It’s Tuesday. “Hurry! You will only have these [two] weeks to wear jackets that do nothing,” @AmberMRuffin posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. That is the most relatable post that I’ve seen in a while. *Smirks at the cute, albeit slightly impractical coats in my closet.* Anyway, here’s what we’re covering today:
BREAKING: House Republicans just selected House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) to be their latest Speaker nominee (!) One Speaker candidate even handed out cheeseburgers to his colleagues. Not a bad ploy, tbh.
A fourth Trump co-defendant, Jenna Ellis, agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors in the Georgia 2020 election interference case.
Former President Trump is in court today to face his sworn enemy and former fixer, Michael Cohen.
Filing from a busy Capitol Hill, I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@digital-stage.thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. |
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Pick me, choose me, love me: |
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Welcome to day 21 of a House frozen in time, unable to legislate while Republicans squabble over who will end the mess they created and take hold of the Speaker’s gavel.
JUST NOW: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) was just selected to be the GOP’s latest House Speaker nominee following hours of closed-door conference votes to whittle down from nine candidates.
The candidates who bowed out: Reps. Austin Scott (Ga.), Gary Palmer (Ala.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jack Bergman (Mich.) and Dan Meuser (Pa.), Mike Johnson (La.), Byron Donalds (Fla.) and Kevin Hern (Okla.) have bowed out.
There’s somethin’ for everybody!: The conference is “choosing from a menu of … members ranging from establishment figures to anti-institutional lawmakers who say they want to shake things up.” Read Mychael Schnell’s primer on today
Logistically, how the nominating vote works: A nominee is chosen when one candidate receives a majority of the conference votes. The candidate with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated in each round until a majority is reached. The Hill’s Emily Brooks has a helpful run-through on the logistics.
Live blog of Speaker vote coverage |
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Uh oh, this is when the physical brawl breaks out: Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) told The Washington Examiner’s Reese Gorman that “the GOP Conference [ran] out of coffee in the room where they’re voting.”
Classic: Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) sent McDonald’s cheeseburgers to some colleagues in an effort to win their support. The letter included with the burgers
^ Hern also handed out coffee on Monday: Photo The swarm of reporters: From Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman
This sums up the situation well: A reporter asked Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) on Monday if he has a path forward. “Well I have a path at least to get up in the morning and get here,” Bergman responded. (From NBC’s Kyle Stewart) Photo
Who is nominating whom: Here’s a list of which House members formally nominated each of the Speaker picks.
So many signs!: Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) posted a video of him walking through the Capitol carrying posterboard signs. “En route to conference speeches. Wish me luck,” he posted. ^ Politico’s Olivia Beavers pointed out: “What I find even funnier … he went to the wrong location for tonight’s meeting,” she said about Collins. Check out Matt Wuerker’s political cartoon on the Speaker saga.
It was a beautiful night at the Capitol: Photo from Bloomberg’s Jonathan Tamari
Lol — covering all the bases: Insider’s Bryan Metzger posted a friend’s birthday wish to him. “I wish you either ten or zero more weeks of speaker votes; whichever is better for your beat.” Metzger commented: “a friend who understands modern-day media dynamics (I would like for it to be zero).”
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➤ FWIW — ONCE A SPEAKER IS FINALLY CHOSEN: |
“Nearly all Republicans are already predicting another stopgap bill next month, like the one that led to McCarthy’s firing in the first place.” (Politico) |
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A *fourth* Trump co-defendant took a plea deal |
“Jenna Ellis reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in the Georgia 2020 election interference case on Tuesday, becoming the third former Trump campaign attorney to do so.”
How it went down: “Ellis, who once described herself as part of an ‘elite strike force team’ of attorneys pursuing unfounded claims of election fraud, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings … Like the others who took plea deals, Ellis agreed to testify truthfully against her co-defendants, including Trump.” Ellis’s sentence: “She was sentenced to five years of probation, 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution and write a letter of apology to Georgia citizens.” Who else took plea deals: Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro and Scott Hall, a former bail bondsman
^ I will never see Kenneth Chesebro’s name and *not* think “cheese bro.” 🧀
More from The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld
See the signed plea
Ellis said with tears in her eyes: “I relied on others including lawyers with many more years of experience than I to provide me with true and reliable information, especially since my role involved speaking to the media and to legislators in various states … If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges. I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse.” Watch her full statement
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Former President Trump’s “ex-fixer-turned-foe” Michael Cohen is testifying in Trump’s fraud trial in Manhattan today.
^ I love that description of Cohen from The Hill’s Ella Lee.
Why this will be juicy — Trump is attending in person: “Trump is also back in the courtroom, which means the set up will mark the first time the two sworn enemies will be publicly face-to-face since Cohen first flipped on his former boss amid investigations into a hush money deal made in the weeks leading up to Trump’s White House win in 2016.”
Live blog of updates: Ella Lee is covering the trial in New York. ‘Trump, Cohen stand to come face-to-face at New York fraud trial’ |
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🌎 Headlines from the Middle East |
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Four hostages
have beenreleased: One of the released hostages described being kidnapped. “I went through hell,” 85-year-old
Yocheved Lifshitz said, describing the tunnel system as a “spiderweb.” (The Hill)
‘Israel Says It Will Destroy Hamas. But Who Will Govern Gaza?’: “Israel has set itself a stiff challenge in aiming to vanquish Hamas. But an even bigger question looms: Once in Gaza, how and when does Israel get out?” (The New York Times)
A new statement from former President Obama: “[E]ven as we support Israel, we should also be clear that how Israel prosecutes this fight against Hamas matters. In particular, it matters — as President Biden has repeatedly emphasized — that Israel’s military strategy abides by international law, including those laws that seek to avoid, to every extent possible, the death or suffering of civilian populations.” More from Obama’s statement
What Biden has to say about a cease-fire: “We should have those hostages released, and then we can talk,” he told a reporter. |
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🍖 Celebrate: Today is National Bologna Day! *clears throat* ‘Cause Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A 🎵
🌚 What’s 40 million years between friends?: The moon may be 40 million years older than scientists had previously thought, reports The Hill’s Saul Elbein. (The Hill) 🤯 Britney Spears could have played Allie in “The Notebook”: The Daily Mail obtained Britney Spears’s never-before-seen audition for “The Notebook.” Watch her emotional audition
🐑 *Adds flock of sheep to cart*: The Washington Post’s Michael J. Coren explains “the surprising benefits of switching to ‘lamb mowers’.” (The Washington Post) |
Omg: “Lamb Mowers, billed as the country’s only sheep-led lawn care service, is munching its way to success. The small business in Northern Virginia employs more than a dozen sheep to mow, weed and fertilize suburban lawns across the region.” Video of Oreo and Marshmallow the sheep reporting for work
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The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. Harris has no public events scheduled. (all times Eastern) |
12:30 p.m.: Senators meet for weekly caucus meetings. Today’s agenda
1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters.📺 Livestream -
2:15 p.m.: A Senate cloture vote on Michael G. Whitaker’s nomination to be administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
5 p.m.: First lady Jill Biden hosts a media preview of tomorrow’s State Dinner.📺 Livestream
6 p.m.: The Bidens welcome Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon to the White House.
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