2023 House vote for speaker

[lpetrich]

Exclusive: AOC says Republican chaos shows how reasonable progressives like the Squad are | The Independent

But against the background of repeated failed attempts by the Republicans to elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker in the face of hard-right GOP opposition, AOC pointed out that many of the debates she was involved in with fellow Democrats were about actual policy. By comparison, House Republicans are mostly united on their goals, while they differ on the tactics and the rules governing the House of Representatives.

She talked to The Independent on the House floor on Thursday evening.

“I mean I think it just highlights how how extraordinarily bad faith those accusations of progressive unreasonableness are, even when they come from our side of the aisle,” she said.

“I think, whether you're Democrat, Republican or independent, what this whole episode really indicates and shows us is, again, just how bad faith and substantive some substance-less the argument and accusation is that progressives are, are just as bad as, as these insurrectionists Republicans.”

That doesn't mean that progressives won't fight, she says.

“When we make demands and pull the line on something, it is based on policy on substance, and something that frankly, usually every time has a path of possibility,” she said. “We offer a Plan B and we look at the reality and push us Yes, push as hard as we can. But we also have an understanding of what is best for the country.”

Lack of an active House can mean trouble.

“The more days that this goes on the more this truly starts to have a corrosive impact on our country,” she said. “Right now, members of Congress because we were not sworn in, we do not have we do not have access to our security clearances, or liaising capacities with that with agencies like the IRS or [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services]. We cannot conduct constituent casework to the same extent that we would otherwise and as a result, the longer this goes on, the more real impact there is and the more people are going to suffer.”

This time she's in the minority party.

“When you're in the majority, you're you're focused on spending a lot of your time on governance and we understand that the windows that we are in the majority are very precious time,” she said.

Seems like she wants to do something, rather than be in office for the sake of being in office.

Though she's had her differences with Hakeem Jeffries, she has left such differences behind.

“I think, right now, all of our central focus is making sure that we stay united as a caucus and identify what the bigger issue is right now, which is ensuring that we stave off a lot of the the negative and corrosive impacts of Republican legislation,” she said.

 

[lpetrich]

Photo of AOC laughing as Matt Gaetz makes impassioned speech goes viral | The Independent

In a letter to the Architect of the US Capitol Brett Blanton, a day before the photo was taken, Mr Gaetz wrote: “The Speaker of the House Office in the Capitol is currently being occupied by Kevin McCarthy.”

“What is the basis in law, House rule, or precedent to allow someone who has placed second in three successive speaker elections to occupy the Speaker of the House Office? How long will he remain there before he is considered a squatter?” he continued.

notes
Olivia Julianna 🗳 on Twitter: "Living vicariously through @AOC right now (pix link)" / Twitter

MG, a KMC opponent, said at one point that KMC would not become speaker today, tomorrow, this week, this month, or this year.

The Architect of the Capitol is the other AOC, the US Congress building-maintenance department.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC fires back after Kat Cammack accuses Democrats of getting drunk during speaker debacle: ‘If only!’ | The Independent

Ms Cammack delivered a speech to nominate Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to be speaker and said that Republicans are more willing to have open debate than Democrats. She also said Democrats behaved improperly during the vote.

“Diversity of thought is a good thing,” she said. “But they want us divided. They want us to fight each other. That much has been made clear by the popcorn and blankets and alcohol that has come in over there.”

Jake Sherman on Twitter: "interesting moment -- Kat Cammack said Democrats have been drinking during the speaker vote.
Dems ask to "take down her words" -- a mechanism to formally erase her words from the record.
There are no rules, so there's no mechanism to do this." / Twitter

Then AOC responded
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "If only! If Dems took a shot every time McCarthy lost a Republican, we’d all be unconscious by now" / Twitter

Then
Cheryl Bolen Smelson on Twitter: "@AOC But could you set up a cocktail cart in the cloakroom—proceeds go to charity or something? Could make a fortune " / Twitter

Then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@cherylbolen Fun fact: Way back in the day there used to be large wooden boxes in the cloakroom for members to stash their flasks and bottles before walking onto the floor. The boxes were preserved and are now kept in the Library of Congress!" / Twitter

 

[Ford]

So what will this new era of - dare I say it - McCarthy-ism mean?

Back when Tail Gunner Joe was storming around the Hill, there were hearings on every suspected "communist" and such.

I don't expect that Kevin will bring the same level of heat (if he even lasts a year as Speaker), but what will his "House Un-American" thing look like?

"Sir, have you now or have you ever been someone who's seen Hunter Biden's laptop?"

 

[jonatha]

If one member can demand a vote to oust the Speaker, what’s to prevent Dems from hobbling the ‘pugs by demanding a vote to remove the speaker whenever they don’t like what’s happening? Constantly, if necessary?

Nothing.

But a) there are more efficient means of gumming up the works if one is so inclined and b) it does not seem to have been a problem in the past (the "new" rule simply reverts to the way it was prior to Pelosi's assumption of the Speakership...)

Was it? One of the Democrats who addressed the Chair said that the rule change was made by the R speaker before Pelosi.

https://www.byrdcenter.org/blog/how-to-remove-a-speaker-of-the-house suggests the "1 member" rule was in place in 2015, when Boehner was Speaker. So it would have had to have been changed under him, Ryan, or Pelosi.

More research...

 

[jonatha]

https://rules.house.gov/rules-and-resources/rules-and-manuals-house-prior-congresses shows a change to the procedure to declaring the Speakership vacant which might have had the effect of increasing the vote threshold (it's not entirely clear). This was for the 116th Congress, which began in 2019.

I see no indication of any sort of similar change in the 114th or 115th Congresses...

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[lpetrich]

JUST IN: Republicans Scream At Matt Gaetz As He Launches Fresh House Floor Attack On McCarthy - YouTube -- a clickbait title from Forbes Breaking News, since it is mostly about MG's nomination of Donald Trump.

After saying what a great patriot Rep. Mike Garcia is, Rep. Gaetz stated that he did not agree with Rep. Garcia that KMC had earned the position of Speaker.

You only earn the position of Speaker of the House if you can get the votes. Mr. McCarthy doesn't have the votes today, he will not have the votes tomorrow, and he will not have the votes next week, next month, next year, and so one must wonder, Madam Clerk, is this an exercise in vanity for someone who has done the math, taken the counts, and is putting this institution through something that absolutely is avoidable? My colleague Mr Garcia did not say this, but many of my other Republican colleagues have they believe that Mr. McCarthy has earned the position of Speaker of the house because he raised half a billion dollars to get Republicans elected.

Then a lot of people said things that were difficult to make out, and the clerk used her gavel, said "The gentleman is not recognized", and reminded everybody not to engage in personal attacks.

Several believe that one earns the position of Speaker by raising enormous sums of money, and there is no doubt that the individual that was nominated by Mr. Garcia is the LeBron James of special interest fundraising in this town. There is nobody better, but I would suggest that there are qualifications for Speaker that are far more important. There are attributes that are far more important. Jim Jordan has those and I am submitting his name for nomination at this time.

After noting that a supporter of KMC said that he has "pure selfless intent", he said that JJ has lots of that quality.

Then referring to backroom negotiations. He continued by talking about how some House members are being interfered with, and then about the growing national debt, and he stated that KMC came out and said that some Congresspeople only want jobs for themselves. "That. is. not. pure."

He continued with selflessness. "Selflessness is not selling shares of yourself to the lobby corps, and then doing their bidding at the expense of the American people." He got applause for that, and he continued with how a certain person's ambition is now "paralyzing" the House.

He then said that there is great trust in JJ, but not such great trust in KMC. Then mentioning rules changes that would make the House Speaker less powerful and more ceremonial, like that of the British House of Commons.


YouTube now has auto-generated transcripts, using speech-to-text AI software. I've used the one for this video, but I've had to edit it to look like good written text.

 

[lpetrich]

Congresswoman Bush Statement on 118th Congress Swearing-In - Cori Bush

After four days of Republican chaos and disorder, Members were finally sworn into Congress this morning at 1:40 am. Though I am excited to finally be able to officially get to work and continue to deliver for St. Louis, rather than feel excited for my new term as Congresswoman, I can't help but feel disappointed and disturbed. Yesterday marked the second anniversary of the violent, white supremacist attack on our nation's Capitol. Hours later Members of Congress involved in planning and enabling this horrific attack were sworn into power rather than stripped of it. The new Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, was among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election. I can't help but question where the accountability is, and why these Members are met with rewards rather than reprimands. I will never stop pushing for accountability, just as I will never stop fighting for the people of St. Louis and our country. Democracy and justice will prevail.

Shortly after that insurrection, she introduced H.Res.25 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Directing the Committee on Ethics to investigate, and issue a report on, whether any and all actions taken by Members of the 117th Congress who sought to overturn the 2020 Presidential election violated their oath of office to uphold the Constitution or the Rules of the House of Representatives, and should face sanction, including removal from the House of Representatives. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

 

[lpetrich]

Over a month ago, but still fun: GOP Rep. Nancy Mace blasts Matt Gaetz as a ‘fraud’ for fundraising off McCarthy Speaker votes | The Hill

“Matt Gaetz is a fraud. Every time he voted against Kevin McCarthy last week he sent out a fundraising email,” Mace said on CBS’s “Face The Nation” with Margaret Brennan. “What you saw last week was a constitutional process diminished by those kinds of political actions.”

...
“I have no regrets about casting my vote on the House floor against Kevin McCarthy for Speaker!” one Gaetz fundraising email read.

...
Mace offered sharp criticism of Gaetz and other Republicans who were demanding concessions from McCarthy. She said she had “significant heartburn” over the deal-making that she said was not done transparently.

“We don’t know what they got or didn’t get,” Mace said. “We haven’t seen it. We don’t have any idea what promises were made.”

“I don’t support that kind of behavior.”

...
Mace said she was considering holding back her support of the rules package because of the “backroom” style deals that were cut by McCarthy and opposing Republicans.

“I am on the fence right now about the rules package vote tomorrow for that reason,” Mace said.

- the House Democrats who brought popcorn had the right idea.

More seriously, what kinds of deals did KMC make with the Never Kevin members of his party?