ohio.

00:39:37.000 Timing is very important with this stuff.

00:39:39.000 Very, very important.

00:39:40.000 Sherrod Brown is gone.

00:39:41.000 We defeated you.

00:39:43.000 Casey from Pennsylvania is gone.

00:39:44.000 We defeated you.

00:39:48.000 There should be other retirements there soon.

00:39:50.000 The fact that Ruben Gallego is a senator, ugh, that drives me nuts.

00:39:54.000 Guy's a rat.

00:39:57.000 Jackie Rosen, awful.

00:39:59.000 Tammy Baldwin, awful. 1.00

00:40:00.000 However, we won some really, really good ones.

00:40:04.000 Some really good ones.

00:40:06.000 Joining us now is Kurt Schlichter.

00:40:07.000 Kurt, the House of Representatives melodrama is continuing.

00:40:11.000 How should we think about all this?

00:40:13.000 Well, I'd like to think about, is there a plan?

00:40:17.000 I mean, look, I was no big fan of McCarthy.

00:40:21.000 I'm no big fan of Mike Johnson.

00:40:25.000 What's the plan, though, Charlie?

00:40:27.000 What are we going to do if we don't have Mike Johnson?

00:40:30.000 And I don't foreclose the possibility there's a better speaker out there, although a lot of people seem to misunderstand what a speaker does.

00:40:39.000 They want the guy who's most ideologically copacetic, and that's not what he does.

00:40:45.000 He's really a conductor, a traffic director, a guy who puts together coalitions and raises money.

00:40:52.000 As long as he's not undermining you, he's probably okay ideologically.

00:40:57.000 But again, what's the plan, Andy Biggs?

00:41:01.000 You know, what's the plan, Massey?

00:41:03.000 Chip Roy, who I like, what's the plan, Chip?

00:41:08.000 What's the plan?

00:41:09.000 I'd like to know.

00:41:11.000 Because if you don't have a plan, you're gonna fail.

00:41:16.000 No, and I agree.

00:41:17.000 I think, Kurt, if you were to ask them privately, they would say the plan is performative, which I think is silly.

00:41:24.000 However, is there a place in politics for, like, we're at least going to put up the motions of some sort of a fight?

00:41:34.000 Or is that just completely silly and should be dismissed?

00:41:38.000 Well, look, we have been putting up a fight.

00:41:40.000 We beat back that 1,500-page atrocity and did a continuing resolution, which is bad, but it was nowhere near as bad as what we beat down.

00:41:55.000 So we are making progress.

00:41:57.000 Look, you...

00:42:01.000 We're going to take two steps forward and one step back.

00:42:04.000 And I think we need to stop as a movement expecting perfection all the time.

00:42:12.000 On the other hand, we also cannot never expect perfection.

00:42:17.000 You were...

00:42:18.000 Yeah, you were very eloquent when you were saying, oh, well, we can't do it.

00:42:22.000 It's too close to the election.

00:42:23.000 It's Christmas vacation.

00:42:25.000 My dog's at the veterinarians.

00:42:28.000 We can't get this passed.

00:42:29.000 We don't have to accept that.

00:42:30.000 That's not what I'm saying.

00:42:32.000 What I'm saying is...

00:42:34.000 That we need to understand that we've got a three to four vote majority.

00:42:38.000 That's going to be tight.

00:42:40.000 It's going to give individual congressmen the chance to be showboats. 0.92

00:42:45.000 And human nature says that out of about 222 congressmen, you're going to have a few who want to get that spotlight.

00:42:52.000 And the way they get that spotlight is by saying no.

00:42:56.000 So we're in a tough position.

00:42:59.000 I think we'd be in a much better position if we had more congressmen.

00:43:03.000 And I think if we had Kevin McCarthy, as much as I have problems with Kevin McCarthy, and I certainly do, I think we would have won more seats because he's a very savvy operator, even if he does make me want to pound my head into the wall sometimes.

00:43:20.000 So we are where we are.

00:43:22.000 We've got to make the best of it.

00:43:23.000 And that means acting as adults and trying to achieve 90% of what we want rather than 0%.

00:43:33.000 Here is the update right now, is that as we're here live, four Republicans, Biggs, Cloud, Gosar, and Harris, have not responded to the speaker vote.

00:43:44.000 And of course, Carson is Democrat as well.

00:43:46.000 They then get to go at the end and kind of do some melodrama.

00:43:49.000 I would not be surprised if this goes to a second and third ballot.

00:43:53.000 Kurt, let's assume that Johnson does survive.

00:43:56.000 Are there any...

00:43:57.000 Should there at least be a forcing function of more concessions and more agreements to try to make sure we don't get another continuing resolution?

00:44:06.000 What compromises could legitimately be offered?

00:44:09.000 Well, look, I would love to get back to regular order, but that's going to take more than...

00:44:16.000 Look, I think that's going to take more than four or five people forcing it.

00:44:20.000 I think you need a commitment on the part of the entire Republican caucus.

00:44:25.000 And unfortunately, we don't have that.

00:44:27.000 I mean, look, I've got...

00:44:29.000 Today, I'm vaguely annoyed with the guys who aren't jumping on board, but let's understand the root of the problem is a lot of these appropriator Republicans, Republicans who are hardcore conservatives right up to election day, then they come back to Washington and it's off to steak dinners and hanging with the lobbyists.

00:44:49.000 We need an ideological commitment to putting the America First agenda that the American people voted for with Donald Trump and overwhelmingly in the Senate into effect in the House.

00:45:00.000 And it's...

00:45:02.000 You know, I think we saw some beneficial stuff happening over in the Senate where we got focused on people who were trying to be glory hogs. 0.99

00:45:16.000 I mean, Joni Ernst, before she brought the spotlight on herself with this whole Hamlet act over Pete Hegson, did you know she was a giant squish who supported the Lankford immigration abomination and the Cornyn gun control thing? 0.99

00:45:31.000 I didn't know that.

00:45:32.000 I just thought she was a relatively inoffensive backbencher. 1.00

00:45:36.000 And then she threw the spotlight on herself.

00:45:38.000 We all saw it.

00:45:40.000 And boy, she beat a hasty retreat.

00:45:42.000 I think we need to do that to some congressmen.

00:45:46.000 Really quick, Kurt, plug your books here.

00:45:48.000 We've got a break coming up here.

00:45:49.000 Really quick, plug your stuff.

00:45:52.000 Check out The Attack.

00:45:54.000 It's my newest novel.

00:45:55.000 It's about terrorism in America.

00:45:57.000 And I've got to say, my sales are huge after the last two days.

00:46:02.000 Because this book, which I did in conjunction with a lot of people who are deeply in the know, talks about the internal threat that we have here.

00:46:12.000 And it's a huge Thank you.

00:46:13.000 Kurt, we'll be right back.

00:46:15.000 So far, there are four people that have at least moved their votes to the end.

00:46:20.000 So it's going to be very melodramatic.

00:46:21.000 We have our eyes on this as it is occurring.

00:46:23.000 We are going, actually six people.

00:46:26.000 I want to go right to the end when they are called.

00:46:28.000 Mike Johnson can only lose two people.

00:46:31.000 He's already lost Thomas Massey, who voted for Tom Emmer.

00:46:33.000 So if one more person, Biggs, Cloud, Clyde, Gosar, Harris, end up saying no...

00:46:41.000 Now they gotta be a little bit careful here.

00:46:44.000 They gotta be a little bit careful.

00:46:47.000 Because they don't have as much flex in the joints that they did last time with McCarthy.

00:46:54.000 So, Hakeem Jeffries could become speaker.

00:46:57.000 So they just gotta be a little bit careful.

00:47:00.000 Gotta be a little bit careful.

00:47:04.000 Gosar has set out of calling his name.

00:47:06.000 So has Andy Harris.

00:47:09.000 So you could have potentially Speaker Jeffries.

00:47:12.000 However, you could do a motion to vacate, which they would do, and then they could reconvene if they realized their math was all wrong because they still outnumber him.

00:47:19.000 So there are two other votes that are now outstanding of people that have not decided to back Mike Johnson.

00:47:30.000 This should be a no-brainer, everybody.

00:47:33.000 And no, I'm not saying it in a lecturing way.

00:47:35.000 We just won an election triumph.

00:47:39.000 Shouldn't it be easy to elect a speaker?

00:47:41.000 No.

00:47:42.000 It's because Congress has not been listening to the mandate the American people has been giving them.

00:47:49.000 This is a byproduct of all of their behavior.

00:47:53.000 And so when will it get better?

00:47:54.000 That's a great question.

00:47:55.000 At the same time, it's very difficult to see how President Trump could have navigated this differently.

00:48:00.000 The only play that President Trump could have possibly made here is having an outsider become Speaker of the House.

00:48:07.000 The only play could have been a very stones the size of Saturn play.

00:48:16.000 The only other play could have been finding someone that everybody likes.

00:48:21.000 For example...

00:48:23.000 The play could have been, hey, instead of running the EPA, Lee Zeldin comes in as civilian speaker.

00:48:32.000 That would be very interesting.

00:48:34.000 The civilian speaker.

00:48:36.000 Lee Zeldin, that's the only other play, because nobody in this entire wretched, cancer-filled, tumor-infested institution It's going to fix it.

00:48:54.000 And so people say, well, what's the plan?

00:48:57.000 What's the plan?

00:48:57.000 The plan could have been Lee Zeldin for Speaker.

00:49:00.000 Everybody loves Lee.

00:49:01.000 I love Lee.

00:49:02.000 The moderates love Lee.

00:49:03.000 He's from New York.

00:49:04.000 He's a Trump loyalist.

00:49:06.000 He's going on to run the EPA, which is a great job for him.

00:49:08.000 He's going to do a phenomenal job.

00:49:10.000 But that's an interesting one.

00:49:13.000 It definitely would have been something.

00:49:15.000 But again, that's the only other play.

00:49:16.000 So it's going to be Mike Johnson, and that's what President Trump wants.

00:49:19.000 And you've got to go within the body.

00:49:21.000 Now, whether or not it's going to be on the first ballot, the second ballot, I don't know if it's going to happen on this ballot.

00:49:25.000 I think they're going to make him kind of go through the Kevin McCarthy treatment a couple times.

00:49:28.000 Make him sweat a little bit, go on camera, come back.

00:49:31.000 This could be a very, very late night.

00:49:33.000 Remember, this went on for days last time.

00:49:35.000 This was a multiple-day spectacle last time.

00:49:40.000 So where are we at on the vote totals?

00:49:41.000 I can't see that.

00:49:42.000 It's a little grainy.

00:49:45.000 There are five people, six people that they're going to come back to at the end.

00:49:49.000 So once that happens, guys, let me know so we can pivot back and listen to it.

00:49:56.000 It's 163 to 161 right now as they are marching their way through the roll call.

00:50:02.000 These roll calls typically take about 45 minutes to an hour, if I remember correctly.

00:50:09.000 Remember, we became experts in this last year.

00:50:11.000 They went through 15 rounds.

00:50:13.000 Went through 15 rounds of this.

00:50:18.000 So now it's 167 to 161. By the way, some people are saying, but Charlie, no, no, no, come on.

00:50:24.000 President Trump doesn't get to pick his speaker.

00:50:26.000 There would not be a House majority without President Trump.

00:50:31.000 How did Chip Roy vote, by the way?

00:50:33.000 The camera is on him.

00:50:35.000 I can't hear it.

00:50:36.000 Can we turn the volume on so I can hear what's going on here?

00:50:39.000 He must have remained silent.

00:50:45.000 So that's another one.

00:50:46.000 There's going to be a very, let's just say, high-profile reveal at the end of all this.

00:50:57.000 Roy, standing in the middle of the aisle next to Keith, self-declines to vote on the first name, calling him his name.

00:51:03.000 Okay.

00:51:05.000 Congress has not earned the trust of the grassroots of the American people.

00:51:07.000 It's been betrayal out of betrayal.

00:51:08.000 We have a $36 trillion debt at a wide open border.

00:51:10.000 They're sending money to Ukraine.

00:51:12.000 The American people are getting poorer and poorer.

00:51:14.000 And this is all a byproduct of that.

00:51:16.000 But there would not be a red House of Representatives.

00:51:21.000 There would not be a Republican House of Representatives if it was not for President Trump.

00:51:25.000 He pulled that majority across the finish line.

00:51:31.000 All right, we have Jack Posobiec with us as we are waiting for the final call.

00:51:35.000 Jack, what is your analysis of what is happening right now on the U.S. House of Representatives floor?

00:51:41.000 One here is that, you know, we're seeing the same type of pressures that came out with the McCarthy fight, which turned into the initial sort of consensus pick of Johnson.

00:51:54.000 Johnson was, you know, I don't think on anyone's short list prior to any of that.

00:51:58.000 A lot of people, you know, thought that McCarthy would just sort of stay as Speaker to begin with.

00:52:03.000 That being said, I think it's very clear that at this point, Johnson has not done what he needs to do to win over the entire caucus.

00:52:15.000 That's why you're seeing these defections as we are right now.

00:52:17.000 And he's really only there because of Trump's endorsement.

00:52:22.000 And so without Trump's endorsement, essentially he could be removed at any moment because he just doesn't have the staying power on his own the way that you would have seen with potentially some of these speakers in the past.

00:52:35.000 That were more, you know, that had more time in leadership.

00:52:39.000 And so, you know, there's an interesting argument to be made that actually, perhaps Johnson is better for Trump to be there, or for Trump to have him there, because he's on that tight of a leash.

00:52:50.000 And so we're watching to see how this shakes out, because of course we know that if we get the fact, I don't think that we're going to see like a Democrat speaker or anything like that, but certainly there are some interesting parliamentary tricks to watch out for.

00:53:06.000 So Mike Johnson is...

00:53:09.000 Who is Mike Johnson talking?

00:53:10.000 Let's go full screen so I can see what's going on here.

00:53:12.000 Please, guys.

00:53:13.000 I'm trying to see who Mike Johnson is talking to right now.

00:53:17.000 I don't think it's a staffer.

00:53:19.000 You know who?

00:53:19.000 I think that's Dusty Johnson from South Dakota.

00:53:22.000 Blake, is that your...

00:53:23.000 Is that one of your people?

00:53:24.000 I'm 90% sure the kind of boyish look glasses...

00:53:32.000 I think that's Dusty Johnson.

00:53:35.000 Rusty Dusty.

00:53:36.000 Is that right?

00:53:37.000 No one's responding in the chat.

00:53:39.000 So, Jack, the grassroots and the conservative base are very much against Mike Johnson.

00:53:47.000 What is your message to them?

00:53:50.000 Look, my message to the base is this.

00:53:55.000 If you don't have the votes, if we don't have the votes, To put in another speaker, to get someone else up there, then you've got to look towards a deal.

00:54:08.000 And the deal is this.

00:54:09.000 What do you want?

00:54:11.000 Look at it from that perspective.

00:54:13.000 You're in negotiation room now.

00:54:15.000 You're at the table.

00:54:16.000 What does Bannon always tell us?

00:54:17.000 Not in the room, not in the deal.

00:54:18.000 Well, guess what?

00:54:19.000 You're in the room now.

00:54:20.000 And so you've got these holdouts out there.

00:54:22.000 So the question is, what do we want?

00:54:24.000 Is it wall funding?

00:54:26.000 Is it something, by the way, on H-1B, which has been a hot button issue for quite some time now?

00:54:32.000 Obviously, the administration, when President Trump is inaugurated here in 17 days, will have the ability to rule on H-1B as pertains to some of these rules at DHS that control various Levels of salary, but perhaps a legislative fix could be something on the table, too, and secure those commitments.

00:54:52.000 So you look at these holdouts potentially as the proxies of the voice of the base and say, what do you want?

00:55:00.000 What deal do you want them to carry forward to you?

00:55:04.000 And then you can also be taking to Twitter.

00:55:08.000 I would say take the phones.

00:55:10.000 I have no idea if they're answering the phones today, though, to be honest.

00:55:13.000 Really just get your voices out there and then contact these various holdouts and say, these are the things that we would be looking for.

00:55:21.000 These are the things that are important to us.

00:55:23.000 And you've got a lot of power right now within the base because look, we know that President Trump is coming in.

00:55:29.000 We know we've got the Senate.

00:55:30.000 They're already seated.

00:55:31.000 Now we've got this situation with the speakership.

00:55:34.000 If he wants this thing, he's got to pass through the base.

00:55:38.000 And the other part of it is too, is You must maintain and secure your power.

00:55:44.000 Don't just sit back.

00:55:46.000 We're not doing the thing anymore like the Trey Gowdy era where we just sit back and, oh, they've got us taken care of and he's going to go and take care of it for us.

00:55:55.000 No, no.

00:55:56.000 You need to be interactive.

00:55:59.000 Speaker Johnson, or Mr. Johnson right now, Mr. Johnson is two votes short.

00:56:04.000 So they could call a recess and call it a day.

00:56:07.000 They could go right back into another round of voting.

00:56:10.000 Let's go full screen here so I can continue to narrate.

00:56:13.000 Mike Johnson is doing a beeline.

00:56:15.000 So Mike Johnson right now, this is what he's doing.

00:56:18.000 He's going to go find his staff.

00:56:20.000 Staff is not allowed on the House floor during all these votes.

00:56:24.000 So Mike Johnson is going straight to his staff and boom, he exits the special chamber.

00:56:28.000 He's going to go meet with his staff.

00:56:30.000 He's going to go into the speaker's balcony and have a little bit of a powwow, a little bit of a meeting to try to work on the two defectors.

00:56:41.000 That's Marjorie Taylor Greene next to Thomas Massey.

00:56:45.000 Thomas Massey, who I know a lot of people try to attack him.

00:56:48.000 I I say two defectors because Massey's not going to move.

00:56:51.000 I like Thomas Massey.

00:56:53.000 I've always liked Thomas Massey.

00:56:55.000 And nothing can change my mind on that.

00:56:56.000 I'm sorry.

00:56:57.000 He's an independent, free thinker who loves liberty.

00:57:00.000 He just recently lost his wife, by the way.

00:57:02.000 By the way, he looks great with a goatee.

00:57:05.000 I got to be honest.

00:57:05.000 He looks really good.

00:57:07.000 So I say that, by the way, with an unblemished record of heterosexuality.

00:57:13.000 But he looks great.

00:57:15.000 Jack, am I right?

00:57:18.000 Jack sent something in the chat, too.

00:57:22.000 So, Jack, welcome to the program.

00:57:25.000 Again, Jack, what is your analysis here of how things are going to proceed?

00:57:31.000 Well, I just have to comment, because I saw Thomas Massey on, I guess, Matt Gaetz's inaugural program last night, and he dropped the glasses.

00:57:40.000 He's got the goatee.

00:57:42.000 He's tanned.

00:57:43.000 I think he looks maxing.

00:57:45.000 I think this is the right...

00:57:47.000 I was like, Thomas Massey?

00:57:48.000 That's not Thomas Massey.

00:57:49.000 I look at him and say, wait a minute, that is Thomas.

00:57:50.000 He's got his haircut there.

00:57:52.000 He looks great.

00:57:52.000 He clearly looks maxing.

00:57:54.000 You know, new year, new you.

00:57:55.000 So I guess he's going down that road, and God bless him for doing so.

00:58:00.000 We should all be focused on making sure that we're all healthy and getting there in the new year.

00:58:08.000 But one of the big pieces that I think, looking here now, is that it's very clear.

00:58:15.000 So, I mean, you look at this.

00:58:17.000 Johnson only has a one-vote majority over Johnson.

00:58:21.000 Over Jeffries.

00:58:22.000 I mean, this shows you, but one of the biggest pieces, Charlie, that we need to be focused on big picture here for the Trump administration coming in is that the majority is so slim.

00:58:31.000 It is so absolutely slim.

00:58:34.000 So when it comes to these big ticket items that the administration wants to push forward, that whoever, and I do think that Johnson will end up getting it.

00:58:43.000 I do.

00:58:44.000 I hope that there are some great concessions for the base.

00:58:47.000 I think there's a great package that's put together.

00:58:49.000 But looking forward, there's going to be some big fights, and there's only going to be a few folks that it takes to hold up so many of these things.

00:59:00.000 And I really think that that's going to be something.

00:59:02.000 The stuff that you're seeing today, basically, folks, when it comes to the question of Johnson, it's going to be this way for every single big fight over the next two years.

00:59:12.000 Jack, in closing here, let's say we get Speaker Johnson.

00:59:15.000 It seems that that is the way this is going.

00:59:17.000 It is an inevitability.

00:59:18.000 He's within two votes.

00:59:20.000 I think he'll clean up Mr. I don't know anything about the self guy or Norman.

00:59:25.000 What does this mean for President Trump and his agenda?

00:59:27.000 And what can we learn from prior mistakes of Congress?

00:59:32.000 Look, it shows you that Mike Johnson, in the time that he's been speaker, the short time, the brief time, he needs to do more for the base.

00:59:42.000 He needs to do more to show the base and show everyone that he's on board with the president's agenda.

00:59:47.000 And what he really should be doing is becoming a champion.

00:59:51.000 For the president's agenda there in the House.

00:59:53.000 Look, President Trump gave him this job, and it's his job in turn to reflect and fortify and deliver on the mandate that was given to President Trump and the Republicans writ large in Congress in the past election.

01:00:10.000 One of the things that I'm going to say up front, by the way, that I'd love for Mike Johnson to do, whether it's today, whether it's tomorrow, that he retains the speakership, And sit down with Mayor Bowser, and we need to see a real security plan for this inauguration.

01:00:22.000 I'm talking National Guard.

01:00:24.000 I'm talking everything.

01:00:25.000 We need to see it, and we need to see it fast.

01:00:28.000 And you and I are both going to be there, so playtime is over.

01:00:32.000 I think you're exactly right.

01:00:33.000 They're going to go to another ballot here.

01:00:35.000 I would bet very good money that Mike Johnson will be Speaker of the House by tonight.

01:00:42.000 Email us, freedomatcharliekirk.com.

01:00:44.000 Your opinions on the whole Mike Johnson saga.

01:00:48.000 Seems as if we have no choice of what President Trump wants, and so that is the directional energy where it's at right now.

01:00:53.000 Jack, thank you so much.

01:00:55.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.

01:00:57.000 Email us, as always, freedomatcharliekirk.com.

The Charlie Kirk Show - January 03, 2025

Well, What Was the Point of All That?: The House Speaker Race

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