House GOP obsesses over mirage of a backroom-deal doc https://t.co/YvOnwE33Dg
— MSN (@MSN) January 12, 2023
No honor among thieves Republicans, I guess. It’s a Politico story, but I know some of y’all have (quite reasonable) objections to giving them clicks:
Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his GOP allies insist that no back-room promises were made to land his gavel after 15 frenetic ballots, that no plum committee spots, precise spending cuts, or debt limit strategy were guaranteed in a quid pro quo. Agreements and goals were reached with conservatives who initially withheld their votes from the speaker, GOP leaders say, but nothing was formalized in writing.
McCarthy made his denial of any backroom agreement plain on Thursday, telling reporters: “There’s not a side deal to anything.” But that doesn’t change the reality outlined earlier by Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), who leads the Republican Governance Group: “There’s all these people talking about a document that doesn’t exist.”
But the debate surrounding the document has exposed a trust problem days into McCarthy’s speakership. There’s plenty of paper flying around summarizing handshake deals between the speaker and his members, and some GOP lawmakers have muddled their leaders’ message by talking candidly about what they secured in exchange for their speaker votes.
That boasting has heightened worries within the conference about working together in good faith for the next two years. Nearly a full week after McCarthy’s battle played out in extraordinarily public fashion, lawmakers in his conference are still striving to learn details of what’s been promised and to whom.
“You’ve got members who don’t believe other members because they read something. It’s about trust. You either trust people or you don’t,” Joyce said.
The situation has grown more complicated this week, as GOP leadership outlined the concessions that it prefers to interpret as agreements and as some House Republicans open up about what they got from last week’s frenetic talks. One McCarthy holdout, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), bluntly told Fox News when asked “what did you get” that he would join the influential GOP Steering Committee “as Speaker McCarthy’s designee.”
McCarthy also informed members that the House would take its first-ever vote this Congress on a contentious national sales tax bill that Georgia Republicans — including McCarthy dissenter Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) — have pushed for decades…
Some House Republicans argue that the most divisive of the concessions floating around are “aspirational” — particularly on issues like spending and the debt limit, which would need to get buy-in from the Democratic Senate and White House to go anywhere.
Three Republican lawmakers said GOP leaders did put something in writing: It was a PowerPoint slideshow presented to members at Tuesday’s conference meeting.
“He went through the agreement at conference — he had it all on the PowerPoint,” said one McCarthy ally, speaking on the condition of anonymity…
Baud
Wait, they can read?
The Moar You Know
Why would anyone trust these people with regards to anything?
Damien
@Baud: I believe that “because” is meant to be a “can,” you’re correct. Probably had to call back and hurriedly walk it back
Geminid
Kevin McCarthy has no fecks left to give.
Ruckus
@Baud:
Large printing, no word with more than 4 letters, no words over the capacity of an average 1st grader, sentences all limited to one line.
And those are the maximum limits……
Baud
@Ruckus:
And no pronouns!
Ruckus
@The Moar You Know:
They don’t trust each other, something about back stabbing I think it was. Also they don’t trust each other because they are all bought and paid for and not always by the same individuals.
Roger Moore
If you trust Qevin McCarthy, you probably also trust those nice people trying to fix the problem with your car’s extended warranty.
Ruckus
@Baud:
Damn I knew I forgot something else stupid that they would think is immensely important because they don’t understand that particular concept.
Ruckus
@Roger Moore:
If you trust Qevin McCarthy, you probably also trust those nice people trying to fix the problem with your car’s extended warranty.
If they trust those nice people they will do anything they are told by anyone sharper than the end of a 2×4
bbleh
@The Moar You Know: I was thinking the same thing. Like, if there is any scenario that conforms to a hypothesis that they’re ALL lying, that’s probably the true one.
Scout211
I am shocked, I tell you, shocked that Republicans who lie constantly to their constituents, in campaign ads, to the media and in every fundraising email they send would think their own Republican colleagues would have the nerve to lie to them?
Inconceivable!
s/
Redshift
Trump’s razor still applies – the stupidest explanation that fits the facts must be the right one.
In this case, that could mean the answer to “is there a secret document” is that spineless McCarthy made multiple promises in writing, some of them contradictory.
That’s off the top of my head, there’s probably a stupider explanation.
Wyatt Salamanca
To paraphrase J.B.S. Haldane,
My own suspicion is that Kevin McCarthy (just like Donald fucking Trump) is not only dumber than we suppose, but dumber than we can suppose.
Scout211
Axios has a story up about this too
ColoradoGuy
Wait, there’s a PowerPoint show? On a laptop? With secret deals?
Stop the presses! There’s ANOTHER laptop that must be found and investigated!
Citizen_X
The ending of Reservoir Dogs, over and over again.
And their first action is to pass a bill for a national sales tax??? Do it, assholes! Tax the poor and working people! Write Dem attack ads for them!
Yutsano
Who fucking gives a shit? They’re all voting lockstep with Kevin’s priorities so far. If/when something actually fails because of the supposed “infighting” get back to me. Otherwise this is just stupid gossip shit Axios is using for clicks.
Bill Arnold
Republicans are probably also agitated that Washington, DC is one-party consent for recordings.
Backroom deals could have been recorded. It would have been political malpractice not to record, given that the people involved are members of suborder Serpentes. It is possible that some conversations were surreptitiously recorded by both parties.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Makes me want to watch Notorious again.
“We are protected from the consequences of your incompetence by the enormity of your stupidity. For a time.”
something like that
Sure Lurkalot
What do you know…close to finishing another revolution around the sun only to find after all these years I do have something in common with Republicans…I don’t trust them either. Not a single one of them.
Bill Arnold
@bbleh:
Democrats know that they all lie for personal political gain, because they all regularly do it, to Democrats.
If these Rs have any self awareness, they each realize this too, and realize that inter-GOP loyalty probably means no more to their colleagues than it does to themselves.
lowtechcyclist
@Citizen_X:
To steal from Darth Putin, they remain a master strategist.
Bill Arnold
@Yutsano:
Personally, I’m trying to decide whether to stir shit up in RW fever swamp land. Just as practice.
Geminid
I think one result of Republican gerrymandering is a decline in quality among Republican Representatives. There are a lot of very narrow-gauge intellects in that House Caucus, and it shows.
McCarthy and company are in for a rough two years, with a lot more backbiting and betrayal. In the end they’ll have nothing to show for it but toxic legislation that goes nowhere in the Senate.
It will get worse in the next Congress, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be in the minority then. The purple district Reps will be job hunting, and the brainier red district members will have retired and left the knuckle draggers to grunt at each other.
Another Scott
Speaking of backroom discussions…
Cheers,
Scott.
kindness
Republicans who formed the core of Leopards Eating Your Face Off party are shocked to find the leopard wants to eat their faces!!! Go figure!
raven
Clyde is such a fucking asshole.
gene108
I don’t read much into this other than, like the TFG’s administration, House members or their staffers like to talk to the media.
Theres a lot going on and they want to spread some gossip to whoever will listen.
Geminid
@raven: What’s that bible thumping Jody Hice up to? Or have you blotted him from your mind.
Jackie
When does Kevin reward loyalists and insurrectionists Committee assignments?
Dorothy A. Winsor
We’re home from a few days in Florida. The weather was lovely, but I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.
The people we visited subscribe to the NYT, and there was a long article this morning about Hunter Biden. At least our hosts loathe the Rs as much as we do.
zhena gogolia
RIP, Lisa Marie Presley
frosty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Did the packing get less stressful?
Re: sleeping in your own bed – that’s why we have a camper. Wherever we go we’re in our own bed and (tiny) house. Beats schlepping stuff in and out of hotel rooms.
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
Indeed. I don’t think I ever heard her sing, didn’t know enough about her to either like or dislike her (except I think she was married to Michael Jackson?), but it’s sad that this happened. Devastating for her mother.
HumboldtBlue
For those who loved The Wire, I just started watching the movie Colette and the lead male is McNulty with a posh English accent and a long Van Dyke and handlebar ‘stache.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SiubhanDuinne: apparently the usual suspects are hinting that the Covid vaccine killed her, even though her father and his parents all died young (under 50) from heart attacks
Dorothy A. Winsor
@frosty: Much less stressful. Thank you for asking.
The first morning we were there, Mr DAW fell and dislocated his little finger so that it pointed straight sideways. After that, we spent 5 hours in the ER. They X-rayed, decided it wasn’t broken, just dislocated, yanked it straight, and splinted it for a couple of days. Very exciting start to the vacation
Joe Falco
@Geminid: He’s out of my mind at least. I hope the next time I hear about him is news of his traitorous self being found guilty and sharing bible verses in prison with the rest of that seditious crew.
frosty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Ugh. We’ve hit Urgent Care for one thing or another on all of our long road trips. It makes me glad we went with Medigap and not Medicare Advantage. No messing around trying to figure if we’re covered for out of network stuff — no network!
Ken
I’ll give Rep. Joyce this free advice: The one thing he can trust McCarthy to do is lie.
(It’s free because I feel sorry for him. Leadership of the Republican Governance Group must be like one of the lower circles of hell.)
HumboldtBlue
@Ken:
Hell no! He begged for this, let him eat his dinner and sleep in the bed he made.
The twat.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh FFS. The usual suspects can put a bag of salted dicks in the microwave and have them as a warm bedtime snack.
And my RWNJ brother is almost peeing himself with glee because of the Biden documents. He can have a bag of salted dicks all to himself.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@SiubhanDuinne: Devastating for her daughters too, her twins are only 14, that is a horrible age to lose their mother. I don’t know if Lisa Marie had underlying cardiac issues or if this was something out of the blue, but her son died in 2020 by suicide and I don’t think you ever completely recover from something like that. I hope her kids dads are there for them…
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Youch! sorry that happened especially on vacation!
Jackie
@SiubhanDuinne: I hope after Biden is acquitted of intentional wrong doings, you personally hand feed them to your brother one after one…
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: So sad. Big hearts in that family, but fragile ones, too.
Aged 54. Too young.
SiubhanDuinne
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone:
Oh gosh, I didn’t even know she had kids (only saw headlines, didn’t read details). What an awful loss for them.
prostratedragon
Jackie
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: Elvis and both his parents died early due to to heart issues. Of course Elvis himself had heart issues compounded with drug addiction…
Rebels Dad
@Baud: But what about Antinouns?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
sort of on-topic: Is the Baz Luhrman Elvis movie any good?
HumboldtBlue
@prostratedragon:
It’s a bit silly. The story is set in 1890s France, and I haven’t heard anyone speak anything other than English.
McNulty marries the young, smart, wily country girl and gives up his inheritance to do so and is a Paris cad, quite shocking to the young wife who is smart and clever and has great braids.
I’m pretty sure the plot will play out to where she is the brains of the outfit, but one would think, with the story being set in France, we would actually get something French.
Can a motherfucker get a baguette or something?
dnfree
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Elvis didn’t ring true to me in the movie, and that was distracting.
David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Looks like I picked the wrong week to get reading glasses.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@dnfree: thanks, I saw the actor host SNL and he’s a tall, skinny, blond. I don’t remember Elvis as tall or short, but he wasn’t skinny or blond as I recall (though I gather that was his natural hair color and Colonel Tom told him to dye it black?). But…. ACTING! so I’m willing to give it a chance, and kind of curious about the whole Elvis phenomenon, which I’ve never really gone too deep into.
mvr
Going to love the headlines when this happens:
Jackie
Does Paul Ryan NOT remember 2016?
“Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) told CNN the Republican party is moving past Donald Trump.
Said Ryan: “He’s fading fast. He is a proven loser. He cost us the House in ’18, he cost us the White House in ’20, he cost us the Senate again and again.”
He added: “I can’t imagine him getting the nomination, frankly.””
I do believe he said that exact quote circa 2015/16.
All TFG needs is a gazillion repubs of various MAGA/anti MAGA to run and Deja Vu… He wins the nomination with 30-something percent.
mvr
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Had that 90 degree pinky injury when I was in high school. I believe I caught a fly ball between the pinky and the ring finger or something like that. (Not at all a jock then or now.) It hurt. But it healed up OK. Hoping for similar pinky luck on Mr. W’s end.
mvr
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone:
Shit. Not a celebrity fanboy, but still this is a bad thing to happen to any human family.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jackie: I keep waiting to see if anything will shake trump out of his torpor, I’m sure he’s troothing like a son-of-a-bitch (if a fake tweet is farted out into the internets, and nobody reads it, does it make a noise?), but he hasn’t, I believe, done a rally since before the midterms, he’s hardly left home. I’m trying not to wish cast, but…
Miss Bianca
@mvr: wtf with a national sales tax? *This* is a Republican priority? The “taxation is theft” crowd?
Who the FUCK is supposed to administer such a thing? The IRS? The same IRS that they want to defind? What kind of taxation does it replace?
Christ on a cracker, THESE PEOPLE.
mvr
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Guy had good bands and could sing. His first band had Scotty Moore an originator (among many others) of what we know as R’n’R. His last or nearly last band had James Burton who was also an originator and went on to play with Gram Parsons and eventually the other Elvis. That guy is awesome which at least one of the late Elvis performance movies (in Hawaii? In Las Vegas?) documents to good effect.
And he had the best songwriters write stuff for him. But he could make schlock sound at least OK. No one else could sing a Mack Davis (or is it Mac?) song and make you like it.
My 2 cents anyway. Greil Marcus’s Mystery Train is a good book that includes stuff about this.
Jackie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He does have an intimate Dinner scheduled in one of the Carolinas toward the end of the month… I’m sure it will be HUGELY Big.
No rallies as of yet.
zeecube
@Dorothy A. Winsor: So sorry to hear. Make sure he gets some hand PT to rehab the pinky, esp. if there were any torn or stretched tendons.
Frankensteinbeck
@Miss Bianca:
They don’t care*. If none of the money is collected, they don’t see that as a problem. In fact, that gives them a much more compelling reason to completely stop all government spending on anything, since government spending all goes to help the Other anyway. They don’t care if anything actually works. They’re not interested. It just makes them sound more reasonable to throw out a ‘solution’ that makes the same amount of money. And don’t protest it doesn’t make the same amount of money, because again, they don’t care if anything works. This is all emotion and idealism, with those ideals being horrible shit like ‘everyone should fend for themselves’**.
*Although a surprising number of them have nonsensical answers like ‘the post office’ ready.
**If the government gives them help that doesn’t count, because they know they do fend for themselves.
BellyCat
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Zoiks! Glad it was just a dislocation and not a larger trip trauma event.