The Daily Signal - Mike Johnson Wins Re-Election, 119th Congress Begins, Biden Blocks Nippon Steel | Jan. 3

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

On today’s Top News in 10, we cover:    The votes are in - Rep. Mike Johnson will be the speaker of the House for the 119th Congress.  The 118th Congress formally gaveled out and the 119th Congress gaveled in.  Nippon Steel might sue the U.S. government over Biden blocking the company's plan to acquire US Steel.  Keep Up With The Daily Signal Sign up for our email newsletters: https://www.dailysignal.com/email     Subscribe to our other shows:  The Tony Kinnett Cast: https://www.dailysignal.com/the-tony-kinnett-cast  Problematic Women: https://www.dailysignal.com/problematic-women  The Signal Sitdown: https://www.dailysignal.com/the-signal-sitdown    Follow The Daily Signal:  X: https://x.com/DailySignal  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedailysignal/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDailySignalNews/  Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@DailySignal  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DailySignal  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/TheDailySignal    Thanks for making The Daily Signal Podcast your trusted source for the day’s top news. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk, business. The votes are in. Mike Johnson will be the Speaker of the House for the 119th Congress. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News in 10 for Friday, January 3rd. Mike Johnson won his bid for re-election as House Speaker this afternoon, but not without a little bit of drama first. The first vote initially appeared to conclude with Johnson short of two votes needed to win re-election. All but three Republicans voted for him, those three holdouts for Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Representative Keith South of Texas, and Representative Thomas Massey of Kentucky. After the vote, Johnson walked out of the chamber and reportedly had conversations with Norman and Self,

and both then changed their vote to back Johnson. Republicans erupted in applause and cheers around 2.30 p.m. today when Johnson was formally announced as the Speaker of the 119th Congress. The Honorable Mike Johnson of the state of Louisiana, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 119th Congress. Here with us to discuss more is the Daily Sunnel's president and executive editor, Rob Buoy. Rob, thanks for being with us. Thanks, Virginia. What a momentous day. It really was.

Now, there were so many memories back to a couple years ago and the fight for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his efforts to maintain that. gavel and many people thought, okay, we might see something similar play out with Johnson today, but it didn't. It was a little bit different. Why? Well, I certainly did, Virginia. I thought it would be reminiscent, perhaps not 15 rounds like we saw with Kevin McCarthy, but it certainly seemed like it was headed to multiple rounds, if not just two rounds. And ultimately, Mike Johnson did a few things today that I think convinced members who were on the fence to ultimately support him. Number one, we can't discount the factor of Donald Trump. Donald Trump came out again today to enthusiastically endorse Mike Johnson and say, let's get this over so we can get on to

enacting the people's business. Secondly, Mike Johnson made some concessions when it came to spending. He brought over voters, members of the House like Victoria Spards from Indiana, who was on the fence, who said that after Mike Johnson said he was going to make a commitment to work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswami on their Department of Government Efficiency, that she would vote for him. And so then you had about 11 members put out a letter saying that they kind of held their nose and voted for Mike Johnson, but they did so because President Trump asked them to do that. And also they wanted to see him make this commitment to really enact spending cuts and do some things differently than what they saw in the previous Congress. Rob, I think that letter is really significant because 11, that's no small number to have in your own party saying, well, we're going to vote for you, but we're not happy about it. What did they say in that letter?

So you'll remember that Kevin McCarthy had about 20 people. The Daily Signal actually did a documentary about those 20 in 2023. So 11, not quite as many this time. But yes, they are significant names. They are people who are involved with the House Freedom Caucus, people like Chairman Andy Harris or Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Chip Roy, who's on the Rules Committee, along with Ralph Norman, who you had mentioned, switched his vote after initially saying that he was going to vote for somebody else. And so some of the things that they would like to see are really a prioritization of those issues. that I think so many people turned out in the election to vote for Donald Trump, making sure that there is a secure border, bringing down the cost of living by enacting spending cuts, enacting tax reform. Remember, President Trump's first tax cuts from 2017 are going to expire soon. So all of those things are on the agenda, and they want to see Mike Johnson use the budget reconciliation process to get those things done and not waste time negotiating with Democrats, but really unify the Republicans who now have control of both the House and Senate to get these to President Trump's desk.

Well, certainly an eventful Friday here on Capitol Hill. Rob, thanks for your time. Thank you, Virginia. Well, speaking of having an eventful Friday on Capitol Hill today, the 118th Congress formally gabbled out, and the 119th Congress formally gaveled in today. And that means that new members of Congress have and are being sworn in. In the Senate, there are four Democrats and six Republicans being sworn in today. two Democrats also were sworn in to the Senate at the end of last year as their predecessors resigned early. So in total, there are 12 brand new senators in the 119th Congress. And in the 119th Congress that once again started off today, there are 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats in the Senate. And in the House, there are 63 new representatives in total. 30 of those are Republicans and 33 are Democrats.

Matt Gates, seat in Florida's first district, is currently open, and that won't be filled until after there's a special election that will be held on April 1st. So in the House, there are 219 Republicans total and 215 Democrats in total. So let's talk about who some of these members are. In the Senate, some of the new names of the senators might sound familiar, like Jim Banks, Adam Schiff, Andy Kim, John Curtis, Ruben Gallego, Elise Slotkin, and Blunt Rochester. Those are all individuals who previously served in the House of Representatives and will now serve in the Senate. Banks and Curtis are Republicans and Schiff, Gallego, Slotkin, Rochester, and Kim are Democrats.

You might also know the name Jim Justice. Justice was the governor of West Virginia before running and winning his campaign for Senate. And Justice is, of course, a Republican. WDSU reports that the average age of the U.S. House, of representative right now for the 119th Congress is 57, and the average age in the U.S. Senate for the 119th Congress is 64. With Republicans having control of the House, Senate, and the White House, the next 18 months are viewed as critical for accomplishing conservative priorities. Because by the summer of 26, members are going to be busy campaigning for the midterm elections,

and it is unlikely that the Republicans will be able to maintain control of both the House and the Senate in the midterm election. Big news in the steel industry today, Japan's Nippon steel was moving ahead with plans to purchase U.S. steel, but President Biden has announced that he is going to block Nippon steel from acquiring U.S. steel. Nippon steel is Japan's largest steel maker and its headquarters are located in Tokyo. U.S. steel manufacturer steel right here in America and it's based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nippon was ready to pay $14 billion to take over U.S. Steel. Biden's decision to block the deal

is viewed as a slightly risky political move since Japan is a key U.S. ally. But Biden says he blocked the acquisition of U.S. steel for reasons of national security. Biden put out a statement today saying, as I have said many times, steel production and the steel workers who produce it are the backbone of our nation. A strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains. Now, Nippon looks like it might sue the U.S. government over Biden blocking this deal. Nippon and U.S. Steel put out a joint statement this morning criticizing Biden's decision for blocking the merger. The two companies said they were dismayed by President Biden's decision to block Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel,

and they said the block is a clear violation of due process and the law. If a lawsuit is filed, President Trump will be left to deal with that lawsuit. Trump has also said that he will block Nippon's takeover of U.S. Steel. Now let's hit our news flashes for the day. First up, before he leaves office, President Biden is expected to ban new oil and gas drilling in large sections of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, also in some federal waters. And the way he is seeking to ban the drilling will be challenging for an incoming Trump administration to quickly undo. The New York Times reports that Biden is planning to invoke

an obscure provision of a 1953 law. That provision gives Biden the ability to withdraw federal waters from future oil and gas leasing. If Biden does move ahead, with the plan, it will be seen as a win for environmental groups, and it will be seen as a blow to Trump and his pledge to drill baby drill. Stay tuned. On Monday, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden planned to travel to New Orleans following the terrorist attack that left 15 people dead. The White House said in a statement today that Biden will grieve with the families and community members impacted by the tragic attack on January 1st and meet with officials on the ground.

That's going to do it for today's episode of the Daily Signal's Top News in 10. Today's show was produced by Kate Trinko and Tim Kennedy and edited by John Pop. And make sure to take a minute to subscribe to the show. It really helps us to reach more listeners when you hit that plus and subscribe. We're across all podcast platforms. And if you would, take a minute to leave the Daily Signal a five-star rating and review. We love hearing your feedback. Thanks again for joining us for Top News.

news in 10. We'll see you right back here on Monday, and don't forget to check out our weekend interview editions, airing both on Saturday and Sunday this week.