Nel’s New Day

The U.S. media is consumed with reports from Israel, detailed interviews of suffering from those attacked by the Hamas. Meanwhile, the U.S. government is paralyzed by no Speaker in the House after eight far-right Republicans voted Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) out of the office a week ago. The proposed new leadership has one goal—burn down the government. While the media concentrates on the exciting visuals of Israelis dying, it ignores the people who the GOP House leadership may kill through its radical approach to ruling, not governing.

The disaster came to a head began last November when a majority of eight Republicans were elected for the House. The election for the 118^th congressional House Speaker began on January 3 and lasted four days and 15 ballots. McCarthy got the job by making a deal with the devil, but he failed to pay the piper. Despite all the right-wing promises he made, he let Democrats vote to stop a government shutdown in October, a cardinal sin for the “Freedom” Caucus. On October 2, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), joined by seven other far-right House members, succeeded in their desire to remove McCarthy from leadership.

Three conservatives want to fill the void:

Deposed Donald Trump (DDT), who is not a member of the House, has offered to help the country by taking the position although the rules ban anyone indicted of a felony from being a member of the leadership.

Jim Jordan (R-OH), part of the January 6 insurrection, thinks his “weaponization” reputation will get him the Speaker position. Turning from what Republicans call a moderate to a radical rightist, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), is one of his strong supporters, accidentally brought back Jordan’s refusal to report the sexual assaults on his wrestling athletes while he coached at Ohio State University. Mace said she was unfamiliar with the allegations despite public testimony and on-the-record reports and called Jordan “a strong voice for women.” She also claimed ignorance about allegations of Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) sexual misconduct, illegal drug use, and public corruption being investigated by the House after she voted to send them to the ethics committee. More about Margaret Brennan’s Face the Nation interview with Mace and statements with other journalists.

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Jordan promises to cause a shutdown unless Democrats support his extreme, unworkable restrictions on asylum-seeking. The next deadline for the congressional budget agreement is November 17. His declaration of no funding for processing or releasing new migrants into the U.S. is “non-negotiable” although the law mandates the requests. Detaining all the migrants, too, would cost billions of dollars.

[Note: Mace also called Joe Biden “the most corrupt president in U.S. history” and accused him of bribery, money laundering, and orchestrating a prostitution ring. Last weekend, Fox’s Maria Bartiromo asked her for “specific policy decisions that Biden made that he was paid for.” Mace said she hadn’t had “the ability to research that.”]

Steve Scalise (R-LA), perhaps the most benign candidate after the others—including Oklahoma’s Kevin Hern—dropped out, is known for his ties to white supremacy. He spoke at one of their conferences and called himself “[ex-Ku Klux Klan grand wizard] David Duke without the baggage” but denied knowing anything about white supremacy. Duke said Scalise was “friendly” with Kenny Knight, Duke’s “longtime political adviser.” Like Jordan, Scalise voted against Biden’s legal electoral vote on January 6. Scalise may be the weakest candidate because of his recent diagnosis of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer in the bone marrow.

McCarthy  changed his mind today for the fifth time when he asked Republicans not to nominate him for Speaker after he said he was willing to run for Speaker again to show strength after Hamas attacked Israel. Earlier, McCarthy told Hugh Hewitt that he would do anything the conference wants him to do if he were elected. And that was after he promised he wouldn’t run again in his California seat after saying he would resign. All in the span of one week.

Therefore, the choice, as it stands, for the second in line to the presidency is among an insurrectionist, an insurrection supporter, and a white supremacist. (Probably between the insurrection supporter and white supremacist as the third one gos back to his presidential campaigning and legal issues.)

Jordan’s scandal regarding his refusal to report sexual assaults puts him in accord with former Speaker Dennis Hastert who served from 1999 to 2007. Indicted in 2015 and serving 13 months in prison, the evangelical Christian advancing “family values” committed financial offenses relating to the sexual molestation of five of his teenage wrestling athletes, 14 to 17 years old, in the 1960s and 70s. The statute of limitation had run out on the charge of sexual assault. Jordan’s Ohio congressional district is only a few hours’ drive from Hastert’s Illinois home.

Several House Republicans laid red lines in the sand to vote for a speaker. The current chaos came because the far-right insisted that one person could initiate a motion to remove a Speaker. A movement under foot is that this could not happen again without at least 50 percent of each party’s conference agreeing with Republicans that they won’t support a candidate without a pledge to change the rule. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) tweeted that she would “ditch” the rule so long as Jordan is elected Speaker, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) won’t vote for a speaker without the promise of an anti-transgender bill. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said she would only support a speaker willing to defund DDT’s prosecution.

GOP senators are split over the choice of Speaker; mainstays want Scalise with a fast transition. They also don’t want Jordan’s impeachment inquiry, calling it a “political loser,” and think they can count on him to avoid a government shutdown and provide more funding for Ukraine. Others who want DDT to shake up the party prefer his endorsement, Jordan. Mike Braun (R-IN) endorsed Jordan because he is a “fighter.” All the senators, however, are keeping their distance to avoid the impression of meddling in House business.

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If Republicans elect Scalise, he would be the most conservative House speaker in history, and Jordan is far to his right. That gives Jordan a better chance to win the contest.

Speaker candidates quickly unplugged Fox’s idea to televise the debate among them. Bret Baier said on air that Jordan, Scalise, and Hern had all agreed to the event, but they were pressured to change their minds. Instead, the candidate forum will be a closed-door debate.

The “festivities” kicked off Monday night when the House GOP conference huddled and vented their anger and recriminations for the first of many closed-door meetings. At the lengthy Tuesday closed-door meeting, candidates outlined their vision,  but the vote was split. Republicans want unanimity for one of the candidates before he is presented to the entire House for a public vote. After the Tuesday meeting, Rep Troy Nehls (R-TX) said, “I don’t know how the hell you get to 218,” adding that “it could be a long week.” Some of those leaving the meeting said they want to get McCarthy back

On Wednesday, candidates return to give more pitches.

Via https://nelsnewday.wordpress.com/2023/10/10/the-house-cagefight-continues-for-speaker/