Congress gets together on January 3, which is this Friday. The first order of business will be the election of a new house speaker. The Republicans hold a very narrow edge in Congress. They need 218 votes to elect a new speaker

Donald Trump, although he has been highly critical of Mike Johnson, has endorsed him to be speaker. As I mentioned, the Republicans have a very narrow majority. When the Republican majority tried to elect a new speaker two years ago, it took 15 votes to do so. There’s an additional complication this time around that wasn’t present two years ago. The certification of the electoral votes for president is to occur on January 6. The house has to certify the votes. The house cannot convene until a speaker is voted in. If there’s no speaker on January 6, the house cannot convene and Donald Trump cannot be certified as president. In rational world, the Republicans would circle the wagons and vote Mike Johnson in as speaker. However, one republican congressman, put it this way.

“A vast majority of Republicans are rational, but not every member of the Republican conference is rational.”

Fun times. Happy New Year.