How the Democrats will pick the next House Speaker

So when we talk about this orientation day, there are still some people that have yet to take those seats. And Dr. Walker, it looks like we finally got you up. Welcome to Fox Orlando Live. How are you doing today? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. Thanks for joining us to talk about this pretty important topic. Like I said, we're seeing some orientations happening there with these members of Congress. First of all, what kind of transition is that exactly for someone coming into Congress, taking that seat, perhaps for the first time? What do those days look like for them? Yeah, so it's, you know, it's orientation like anything else, you know, human resources is just members of Congress. It's the best way to describe it for people who have various jobs. But the difference is there's a lot more power and responsibility as it relates to being elected a member of Congress. But they go through everything in terms of how to submit a bill, how to co-sponsor a bill, budget, and some of the other topics that are important as it relates to Many of these individuals are new to politics. There's several members of Congress, particularly on the Democratic side, who didn't even, they didn't even think they were winning their congressional seat. So it'll be interesting to see how it plays out in the next two years. You know, it has been pretty interesting. I mean, we've seen a lot of turnover in this recent midterm, a lot of seats that kind of flipped. Going into this new congressional session, how do you think that's going to kind of set the tone for this next group of congressmen So you're right. You know, they're elected. Some progressives, Democrats are more centrist. It's going to be really interesting. I know we're going to talk about the possible next speaker of the House. But you have a really diverse group of individuals. And the next speaker is really going to have to figure out a way, particularly for the Democrats, to get their agenda through on how to try to make all these individuals with different perspectives on health care, the war in Iran, all these other topics. How do you collectively get all these people together to make sure that, you know, not only you continue to hold the majority two years from now, but also get some of the issues through that the American public is concerned about? And when we kind of talk about the leaders that are coming into these seats, a lot of Democrats are saying that they do not want to vote for Schumer or to take over that seat. They want a generational change. And I feel like we're kind of seeing that across the country with all of these different seat flips, the progressives you mentioned kind of coming into those seats. What do you make of that where they're not looking to elect someone who's had this position for a pretty long time? How could that change things in Congress? This is an important question, and I think we talk about the House first, and then we can talk about Senate leadership. It is clear that Jeffries will be the Speaker of the House. I think we should note that he's been mentored by Nancy Pelosi for several years. He obviously was a minority leader, but it's a well-known fact among folks on the Hill and politics that he will be the next Speaker of the House. I know there's a lot of concern. And you've heard even some new members who have been interviewed this past weekend and during their campaigns who raised concerns about Congressman Jeffries' leadership. I think some of those critiques are fair. Based on the numbers, he's going to be the next speaker. And that vote is going to be on November 18th. Now, let's kind of talk about the GOP leader. He's saying that he's not going to run for minority leader. This is Mike Johnson. Are there any kind of candidates that you think might be able to take this spot that the GOP should nominate for that position now that the Republicans don't exactly have control of this chamber? I think Congressman from Louisiana, Scalise is one of the individuals who, in my opinion, is he's already in leadership. And I think there's a possibility, it seems like he's interested in running for minority leader. So he's the one person I would say. Conservative within leadership, has the experience, has good relationships with members, and has raised money. So I would think he's likely to be the next minority leader. But certainly they have to have, Republicans have to vote. He will be the person I would think is the number one in terms of I had to rank individuals. And when we talk about those votes, for those of us who might not quite understand how that works, could you explain how each party puts in that In that position, the majority and minority leader. How do they cast those ballots or votes? Yeah, so usually in terms of the caucus itself for the Democrats, no one will know. It's kind of an anonymous vote. And so that's how it would play out. Then you have the much larger vote on the House floor. Clearly, the Democrats have it. A large majority, so like I said, whoever is likely to get the vote on November 18th, who we likely to believe is Congressman Jeffries, then it will come to a full vote. For the minority leader, they just vote in the caucus to make that determination. And like I said, I think Congressman Scalise is likely as the minority leader. And then on the Senate side. It's a little bit different story. You just talked about Congressman Van Hollen from Maryland, who's made it clear he's more progressive. And I would describe Schumer as a little bit more center-left senator. But Van Hollen has heard the cries of some progressives who do not want Schumer to become Senate leader. Well, we'll definitely see what happens with those votes. And to kind of wrap up this conversation, I have one last question for you. We've talked a lot about the changes that we've seen, this upheaval after these midterms. Just from your perspective, what do you see going forward? Kind of how, I guess the best word to use here is the vibe there in Congress. What do you see as being the next couple of months for this chamber? I think this is an important question. And what's really going to be interesting is how does the White House, not only the president, but we noticed Stephen Miller is the chief of staff. So how does he or does he even consider working with Democrats in the House and Senate to get some of the past legislation, critical legislation to address inflation, cost of living, some of the other challenges? Voters have made it clearly one of the reasons why things changed just a few days ago. Dr. Larry Walker, UCF associate professor, thanks so much for joining us to give an expert opinion on what exactly is going on there on this pretty important day in DC. Thanks for having me.