Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

American history and black history cannot be separated.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You are here: Home / Politics / Democratic Politics / Day 104: The Final Vote to End All Votes?

Day 104: The Final Vote to End All Votes?

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Please god, let someone fuck with McCarthy tonight,  just because they can.  One final humiliation, please, before the real shit show begins.

Has any Speaker of the House ever summarily dismissed people from the regular committees just because they can???

I will confess that I am holding a grudge against NY for fucking up some of their House races.  It’s possible that we didn’t even have to be in this position in the first place, with the crazy train being run by the extreme crazy bunch.

Open thread.

 

 

Reader Interactions

504Comments

  3. 3.

    Kirk Spencer

    May some of the freshmen republicans decide they want their families at their swearing in ceremony, and balk at voting yes tonight.

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    @Kirk Spencer: I think the order is:

    Speaker is chosen.

    Speaker is sworn in.

    Non-speakers are sworn in.

    Rules are voted on.

    What bothers me is the idea of swearing in of Reps tonight. This is a big fucking deal for some of them, surely spoiled by this week’s craziness.  How do you bring your 7-year-old or your elderly mother to something that might or might not happen tonight and who knows what time it will happen?  Surely after midnight.

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    I did have one evil thought.  If a quorum is needed for the Rules vote – and surely it should be – can they get a quorum for the Rules vote if there are very few Dems in the chamber?

  7. 7.

    Scout211

    If you are interested in the new House rules that they may be voting on later:

    Here  is the document with the new rules and this link is to the analysis of the new Rules (which is easier to follow).  Kind of boring.

  8. 8.

    H.E.Wolf

    WaterGirl: I will confess that I am holding a grudge against NY for fucking up some of their House races. It’s possible that we didn’t even have to be in this position in the first place, with the crazy train being run by the extreme crazy bunch.

    Yes. It’s frustrating.

    The rest of us will just have to take our cue from the late John Lewis, and make a way out of no way.

    And also get in good trouble, necessary trouble, which is my favorite thing to do anyway. :)

  10. 10.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: You would need at least on D there to make the quorum call.  A quorum is presumed unless someone is rude enough to mention it’s lack.

  13. 13.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    It’s pointless and counterproductive to hold a grudge against NY.  There were winnable races in many other Congressional districts across the country, so why waste energy to continue flogging NY?

    I disagree with Mitch McConnell 99.99% of the time, but he’s correct about one thing, candidate quality matters. Democratic leaders need to recruit the best possible individuals they can find to run in competitive districts and win back the House of Reps from the MAGA lunatics.

  14. 14.

    Layer8Problem

    @H.E.Wolf:

    The rest of us will just have to take our cue from the late John Lewis, and make a way out of no way.

    And also get in good trouble, necessary trouble, which is my favorite thing to do anyway.

    “So no more running. I aim to misbehave.”

  20. 20.

    Scout211

    CNN

    House GOP leaders are working behind the scenes to head off a brewing revolt over the rules package that needs to be adopted in order to set the parameters for how the chamber will function over the next two years, according to GOP sources.

    Members are upset they’ve been in the dark about the concessions that Rep. Kevin McCarthy made to the far-right in order to secure the votes to win the speakership. They are griping they’ve learned more about those concessions in the news media and that there’s only been one conference call since the speaker’s election began on Tuesday, according to multiple sources.

    The rules package, which is slated to be voted on after the speakership is set, includes some of the concessions that McCarthy gave to the far-right, including allowing any one member to call for a vote seeking the ouster of a sitting speaker.

    But there’s grumbling in the ranks that members have not had enough time to review the rules package, and at least one member — Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas — said he would vote against it.

    Top Republicans believe they can limit defections to less than five Republicans. But the difficulty in locking down the votes underscores how hard it will be to govern in the narrowly divided House.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @HumboldtBlue: interesting, I saw this;

    Tony Gonzales @TonyGonzales4TX 2h
    I am a NO on the house rules package. Welcome to the 118th Congress.

    but I figured if McCarthy had Fitzpatrick locked up, he had the votes (Bacon and Mace are teh other two ‘moderates’ I’ve seen  mentioned)
    I wonder if Gaetz et al want to make one last show of force

  24. 24.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: There’s the official swearing in, then the ceremonial swearing in, in lots of cases.  I’m sure they’ll do the ceremonial one with the families at a reasonable hour.

    At least, that’s the way it would go in a sensibly run House; hard to tell with these folks…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker:  It’s pointless and counterproductive to hold a grudge against NY. There were winnable races in many other Congressional districts across the country, so why waste energy to continue flogging NY?

    Sometimes people do things for fun.  We all need hobbies.

  26. 26.

    Ken

    @HumboldtBlue: Any bets on the number of votes needed to pass the rules package?  More, or less, than the number to elect the Speaker?

    Also, I see reported above that the objections are to rules the never-Kevin group demanded. If those get yanked, do they immediately call for a confidence vote? Do they get to do all of this again in two weeks?

  34. 34.

    HumboldtBlue

    These people damn sure like to clap for themselves.

    Wankers.

    @Ken:

    Who the hell knows? For all we know, they’ll swear in and the GOPers will have some sort of animal sacrifice and proceed to a coke-fueled orgy. At this point, anything is possible.

  42. 42.

    Another Scott

    Nice shout-out to the House staff by Aguilar in his nominating speech for Jeffries.  (In reference to the proposed House rules to take away the collective-bargaining rights of the House employees.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  43. 43.

    Kelly

    It’s my fault we lost the House. I voted for Jamie McLeod-Skinner in the Oregon 5th district primary kicking to the curb the annoying but ultimately reliable Blue Dog Kurt Schrader.

  44. 44.

    James E Powell

    I will confess that I am holding a grudge against NY for fucking up some of their House races.  It’s possible that we didn’t even have to be in this position in the first place

    I’m feeling the same way about the allegedly pro-choice voters of Southern California, but I trying to get over it so I can focus on the next election. The next election is always the most important one.

  49. 49.

    HumboldtBlue

    @John S.:

    flipped some red seats and now everything West of the Cascades is blue.

    If I’m not mistaken, every Pacific-adjacent district in WA OR and CA is now blue. That’s a first.

  50. 50.

    Another Scott

    @Rob: That may be the intent and the way it works in practice, but the Summary that Scout211 (?) pointed to says:

    Resolution Declaring the Office of Speaker Vacant. Subsection (q) strikes language from rule IX to allow any member to offer a privileged resolution declaring the Office of Speaker vacant.

    Maybe Rule iX only applies to the majority – I haven’t checked. But it says “any” member.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  54. 54.

    Rob

    @WaterGirl: You weren’t! I hope I wasn’t coming across as critical or snarky or snotty or anything with my comments/replies. It has indeed been quite a week.

  63. 63.

    Alison Rose

    From earlier, but still on point:

    It is just too rich that @laurenboebert is flipping to allow McCarthy to become Speaker. After ALLLLLLLLL those vanity speeches. The next one she should give is her resignation speech. She has no credibility.
    — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 7, 2023

  66. 66.

    TriassicSands

    I think it’s worth pointing out that the only way they can elect McCarthy is by making sure that some people don’t vote.

    It’s sooooooo Republican.

  67. 67.

    lgerard

    I hope Biggs. Boebert and Gaetz enjoy their upcoming service  on the House Dusting and Vacuuming Committee.

  72. 72.

    TriassicSands

    It’s also fitting that McCarthy becomes Speaker on the anniversary of that special day in 2021 — the “just another normal tourist day.”

  73. 73.

    Steeplejack

    @James E Powell:

    What is more likely, I have read, is that the thugs gamed things so that the big denouement would happen on the anniversary of January 6. Taking the Capitol at last!

  78. 78.

    lgerard

    Gaetz didn’t vote

    It would be hilarious if Santos throws a bomb here and votes for someone else

  80. 80.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Interesting detail of this situation:  Once McCarthy has the title, if Democrats want him to keep it, it doesn’t matter what the loons want.  If Democrats don’t want him to keep it, his position hangs by a knife edge.

  84. 84.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Alison Rose: She gets no points for that look: she’s made it so often and for so long, it froze that way, just like your Mom told you would happen.

  85. 85.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Richard M. Nixon @dick_nixon 20m

    I rather famously called McCarthy “a grinning shitkicker from Bakersfield” and in its way that is the substance of McHenry’s speech.

    glad I skipped it.

    @RedDirtGirl: I think that’s the case, “present” votes from Rs help McCarthy

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    I think that Boebert and Gaetz decided together the they will both vote PRESENT, and Gaetz was deliberately out of the chamber when they called his name so that he can announce his PRESENT at the end, which I think will give it to McCarthy.

  89. 89.

    Alison Rose

    what are they applauding?? Oh NM, Twitter says Hunt’s wife just had a baby.

    I feel sorry for that baby. Unless it grows up to be a Republican.

  94. 94.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: Or, Gaetz votes for someone else, then Boebert changes her “present” to someone else to deny McCarthy the win again, and they high-five and giggle. Isn’t it weird that we can’t rule that out?

  98. 98.

    H.E.Wolf

    @WaterGirl:”I think that Boebert and Gaetz decided together the they will both vote PRESENT, and Gaetz was deliberately out of the chamber when they called his name so that he can announce his PRESENT at the end, which I think will give it to McCarthy.”​

     … drama queens.

  107. 107.

    tobie

    Can’t believe Hern is missing his mother’s funeral and Hunt is skipping out on seeing his wife after a premature birth of a child for this. It’s eating me up that the insurrectionists in the House will gain power in Congress on Jan 6.

  114. 114.

    Alison Rose

    It’s Patrick McHenry, Garret Graves, Matt Gaetz, and Lauren Boebert are in a crucial conversation right now.If Gaetz votes against McCarthy, and Rosendale votes present, McCarthy doesn’t have the votes.They wouldn’t be talking to Gaetz if everything was squared away.— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 7, 2023

     

    Matt Rosendale votes Andy Biggs.

    Gaetz has to vote for McCarthy, or Boebert.
    — Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 7, 2023

  117. 117.

    Steeplejack

    @Alison Rose:

    Gaetz is there. He’s positioning himself to be in the spotlight as the deciding vote for McCarthy at the very end. (After they go through the alphabetical list they circle back to recheck members who didn’t respond initially.)

  122. 122.

    different-church-lady

    Please god, let someone fuck with McCarthy tonight,

    Rosendale just did his bit.

  126. 126.

    Pete Downunder

    My friends here Downunder can’t believe that sane people voted for these clowns. I tell them they are assuming facts not in evidence. They also ask if I miss the US, are only moderately surprised that I don’t in the least.

  129. 129.

    Another Scott

    Bow-tie guy is pretty animated talking with Gaetz.

    Gaetz has coughed into his hand more than twice.  Hmmm…

    I assume it’s nearly over, but we’ll see.

    [eta:] “Present”

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  136. 136.

    Kelly

    @Pete Downunder: You’re surrounded by the widest variety of poisonous wildlife on earth whereas we only surrounded by Republicans…

    Oh, Hmm, maybe you’re on to something

  138. 138.

    HumboldtBlue

    Putin is the happiest motherfucker on the planet watching this clusterfuck of a fucking tire fire wrapped up in a fucking dumpster fire.

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    Where is PaulB when we need him?

    Does McCarthy have the votes or not?

    edit: I did the math, McCarthy is short one vote, right?

    edit 2: 215 +  211+ 4 = 430, divided by 2 = 215, plus one to get the majority.  That means he needs 216, and he has 215.

  146. 146.

    Another Scott

    Oooh.  Finger pointing.  Walking away!  Walking back!!

    Primate dominance displays!

    [sigh]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  148. 148.

    H.E.Wolf

    McCarthy needs 216 of the 430 voters on this ballot.

     

    ETA: A 216th vote has been added… not from any of the 6 pissants, though. No idea who cast it,or if it’s an error.

  150. 150.

    Alison Rose

    Gaetz and Boebert being talked to like misbehaving kids at Denny’s. Meanwhile, they just wanna go home and bang each other while yelling out PRESENT!!!!!

  151. 151.

    Eolirin

    @Old School: Does he need 216 or 217? If he needs 216, that may give it to him, but if he needs 217, he still loses.

    If Gaetz and Boebert are the only two presents, and all of the Dems are in the chamber, I think he needs 217.

  153. 153.

    RedDirtGirl

    Gaetz and Boebert are looking very uncomfortable all of a sudden.

    And I love that C-SPAN is getting us all the angles!

  158. 158.

    SiubhanDuinne

    By my numbers, McCarthy just won the Speakership.

    He sure looks unhappy, though.

    Mad, even.

    ETA: NEVER MIND. I WAS ALWAYS BETTER AT ENGLISH AND CHOIR.

  159. 159.

    different-church-lady

    McCARTHY: “WHAT IS IT YOU WANT, MOTHERFUCKER???”
    GAETZ: “You know what it is Kevin.” [points at gimp suit]

  160. 160.

    Alison Rose

    Here's the situation:Kevin McCarthy is a HALF of a vote away from the speakership. Gaetz and Boebert have voted present, but a third member needs to vote present or they need to flip to voting for McCarthy.Leaders are SCRAMBLING on the House floor. Very tense situation.— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 7, 2023

  168. 168.

    Martin

    God bless Matt Gaetz. King of the trolls.

    We’ve been telling the nation who these people are for years. We were right all along.

  169. 169.

    James E Powell

    Our MSNBC people are more emotional about this than perhaps they should be.

    Political reporting needs a Vin Scully.

  170. 170.

    Anoniminous

    Both Herself and I are rolling on the floor laughing.

    This is, as we used to say, better than an E Ticket at Disneyland.

  177. 177.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Did they seriously fuck this up?  They couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

  179. 179.

    Old School

    @Steeplejack: They cut away just as the guy was getting animated – I believe they followed McCarthy down the stairs, so I didn’t see what happened.

  183. 183.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Nine minutes old, so…

    Manu Raju @mkraju 9m
    Gaetz wanted to adjourn til Monday, sources tell me and @AnnieGrayerCNN

  186. 186.

    Scout211

    CNN reporting;

    Two sources tell CNN that Gaetz wants to adjourn chamber until Monday.

    Hahaha!

  188. 188.

    Amir Khalid

    This whole business has been a preview for Kevin: this is what his next two years will be like, if he even gets that much time as Speaker. Why would he want this? Why would anyone?

  193. 193.

    James E Powell

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Damn, I am continually amazed by how badly this is going for the Republicans. Not like it’s going to change any of their awful policy choices, but how incompetent they look.

  196. 196.

    Steeplejack

    @Old School:

    That’s what I saw. But someone on MSNBC immediately started talking about the confrontation, and I don’t think they were on the floor. I hope there’s camera footage somewhere.

  198. 198.

    tobie

    This will go on till hell freezes over. Either Republicans make concessions to Democrats to get some votes or just continue to humiliate themselves. Methinks they will choose the latter.

  199. 199.

    Ken

    I suspected McCarthy didn’t have the votes when he announced, again, that he had the votes. Past performance no guarantee, of course, but this seems to be an exception.

    I wonder if he could turn that to his advantage, by announcing that he does not have the votes.

  201. 201.

    CaseyL

    Amazing.

    I think, if McCarthy had won this time, the MSM would have been praising him for his negotiating skills (yes, really!) and his grit.  They would have been in full fellating mode.

    But losing, again, and this way… they might not be able to make that fantasy stick.

    I’m not sure even Fox can turn this pig’s ear into a silk purse.

  202. 202.

    Another Scott

    They’re going to vote now on whether to adjourn until 10 AM Monday.

    What a clown show…  (Sorry OO.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  208. 208.

    Soprano2

    @Amir Khalid:  That’s an excellent question.  Why would any sane person want to deal with these babies? I mean, it would be easier to manage a bunch of 5-year-olds.

  211. 211.

    No One You Know

    Does it matter what people “feel behind the scenes” if that’s also what’s in front of the cameras?

  213. 213.

    Michael Bersin

    I’m wondering if McCarthy (r) and his cronies screwed up the math. Do you suppose they thought it was 216 (hence the cheers) when it’s actually 50% (216) plus 1?

  219. 219.

    Ken

    @CaseyL: It might even shut up the pundits who keep calling for the Democrats to rescue the Republicans, now that it’s clear any “rescue” will only last until the next vote.

  220. 220.

    James E Powell

    Who grabbed that guy by the mouth?

    And who’s that little Orville Redenbacher looking guy?

  225. 225.

    Princess

    I don’t get why the 200 are willing to support Kevin. He just promised to gut the defense budget just so he can be speaker. He’s a loser. Why prop him up?

  228. 228.

    HumboldtBlue

    As a distraction, I know some here have watched Outlander, and I’m on episode 3, is it worth the time?

    So far, I like it, and I dig the historical element.

  229. 229.

    H.E.Wolf

    I’m annoyed on behalf of all the House staff members/employees whose paychecks need someone with signature authority by Fri. Jan. 13th.

  232. 232.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @CaseyL: ​
      BTW to carryover the discussion from below. This one reason I’m not giving up. Democracy can be so rewarding.

  235. 235.

    lgerard

    Wish that confrontation had gone on a bit longer, we might have seen some of Gym Jordan’s wrestling moves on display

  237. 237.

    CaseyL

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    This has been entertaining, I’ll give you that one.

    And a harbinger, if/when the GOP elects someone as Speaker, just what a terrible, horrible, no good slog it will be for them.

  243. 243.

    Kelly

    @HumboldtBlue: If you like the start you’ll like the rest. It’s good fun.

    By the way we just finished “The Sinner” on Netflix. A police procedural where the detective keeps peeling back layers in what seemed open and shut cases. We liked it a lot.

  247. 247.

    Major Major Major Major

    Damn, I go into one little Dwarf Fortress hole for *checks watch* ok, a while, but anyway, one little Dwarf Fortress session and I miss the best congressional trolling since McCain’s thumbs-down? Figures.

  249. 249.

    Martin

    Willing to bet this comes down to McCarthy having lied to Gaetz and Gaetz in return having lied to McCarthy about his vote.

    Now, did Gaetz just lie to McCarthy again? How much humiliation can McCarthy withstand? Are we testing that right now?

  251. 251.

    Ken

    I wonder if it would be more dangerous of McCarthy to have another vote tonight, or wait until Monday and give everyone the weekend to think, and talk. I’m half expecting some of those who flipped to supporting McCarthy earlier today to flip back, figuring he can’t possibly deliver on whatever he promised. Even some of those who’ve been voting for him all along might be getting uneasy.

  254. 254.

    H.E.Wolf

    Three cheers for the unified Dems… and a standing ovation for the Clerk, the vote tally-ers, the official recorder, and the C-SPAN camera folk!

    The Republicans in the 118th Congress will be a hissing and a byword. As well they should be.

  258. 258.

    Scout211

    I wonder what else Gaetz is demanding for his vote?

    I guess we will be looking at new set of new House Rules on Monday. There’s got to be some sort of special gift to Gaetz in it somewhere.

    ETA: not Monday?

  259. 259.

    Omnes Omnibus

    If he had any pride, he would withdraw.  But if he had any pride, that would have happened days ago.

  263. 263.

    CaseyL

    I didn’t watch this time, because I thought for sure McCarthy had this.

    Fortunately, CNN and others have film of the, ah, reaction to MCCARTHY LOSING YET AGAIN.

    If I were smilng any harder right now, the top of my head would fall off.

    ETA: Wait, they’re going to do another vote? Now? OMG.

  264. 264.

    Another Scott

    Adjourn had 218, now not Adjourn has 224.

    Gaetz and McCarthy were talking and glad-handing, so it looks like they’re going to give him the job tonight.

    Deadlines, and weekends, focus the mind!!

    Still, it’ll be interesting to see how the Rules votes go.  I assume that will be Monday.

    Exciting!!  :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  265. 265.

    WaterGirl

    @CaseyL:

    On the one hand, if they murdered Gaetz, they would need one less vote.

    I don’t think so.

    212 + 216 + 4 = 432, divided by 2 is 216, plus 1 for majority.means he would still need 217.

  268. 268.

    James E Powell

    @HumboldtBlue:

    As a distraction, I know some here have watched Outlander, and I’m on episode 3, is it worth the time?

    I watched three seasons. I found it entertaining, though preposterous the way historical fiction TV usually is.

  269. 269.

    Steeplejack

    @Old School:

    Adjournment might be defeated, apparently because the McCarthyites think they have squeezed out that last vote, either from Gaetz or Boebert.

  270. 270.

    MisterForkbeard

    @lgerard: Fer serious? I wonder what that’s about?

     

    A chance for McCarthy to get just one person to switch from Present to Chucklefuck? Or the TT20 twisting the knife and making him fail again even harder? Or even more depressing switch their votes to him to make clear to everyone that they own his ass?

  273. 273.

    Jinchi

    @Wyatt Salamanca: Don’t worry. McCarthy is going to get humiliated a lot more if he actually wins the job.

    He’ll be the most powerless speaker in history and probably end up having to resign in order to keep the government functioning.

  275. 275.

    H.E.Wolf

    With any luck, these lowlifes won’t be able to vote McCarthy in on Insurrection Day.

    “Be wary, be wary
    Of Sixth January,
    The Proud Boys and Oathkeepers too:
    Breaking down doors,
    Trampling the floors,
    And smearing the walls with poo-poo.”
    -SiubhanDuinne

  276. 276.

    Michael Bersin

    @lgerard:

    Matt Gaetz (r) was talking with Kevin McCarthy (r) as the vote closed. McCarthy rushed to change his vote. Apparently they now have Gaetz,

    MSNBC is saying that Boebert was supposed to vote “yes” and may have changed or messed it up.

    Pass the popcorn.

  277. 277.

    Martin

    Any Republicans head back to their office for a gun? I’m not convinced Gaetz isn’t trolling everyone again.

  279. 279.

    Alison Rose

    Members tell me MTG and Matt Rosendale we’re getting in heated exchange at same time as Rogers/GaetzMTG was telling Rosendale she has Trump on her phone and he needed to talk to the former president right thenRosendale shouted repeatedly, “don’t you ever do me like that!”— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) January 7, 2023

     

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, holds her smart phone with former US President Donald Trump on the line, as Rep. Matt Rosendale, a Republican from Montana, waves it off during a meeting of the 118th Congress in the House Chamber on Friday.#SpeakerVote pic.twitter.com/VWvOGfXd9Q— Al Drago (@Al_Drago) January 7, 2023

  280. 280.

    different-church-lady

    OK, so no matter what, it’s gonna go past midnight, so the ignominity of having this asshole get the gavel on the second anniversary of Jan. 6 is gone.

  281. 281.

    Ken

    “Hey Rocky! Watch me pull the Speaker’s job out of my ass!”

    “That trick never works.”

    “This time for sure… Presto!” (Pulls out a face-eating leopard.)

  288. 288.

    Anoniminous

    The only reason for Republicans to vote against adjourning is if they think they’ve got the numbers.

  289. 289.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Melanie Zanona on CNN said Matt Gaetz has now agreed to flip from present to yes for Kevin.

  304. 304.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @CaseyL:

    I have no idea, but I assume Zanona has reliable sources.

    Hopefully, McCarthy’s speakership will be a miserable experience for him. He’s a craven, groveling scumbag and deserves all the very worst that life has to offer.

  309. 309.

    lgerard

    McCarthy is such a self satisfied pompous lout,  Evidently his barber didn’t do that thing where they hold the mirror behind your head so you can see the back, because it looks like someone cut his hair with pruning shears

  311. 311.

    Ken

    @Anoniminous: The only reason for Republicans to vote against adjourning is if they think they’ve got the numbers.

    Granted, but they’ve thought that fourteen times before….

    OK, I’ll be generous, five times; once each on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and twice today. (Allowing that the re-votes on most days weren’t done with any expectation of change.)

  312. 312.

    CaseyL

    @Wyatt Salamanca: ​
     

    Hopefully, McCarthy’s speakership will be a miserable experience for him. He’s a craven, groveling scumbag and deserves all the very worst that life has to offer.

    Yes. yesyesyes.

    Someone should send him a monkey’s paw. To wear. Around his neck.

  313. 313.

    different-church-lady

    McCARTHY: “What will it take to get your vote?”
    GAETZ: “You will not get my vote until you agree to not be Speaker”
    McCARTHY: “THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!”
    GAETZ: [points at gimp suit]

  317. 317.

    piratedan

    sitting here thinking about the GOP Congresscritters that just lost their committee chairmanships in order to appease the Traitor Caucus and wondering how much shit are those people gonna eat and simmer in while watching these illiterate nimrods abuse their committee chair powers.  Who knows where the conference revolt is going to come from, but you know that train is in the tunnel and KM is standing in the opening looking the other way.

  319. 319.

    Renie

    @CaseyL: That’s the scary part.  Who knows what McCarthy has promised these morons so he could get their votes.  But we know it’s going to cause chaos and destruction for the American people.

  320. 320.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I go into one little Dwarf Fortress hole

    The new Steam release is quite an excellent upgrade.  I may miss Soundsense and Dwarf Therapist, but with the sound alerts mod and carefully laying out labor types in the labor menu, it’s fully playable by itself.  However, anything that breathes fire is ass.  Your dwarves can’t path through fire and no matter how badass your military, they will be utterly helpless.

    Oh, and make sure to gather up all those star rubies and sapphires and diamonds in the caverns!  They’re such a Fun new addition!

    Now I must go to bed.

  328. 328.

    H.E.Wolf

    Good night, y’all, I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. This country has lived through worse times. We’ll give these nasties their walking papers in ’24.

  329. 329.

    NotMax

    holding a grudge against NY

    Just stop it. Or at the least diss on Florida and North Carolina as well.

    If you doubt Rucho’s effect in creating today’s Republican House majority, look to Florida as a case study. In 2022, its governor, Ron DeSantis, “strong-armed” through the state legislature an extreme, gerrymandered map that eliminated half of Florida’s Black-dominated districts. In November’s election, the state flipped red three blue congressional seats.

    Similarly, North Carolina’s gerrymandering added three Republican seats that, based on the state’s Democratic vote-share, should have gone Democratic. Source

  330. 330.

    WaterGirl

    So what do we think McCarthy promised Gaetz?

    Also, for awhile there Boebert looked really strange, do we really think she was high?  She looked frightened to me, or frozen in panic?

  331. 331.

    CaseyL

    @piratedan:

    Wouldn’t it be pretty to think so.  But I dunno.  The allegedly “realist” or maybe just “less batshit insane” GOPers have eaten all the shit the Traitor Caucus has fed them without a protest for the past 6 years, so I don’t actually expect much from them on this.

  336. 336.

    MobiusKlein

    @Kelly: ​
     

    I’m enjoying the Dwarf Fortress / GOP Congress comparisons. But the frame rate with 435 Dwarves goes to shit, so can’t do a 1-1 comparison.

  338. 338.

    jonas

    Welp, it looks like Gaetz has decided he’s going to just fuck it and be a legend. The way things are going, by the time McCarthy closes the deal, it will be because he’s made Gaetz co-speaker, with a special rule that he, the actual Speaker, has to enter the House chamber led on a leash and shuffling after Gaetz on his knees. Oh, and McCarthy is no longer allowed to look members of the Freedom Caucus in the eyes while speaking with them.

  341. 341.

    Kent

    @piratedan:sitting here thinking about the GOP Congresscritters that just lost their committee chairmanships in order to appease the Traitor Caucus and wondering how much shit are those people gonna eat and simmer in while watching these illiterate nimrods abuse their committee chair powers.  Who knows where the conference revolt is going to come from, but you know that train is in the tunnel and KM is standing in the opening looking the other way.

    No GOP House Committee chair has done a lick of actual legislating in the past 20 years anyway.   Boehner was nothing but endless repeal Obamacare and Benghazi!    Ryan was nothing but coddling Trump, tax cuts, and deregulation.  Name one legislative achievement in this century that came out of a GOP-led house?

    They will do the same damn Hunter Biden Laptop!  and Fauci caused COVID bullshit as they were going to do anyway.  They will just do it less competently and more embarrassingly.

    There are only two issues I can think of.  The Dept Ceiling in the summer and whatever Omnibus funding package needs to get passed in December for 2024.  Is the rest of the GOP going to let these crazies set the country on fire?  Maybe so.  If they do it is because they wanted to to begin with.

  342. 342.

    eclare

    No way this group agrees to pass anything, and the budget will terrify Americans.  I trust Joe to have a plan to deal with the debt ceiling, he has been here before.

    There will be a lot of noise over the next two years, but I think that works to our favor.

  344. 344.

    Another Scott

    They’re in the “F”s and no votes for Other, so it looks like Qevin is going to be the next Speaker.

    For a while, anyway.

    What drama awaits on the Rules vote??…  (I still assume it will be Monday, as Gaetz wanted.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  354. 354.

    Mike E

    @NotMax: ???

    North Carolina delivered a purple 7-7 result, waaaay better than expected for a putative red state (of course, SCOTUS will rejigger it to 10-4 or worse for the next go round)

  356. 356.

    Amir Khalid

    I actually saw a Republican chatting with Honest George Santos. I guess that means he’s been accepted into the fold.

  357. 357.

    jonas

    I think McCarthy finally has it. And deserves to get it good and hard. He’s going to be in a world of shit for the next two years. At the very least, if his own caucus doesn’t boot his ass next week over some stupid thing he did or didn’t do. I’ve heard the proposed rules he’s agreed with these clowns to require him to process down the House aisles naked with Boebert behind him shouting “Shame! Shame!” if he doesn’t bring articles of impeachment for Biden and Harris to the floor within 20 minutes of being sworn in as Speaker.

  358. 358.

    piratedan

    @Kent: all that is true, but it’s also true that the GOP is made up of intellectual and emotional toddlers, if you’ve been a GOP Congresscritter for twenty years and dreaming of having your own gavel (after all, just look at McCarthy) and watched it get snatched away because of what has transpired over the last week… I’m betting that there are some deep resentments being generated here and lets be realistic, these folks in the GOP conference are not known for their empathy or pragmatism.

  359. 359.

    NotMax

    If only senators had been permitted to vote Present during impeachment. The only equivalent available would be to physically absent themselves.

    //

  362. 362.

    Alison Rose

    A little clarity on Mike Rogers going after Gaetz: according to a person familiar, Rogers, the incoming chair of Armed Services, was furious with Gaetz for holding out for a subcommittee gavel on the panel. It’s not clear whether Gaetz got that, but it will be soon.— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) January 7, 2023

  366. 366.

    jonas

    @NotMax: ​
      I think they are. Maybe I’m misremembering, but wasn’t it was sort of a big deal during the Clinton impeachment when Arlen Specter (R-PA) voted “present” rather than “innocent” or “guilty”?

  371. 371.

    jonas

    @Alison Rose: ​
      As people have been saying, the acrimony between the veterans in the caucus who have been climbing the leadership ladder for decades, and these asshat newbies like Gaetz or Boehbert who have extorted ridiculous privileges from McCarthy, is going to be epic.

  374. 374.

    janesays

    Final vote is gonna be 216 McCarthy, 212 Jeffries, 6 Present. Quorum will be 428, so 216 gives the gimp 50.47% of the vote, just enough to give him the gavel to pound himself in the balls with for however long he hangs on until he is inevitably driven out of office later this year.

    McCarthy will become Speaker without having a majority of the members of Congress voting for him. Political capital!

  376. 376.

    different-church-lady

    @janesays: ​
      It was negotiated that it would only take one member to challenge the speakership. What you wanna bet that one member will be Gaetz on Monday?

  379. 379.

    MobiusKlein

    Why are the R’s letting a probable statutory rapist have leverage against the speaker of the house/

  381. 381.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    The NYT PitchBot called that if the vote got to 16 it would be to old for Gaetz and he would drop out.

  382. 382.

    jonas

    @MobiusKlein: ​
     

    Why are the R’s letting a probable statutory rapist have leverage against the speaker of the house/

    Because they’re Republicans and nothing matters anymore. FFS, a decade ago, they were electing an honest-to-dog child molester as *Speaker*. So I guess this is progress, of a sort.

  386. 386.

    Redshift

    @different-church-lady: I doubt it. It’s the power to bring it up for a vote, not to have a new vote for speaker, so it’s stronger as a threat before the first time it’s voted down. Boebert may not be smart enough to see that, but Gaetz is.

  387. 387.

    Bill Arnold

    If “George Santos” hadn’t election-frauded his way into a House seat, would the outcome have been different tonight?

  388. 388.

    janesays

    @Bill Arnold: Hard to say. McCarthy’s going to win with a 1 vote cushion (215 would have been sufficient with the 6 “present” votes lowering quorum to 428).

  389. 389.

    Alison Rose

    Really cannot believe the chutzpah required to applaud like this after the shitshow of this week. Like, what exactly are you losers proud of???

  390. 390.

    jonas

    @different-church-lady: ​
      Supposedly — if the rule is adopted — one member can call for a vote of no confidence (or whatever they call it), but then the whole House gets to vote. It would be a particularly stupid move, because the Speaker could easily stay in power just by making concessions to the Democrats in return for enough votes to override the dissident Republicans. Not indefinitely, if they kept calling for a vote, but for a good while, I would think.

  392. 392.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Alison Rose:

    Right? These people never admit fault and act like they have a 50 seat majority when they don’t. Boebert only won by 500 votes for reelection and she’s been acting like a fool all week. I guess since they’ve lied their entire lives, this is just one more part of it. That and having no shame, as others have said

  394. 394.

    MisterForkbeard

    @lgerard: It was, sorta. If he had declined to support him, McCarthy definitely wouldn’t be “winning” now

    But then, it was so close that literally anything would have tipped it. Including Santos not being seated.

  395. 395.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Alison Rose:

    Like, what exactly are you losers proud of???

    It’s an insurrectionist party. They have no shame, especially McCarthy.  His name deserves to live in infamy forever.

  401. 401.

    gene108

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    These people never admit fault and act like they have a 50 seat majority when they don’t.

    Democrats acted like they had a solid majority last Congress, with the same margin R’s have now, but that’s because Dems had incredible party discipline.

    Republicans may try to act like they have a solid margin, but outside of show trial investigations, they lack the discipline to actually pull it off.

  402. 402.

    jonas

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ​
     

    These people never admit fault and act like they have a 50 seat majority when they don’t.

    Well, that’s only because all the votes switched by Hugo Chavez’s ghost using Jewish space lasers to teleport millions of illegal Hondurans to cast illegal ballots in swing states and whatnot didn’t get counted because of a cabal of Satan-worshipping judges who were actually body-snatched replicants from George Soros’s secret underground… What? Why’s everyone looking at me like that?

  405. 405.

    TriassicSands

    They finally did it in grand Republican style. Only by having people not vote can they win elections.

  411. 411.

    different-church-lady

    Gotta love this WaPo banner:

    “House elects McCarthy as speaker after days of defeats and concessions“

  412. 412.

    Alison Rose

    Yeah, I’m done. I don’t want to see his traitorous pathetic grinning face up there. Being proud of this is so completely ludicrous. And just fucking imagine if this were reversed and it had taken Dems all this bullshit to elect someone. We would never hear the end of it.

  413. 413.

    Leto

    It would’ve been easier to just to announce who won’t come up. jfc, get this shitshow over with. This could’ve been an email…

  414. 414.

    Old School

    @lgerard:

    Like this?

    Maggie Haberman
    @maggieNYT

    Person close to Trump says he placed a call to Gaetz and other members at a key time, right after they had voted to adjourn; a number of those members switched their votes after Trump began reaching out, the person says.

    11:05 PM · Jan 6, 2023

  415. 415.

    TriassicSands

    @Alison Rose:

    will the entire House plus their immediate and extended families plus anyone just hanging around please escort Kevin McCarthy to the chair.

  416. 416.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    There’s one bit of good news to be had, aside the number of times McCarthy was humiliated: at least he wasn’t voted in as Speaker on 1/6

  421. 421.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Alison Rose:

    and will the clerks please go outside and round up a handful of rats from the gutters and escort them inside

    I thought the GOP caucus was already in the chambers?

  422. 422.

    TriassicSands

    @Alison Rose:

    They have to make sure Super Kevin can find the chair.

    Note: There are plenty of rats in the House, they don’t need to go outside.

    Oooh, the spectacle!

  423. 423.

    jonas

    @Alison Rose: ​
      Like I commented earlier today, they’re actually going to try to spin this as a beautiful exercise in democracy were the Republican caucus is really just a vibrant marketplace of ideas, as opposed to a utter shitshow of cheap power plays and vindictive backstabbing where a small group of radical moonbats (although that’s a relative term in today’s GOP) held what has been a fairly routine procedure in American government hostage for several days because they’re goddamn toddlers who demand the right to blow the whole place up if they don’t get their way on everything.

    This was only possible because of the unprecedented shamelessness and spinelessness of their main speaker candidate, but still…

  426. 426.

    Steeplejack

    @Alison Rose:

    You can just not answer. George Santos missed at least once because he didn’t respond when his name was called. Probably didn’t recognize it.

    Rosenddale voted “present” on the second pass.

  428. 428.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Steeplejack:

    George Santos missed at least once because he didn’t respond when his name was called. Probably didn’t recognize it.

    LOL. Thanks for the laugh

  430. 430.

    TriassicSands

    @jonas:

    Hey, give poor Kevvie a break. He has to go through the rest of his life without his balls. He may also be missing several other organs, though amazingly he got this far without a spine.

  432. 432.

    Steeplejack

    @Leto:

    Inorite. They named enough people to carry him up there on a sedan chair, with fan bearers and people strewing rose petals in his path.

  438. 438.

    CaseyL

    @Steeplejack: Is he? I’m not watching.  What is Jeffries saying?

    Ever since Gingrich, when the GOP has the House majority, they’ve locked the Dems out completely.

    In the past, the GOP has locked meeting rooms so Democrats couldn’t get in, cut the power to rooms where Dems were caucusing, bugged their offices, hacked their computers and spied on them, and barely even let them vote.
    The next 2 years are going to be all that and more.​

  439. 439.

    jonas

    @Steeplejack: ​
     

    They named enough people to carry him up there on a sedan chair, with fan bearers and people strewing rose petals in his path.

    Except in a break with the old Roman tradition, they won’t have a slave behind him whispering “You are mortal!” It will be Matt Gaetz doing a bunch of fake karate kicks and punches, shouting “Who’s my bitch?!?”

  441. 441.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @CaseyL:

    In the past, the GOP has locked meetings rooms, cut the power to rooms where Dems were caucusing, bugged their offices, hacked their computers and spied on them

    Wait, seriously?! I knew about the ignoring part, but never heard about any of the rest. That’s crazy

  442. 442.

    Steeplejack

    @CaseyL:

    Seriously, he’s doing a long-ass campaign-style speech about everything, praising the Democrats, the 117th Congress and Nancy Pelosi. He’s been going at least five minutes and is still going.

  448. 448.

    RaflW

    @Old School: TFG’s NY lamprey with the hot tidbit, as always. I’m sure she doesn’t care, but holy heck can one see how being a conduit for so much useless shit just corrodes Mags. I’d feel sad, but she made this career choice willingly.

  449. 449.

    Alison Rose

    Zelenskyy being like “Okay fuckers, don’t screw us over”

    Congratulations to @GOPLeader on his election as the Speaker of 🇺🇸 House of Representatives. U.S. support in all fields has been vital for 🇺🇦’s success on the battlefield. We’re counting on your continued support and further U.S. assistance to bring our common victory closer.— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 7, 2023

  451. 451.

    Steeplejack

    “Tonight I want to speak directly to the American people.” Yes, at 1:18 a.m. Please proceed, Mr. Speaker.

  452. 452.

    TriassicSands

    What they pay the clerks is SHAMEFUL! McCarthy’s thanks are like “thoughts and prayers” for murdered children.

    Empty words.

  453. 453.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Steeplejack:

    McCarthy up now. “That was easy, huh?” What a tool.

    Wow, what a fuckhead. Congrats, you’re most powerless Speaker in history

    @patrick II: If it happened during the Trump years, yeah no surprise. Maybe they’ll try a repeat this Congress and the DOJ will prosecute this time

  454. 454.

    jonas

    At the very least, we can set our clocks now and know that in roughly 11 months, the United States government will effectively shut down and default on its sovereign debt for the first time in history. Buckle up kids — we’re in for a rocky ride.

    My one comfort right now is that the Dem leadership team in the House, as well as the Senate, is very, very good and is savvy enough not to let the Republicans get away with playing the media and working the refs like they usually do when covering what’s really going on in the House. Average Americans have to understand what this Freedom Caucus wants to do to SS and Medicare and that they’re absolutely willing to blow up the world economy to get their way.

  457. 457.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Alison Rose:

    The Senate Republicans knew what was up when they helped pass that omnibus bill; they knew how dysfunctional the House GOP are months ago

    That asswipe Gaetz has openly mocked Zelensky. He’s an empty, soulless troll. The R’s better not mess with UA

  465. 465.

    Steeplejack

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Oh, yes. We’re going to get rid of those 87,000 new IRS agents and end “woke indoctrination in our schools.” Just for starters. He’s going down the laundry list of right-wing grievances. The GQPers are getting glute cramps from jumping up and down for standing ovations.

  466. 466.

    RaflW

    @jonas: I feel like us Juicers should be preparing for a campaign to pressure corporate political donors as the default cliff looms in the fall. Really get in their grills and remind them that crashing the economy is what they paid the GOP to do.

    We should be asking these corp. CEOs why in some very creative and pesky ways.

  467. 467.

    JWR

    I’ve never watched one of these gavel handovers live, but is it customary to give a SOTU-type speech?

    Also, F this dude, with his “we will repeal the funding for the IRS stormtroopers” BS. Sack of monkey poop’s what he is.

    ETA so, does McCarthy get his oil painting now?

  468. 468.

    RaflW

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Yep. The chaos and damage will be bad. But keeping the Senate, and with the Biden strategy team that has done a fine job so far, I think the next two years will be an immense “heighten the contrasts” time.

    And, fuck the both-sides press, who will snap back to their lazy, shitty ways in no time. Obama was fundamentally correct to, in relative terms, ice those bastards and communicate as directly as possible to the people. Biden was part of that team, and gets it.

  473. 473.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    Well we are certainly not out of the woods for shenanigans.   The new rules will get voted on Monday, with more than enough time to the “moderates” (those quotes are doing HEAVY work) to see where the Tantrum Taliban Twenty are going to be publicly displaying McCarthy’s balls above the speaker’s seat in the house.

    I wonder if any of the moderates will crack  (prob not, but one can dream)

  479. 479.

    Anne Laurie

    Fresh new post up top, much as I hate to keep y’all from achieving a TBogg Unit (500 comments).

  486. 486.

    Steeplejack

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
    I’m running on exhaustion adrenaline. And a pretty good Pinot Noir.
    New members sworn in. Majority and minority leaders and whips being introduced. Presumably other office holders, too.​

    No news on the dreaded rules package so far.

  490. 490.

    Steeplejack

    Even though Quinn Martin Theater is calling me on MeTV (Mannix, Cannon, Barnaby Jones—oh, sweet Lee Meriwether), I’m going to pack it in. Good night, all.

  497. 497.

    Alison Rose

    It's frankly pretty nuts that a majority of House Republicans supported a failed coup attempt, and then two years later to the day American voters returned them to power. Doesn't speak well for us at all.— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 7, 2023

  501. 501.

    NotMax

    How many were crossing the fingers of their left hands when the oath was being administered?

  502. 502.

    James E Powell

    On the 2nd anniversary of Trump’s insurrection, Republicans once again bring violence to the Capitol.

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