“Burn The Whole Place Down”
I had hoped by today that I would be able to write about something other than the complete dysfunction and meltdown of the GOP-controlled House, but alas, the story continues to dominate the headlines and seems only to worsen because the ex-president has now weighed in and is demanding Congress defund “Joe Biden’s weaponized Government.”
Since it’s Schadenfriday, I’ll keep this on the lighter side, while acknowledging that a shutdown of our government is in no way a good or desirable thing. We have faced long shutdowns before, the longest under Trump for 35 days when the GOP controlled all parts of government, so this is pretty much the way they operate. And we will get through this one as well. The only questions at this point are 1) at what level of pain and 2) at what political cost to the GOP.
Let’s start from the startling confession and frankly long overdue realization from Speaker McCarthy, who provided today’s headline. Complained a visibly frustrated McCarthy of certain of his own party members: they “just want to burn the whole place down.”
What led such a brilliant tactician and deft political leader to this wholly obvious point? Let’s review the footage of this slow moving train crash.
Never vote down the rule
There’s been a long-standing, unspoken protocol in Congress. Even if you don’t like your party’s bill, you vote for the rule that allows it to come to the floor. That’s because the House governs via majority, meaning the Speaker of the party in charge, via the powerful Rules Committee, gets to decide what legislation comes up for a vote and on what terms. Defy this protocol, and you strip the Speaker, and therefore your party, of the ability to control the chamber.
Twenty years ago, a rule motion failed, and it sent shockwaves through Congress. Speakers ever since have been careful to keep their caucuses in line. But now, under the unparalleled leadership of Speaker McCarthy, the protocol has been violated three times to send his own bills down to defeat before they could even get to the floor for debate. Two of those happened this week alone, and both concerned a very important bill to fund the defense of the nation—something Republicans traditionally have prided themselves on backing.
Et tu, Marjorie?
So what happened? Earlier in the week, five extremist House GOP members broke protocol and voted with the Democrats to take down the defense bill on a basic rule vote. The vote was 212-214. That was highly embarrassing to McCarthy and to House GOP leadership, whose job it is to whip votes and keep members in line. Fearing another defeat, they hastily pulled consideration of a “continuing resolution” to fund the government while the 11 remaining appropriations bills get passed, and they began working on an alternative path.
While that was being ironed out (it still hasn’t been), the plan was to come back with a more unified caucus and at least get the defense bill passed. That could provide momentum and restore a bit of faith!
Then the truly shocking happened. Speaker McCarthy, after cajoling and pressuring two of the hardliners to switch their votes, brought the defense bill to a rule vote, confident that it would pass this time. But two new opponents stepped forward to vote with all Democrats against it. The rule went down to a public, stinging defeat, once again.
This bears emphasizing. McCarthy is so incompetent, so not-in-control, that he thought he had secured the votes, but allowed Lucy to pull the football away again at the last minute, right as he went to kick it. McCarthy wound up flat on his back, stars swirling.
The icing on all of this is that Lucy in this case was none other than the white fur lady, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Q-GA). She was one of the two members who switched their support and sabotaged the rule. Remember: McCarthy had supposedly brought Greene into the fold, and she was supposed to be there to support him. She was someone whom he claimed reminded him of his old high school friends.
Some friends.
Tag team wrestling?
It seems we are watching a bizarre political professional wrestling match in real time, where the combatants tag in and out to go beat upon the poor bastard already moaning and rolling on the mat.
Greene claimed that she brought down the rule (humiliating McCarthy in the process) because it includes funding for Ukraine. But that makes little sense because she voted in favor of the same rule before on the same exact bill earlier this week. The other no vote came from Rep. Elijah Crane (R-AZ), who now says that nothing will get him to vote yes on it because he is protesting the way House leadership is handling government funding at the last minute.
These last minute vote swaps have led some to speculate that these public defeats are being orchestrated.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), who flew back to D.C. this week after missing votes following the birth of his first child, is mightily annoyed with the likes of Greene and Crane. He complained that the far-right obstructionists won’t explain their opposition and appear to be coordinating who will vote “no” to block McCarthy, just as they did when he sought election to the Speakership 15 times in January.
“There’s varying explanations. None of them make a lot of sense,” Crenshaw told reporters, adding that maybe the vote was a dig at President Zelenskyy who was visiting Washington during the vote. “It switches in both directions, so, just like, who knows….There’s probably some personal animosity there,” Crenshaw said.
Following the second failed defense bill rule vote, and with nothing to consider because he cannot cobble together a majority on anything, McCarthy let members leave for the weekend, with absolutely nothing accomplished and the clock still ticking.
“Feeding a drug addiction”
The House GOP will almost certainly be unable to pull the votes together to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government while budget work continues. As the New York Times reported, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) compared such a CR to “feeding a drug addiction” and is a “no” under any circumstances. (In an ironic twist, Burchett went on CNN to praise Nancy Pelosi in comparison, saying “she was pretty successful…a lot of work goes into that. But I’m not seeing that work right now.”)
Another extremist, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), whose background is nearly as fabricated as George Santos’s, is also a defiant “no,” writing on the X Platform, “I saw what happened with the debt ceiling. I saw what happened with negotiations & the senate. HOLD THE LINE #NOCR”
Altogether there are as many as nine hard “no’s” on the CR.
Seasoned Democratic leaders are watching this with a mixture of bewilderment and disbelief. “I don’t quite understand this,” said Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) of McCarthy’s strategy on the budget. “My advice is, ‘Go sit down with Hakeem Jeffries.’ If he’s got a solid majority of his caucus, why wouldn’t he? This is the tail wagging the dog. That’s not the way to do it.”
Democrats to the rescue…perhaps
The Democratic-controlled Senate has been preparing for the House trainwreck. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), faced with a stalemate in the House, declared that he was filing cloture (meaning, an end to debate) on a motion to proceed on a House Bill that had (checks notes) reauthorized the FAA.
Come again? What does that have to do with the budget?
Aha! Schumer is being clever. He’s using the FAA bill as a vehicle of sorts to add an amendment to fund the government through the Senate. This is highly unusual, because spending and revenue bills normally move first through the House. But Schumer and his Senate colleagues believe they must now move first because McCarthy has failed so utterly.
Over in the House, as I wrote about yesterday, the Problem Solvers are one step closer to filing a discharge petition that will bypass the Speaker entirely and send a continuing resolution to the floor. This end-run around McCarthy, should it garner at least five GOP votes and the support of all of the Democrats, would be a huge blow to his leadership—not that he has much left to damage.
It seems one way or another, the Democrats will put enormous pressure on McCarthy and possibly keep the government open through their own bills, with the help of some more reasonable GOP Congressmembers.
And if that means a motion to vacate and the end of McCarthy’s leadership, perhaps that’s fitting. After all, he’s the one who allowed in the crazies, the ones who just want to burn the whole place down.
The GOP sucks at governance but they don’t really think that’s their job. Their job since the advent of Trumpism, is burning it all down and have one dictator left standing. I said it earlier and I’ll say it again, you would NEVER see this happening with Nancy Pelosi in charge
" the ex-president has now weighed in and is demanding" and that in a nut shell is what is wrong with not only the House, but the whole GOP. They are all just puppets for the crazy puppet-master. And if McCarthy is ousted (and he probably will be) we get to see round 2 of the GOP trying to elect someone else? The GOP is so divided it is like 2 parties within one...the GOP and the MAGA.