By — Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-republican-house-leaders-hold-news-briefing-after-approval-of-new-rules-package Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: House Republicans tout new rules package, promise more changes to come Politics Updated on Jan 10, 2023 2:45 PM EDT — Published on Jan 10, 2023 9:37 AM EDT House Republicans leaders touted the passage of their new rules package and the promise of more changes to come for Congress and the American people. Watch the briefing in the player above. “The first thing we did is deliver on the promises that we made during the campaign,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said. “What we need is more Border Patrol agents securing America’s border, not IRS agents going after hard working families in America. And so we passed that bill and we’re going to pass more good bills this week.” This comes after Republicans approved their rules package for governing House operations, typically a routine step on day one that stretched into the second week of the new majority. It was approved 220-213, a party-line vote with one Republican opposed. House Republicans are expected to lurch from one standoff to the next after last week’s raucous speaker’s race that showcased the challenges ahead as McCarthy confronts a rebellious majority as well as the limits of President Joe Biden’s remaining agenda on Capitol Hill. WATCH: What House Speaker McCarthy’s concessions to get elected mean for the nation With sky-high ambitions for a hard-right conservative agenda but only a narrow hold on the majority, which enables just a few holdouts to halt proceedings, the Republicans are rushing headlong into an uncertain, volatile start of the new session. They want to investigate Biden, slash federal spending and beef up competition with China. But Republicans also face questions about newly elected Rep. George Santos of New York. Initially, the victory by Santos, an openly gay Republican who flipped a Long Island House seat held by Democrats for a decade, was seen as one of his party’s bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming midterm election. But as reports began to emerge that he had lied about having Jewish ancestry, a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, Santos turned into a distraction and embarrassment to the party as it prepares to take control of the House. WATCH: House of Representatives holds moment of silence on 2nd anniversary of Jan. 6 Capitol attack While some fellow Republicans have called for ethics investigations or for Santos to resign, GOP House leaders, including Kevin McCarthy, have notably remained silent Republican leaders are also focusing on the Justice Department’s review of a batch of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Biden’s former institute. Special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said “a small number of documents with classified markings” were discovered as Biden’s personal attorneys were clearing out the offices of the Penn Biden Center, where the president kept an office after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his 2020 presidential campaign in 2019. The documents were found on Nov. 2, 2022, in a “locked closet” in the office, Sauber said. By — Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press
House Republicans leaders touted the passage of their new rules package and the promise of more changes to come for Congress and the American people. Watch the briefing in the player above. “The first thing we did is deliver on the promises that we made during the campaign,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said. “What we need is more Border Patrol agents securing America’s border, not IRS agents going after hard working families in America. And so we passed that bill and we’re going to pass more good bills this week.” This comes after Republicans approved their rules package for governing House operations, typically a routine step on day one that stretched into the second week of the new majority. It was approved 220-213, a party-line vote with one Republican opposed. House Republicans are expected to lurch from one standoff to the next after last week’s raucous speaker’s race that showcased the challenges ahead as McCarthy confronts a rebellious majority as well as the limits of President Joe Biden’s remaining agenda on Capitol Hill. WATCH: What House Speaker McCarthy’s concessions to get elected mean for the nation With sky-high ambitions for a hard-right conservative agenda but only a narrow hold on the majority, which enables just a few holdouts to halt proceedings, the Republicans are rushing headlong into an uncertain, volatile start of the new session. They want to investigate Biden, slash federal spending and beef up competition with China. But Republicans also face questions about newly elected Rep. George Santos of New York. Initially, the victory by Santos, an openly gay Republican who flipped a Long Island House seat held by Democrats for a decade, was seen as one of his party’s bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming midterm election. But as reports began to emerge that he had lied about having Jewish ancestry, a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, Santos turned into a distraction and embarrassment to the party as it prepares to take control of the House. WATCH: House of Representatives holds moment of silence on 2nd anniversary of Jan. 6 Capitol attack While some fellow Republicans have called for ethics investigations or for Santos to resign, GOP House leaders, including Kevin McCarthy, have notably remained silent Republican leaders are also focusing on the Justice Department’s review of a batch of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Biden’s former institute. Special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said “a small number of documents with classified markings” were discovered as Biden’s personal attorneys were clearing out the offices of the Penn Biden Center, where the president kept an office after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his 2020 presidential campaign in 2019. The documents were found on Nov. 2, 2022, in a “locked closet” in the office, Sauber said.