November 17 , 2023 . The CR passed the House on a decisive bipartisan vote of 335 to 91 . Nineteen Republican Members of the House voted against the CR , while 126 Republicans supported the measure . While McCarthy had a majority of his Conference supporting the bill , he was accused of passing the CR with all but one House Democrat voting in favor .
The House Republican Conference initially supported House Majority Leader Steve Scalise ( R-LA ) as their nominee to be the next Speaker of the House . Still , it became clear he did not have the votes in the House to become Speaker . The Speaker nominee needed to receive 217 votes on the House floor . The next nominee was Congressman Jim Jordan ( R-OH ), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee . Congressman Jordan had three votes on the House floor but came up short each time and lost the second and third votes . The Republican Conference then nominated Congressman Tom Emmer ( R-MN ), currently serving as the Majority Whip . However , Congressman Emmer realized pretty quickly that he , like Congressman Jordan , would be unable to get to 217 votes on the House floor . The next nominee for Speaker was Congressman Mike Johnson ( R-LA ), who served as the Vice Chair of the Republican Conference . Congressman Johnson had no enemies , so the Republicans rallied around him and elected him to be the 56th Speaker of the House . The only Republican who did not vote for him was Congressman Derrick Van Orden ( R-WI ), who was on a trip to Israel .
Julie Su Continues Her Role as Acting Secretary of Labor
On September 21 , 2023 , the Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) ruled that Julie Su legally serves as the Acting Secretary of Labor . The GAO cited
Public Law ( P . L .) 99-619 , which passed Congress in 1986 and provided that the Acting Secretary of Labor can remain serving until the next Secretary of Labor is confirmed .
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx ( R-NC ), Chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee , wrote to the GAO on July 6 , 2023 , seeking clarity as to which statute governs the tenure of Julie Su as Acting Secretary . Specifically , she asked whether P . L . 99-619 or the Vacancies Act , which limits the tenure of Acting Secretaries to 210 days , governs Secretary Su ’ s tenure . Chairwoman Foxx ’ s letter to the GAO can be found here .
There have been bills introduced in both the House and Senate to remove Julie Su as the Acting Secretary effectively . Congressman Kevin Kiley ( R- CA ) introduced H . R . 4957 to amend P . L . 99-619 to subject the Department of Labor to the Vacancies Act . Senator Cassidy introduced a similar bill , S . 2727 , which would also subject the Department of Labor to the Vacancies Act .
Senator Cassidy led a group of 30 Republican Senators to question the situation with Julie Su as the Acting Secretary in the line of succession for the Presidency . Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 to list the members of the President ’ s Cabinet who stand in line to succeed the President should the President die , resign , or be removed from office . The statute lists the Secretary of Labor as eleventh in the line of succession . The Senators questioned whether Julie Su should be in the line of succession when she has not been confirmed by the United States Senate . A copy of that letter may be found here . fall 2023 I customized logistics & delivery Magazine 9