Glory Grief And The Gavel – John Leganski

“So if that’s your position, I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere.” “I think they just want to fight,” Kevin observed to a few of our key staffers after the meeting had cleared. “I don’t think they’re ever going to get there.” “At least Ralph left the door open,” I said, trying to keep the attitude among the team positive.

“I think there’s room here.” “Yeah, but you saw how depressed Jim was,” Kevin said. “Even he doesn’t know how to get through to them.” Inevitably, our conversation also circled back to the Motion to Vacate, which Kevin was loath to accept having seen firsthand the torment that it inflicted upon Speakers Boehner and Ryan.

Yet giving on this ask also seemed to be the only surefire way to break the current Freedom Caucus logjam— leaving us between a true rock and a hard place. That day, Kevin was particularly piqued by a comment made during one of the organizing meetings by Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, who helped author the Motion to Vacate that Mark Meadows introduced against John Boehner.

“Guys, there are other ways to depose a Speaker besides the Motion to Vacate,” Massie told the conference. “What was Massie saying with that?” Kevin asked. “Any Speaker without 218 isn’t really a Speaker,” I explained. Simply put, the House is a majoritarian institution, through and through. Everything we do—from approving committee assignments and upholding rulings made by the Speaker to setting the annual calendar and even adjourning the House—only works if the majority party can enforce its will with the votes of 218 members.

But if the majority party ever lost its ability to corral 218 votes, all bets would be off. That extended to the question of removing a Speaker, which could effectively be achieved through other means—such as using 218 members to sign a discharge petition or overturn the ruling of the chair on the question of whether a Motion to Vacate was in order. “That’s what Massie meant,” I said.

“It sucks, but your job is at risk every day—Motion to Vacate or not.” Later that evening, we received a new letter signed by seven members of the Freedom Caucus, including Scott Perry, Chip Roy, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Paul Gosar and Eli Crane of Arizona, and Andy Ogles of Tennessee. Chip called me right as one of our press staffers texted me a link to the letter. “As we form the 118th Congress, any GOP Speaker candidate must make clear he or she will advance rules, policies, and an organizational structure that will result in the values listed below,” the letter began.

It then went on to detail eight categories of requests—starting with, you guessed it, the Motion to Vacate. We had been insisting for weeks that the Freedom Caucus move beyond their vague calls for “transformational change” and actually specify their demands.

Copyright © 2026 by John Leganski All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Regnery, 307 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications.

For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Regnery, 307 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10016 or [email protected]. Regnery® is an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation. Visit our website at www.regnery.com. Please follow our publisher Tony Lyons on Instagram @tonylyonsisuncertain. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. This work was written by the author without the use of generative artificial intelligence.

Jacket design by David Ter-Avaneysan Front jacket photograph courtesy of Caleb Smith Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-8534-2 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-8535-9 Printed in the United States of America OceanofPDF.com To my family, whose love and support made this journey possible. OceanofPDF.com T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Preface Cast of Characters PART I: ORIGINS Chapter 1: A Boy from Bakersfield Chapter 2: Young Guns Chapter 3: Curse of the Majority Leader Chapter 4: The Power of the Holy Spirit Chapter 5: Failure to Launch PART II: BATTLE LINES Chapter 6: A Night to Forget Chapter 7: Overtime Chapter 8: The Opposition Chapter 9: Secret Ballots Chapter 10: The Five Families Chapter 11: Terms of Surrender Chapter 12: “Just Win, Baby” PART III: FIVE DAYS IN JANUARY Chapter 13: A Modest Proposal Chapter 14: January 3, 2023—“We’re Going to War” Chapter 15: January 4, 2023—Last Will and Testament Chapter 16: January 5, 2023—Member Management Chapter 17: January 6, 2023—Morning Session: Stockdale Paradox Chapter 18: January 6, 2023—Evening Session: Second Death Chapter 19: January 7, 2023—Mr.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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