"We still remain hopeful, although the writing is on the wall," said @AFGENational President Everett Kelley of looming government shutdown.
Congress has *8* days to reach & pass a deal to keep government funded. A look at negotiations and preparations for @CBSNews stations: pic.twitter.com/DPUUfncCko
— Natalie Brand (@NatalieABrand) September 22, 2023
“By the way, when that government shutdown began Donald Trump was president, Republicans controlled the House and the Senate. In December of 2018, they shut themselves down.”
Can’t wait for us to make @RepJeffries *Majority* Speaker in 2024. Let’s get it done! pic.twitter.com/fGdCRFYgLh
— Maya Contreras (@mayatcontreras) September 22, 2023
Fun fact:
Since 1995, there have been 5 major government shutdowns.
The GOP controlled the House for all 5 of them.
Stop giving these idiots power.
— Angry Staffer ?? (@Angry_Staffer) September 22, 2023
McCarthy warns House Republicans against spending stonewall https://t.co/lr9Med0lQ9
— POLITICO (@politico) September 17, 2023
McCarthy’s not that dumb, but he is completely powerless against the GOP Angry Tantrum Carcass. Last week:
… “I’ve been through shutdowns, and I’ve never seen somebody win a shutdown. Because when you shut down, you give all your power to the administration,” McCarthy said Sunday during an interview on Fox News’ [last] “Sunday Morning Futures” with host Maria Bartiromo.
McCarthy is facing concurrent challenges as he attempts to placate his right flank while holding onto support from mainstream Republicans in the House. The Republican leader seemingly lacks the votes to pass a stopgap bill to keep the government open past Sept. 30. And despite attempts to reel in support from hardliners by opening an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, some conservatives are still threatening to force a vote stripping him of the speakership.
The only way to cut spending, as members of his party hope to do, is to pass the bills that would allow the government to keep running, McCarthy said.
“These are Republican bills. These are the most conservative bills going forward,” McCarthy said. “But remember, you don’t get it all your own way,” he added, noting that any bill that makes it through the House must be able to gain enough support in the Senate to be enacted…
Kevin McCarthy has about as much control of his party as he does the phases of the moon. https://t.co/C1jXFssF4T
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) September 22, 2023
The United States House of Representatives is now indistinguishable from a motorcycle gang after the 15th beer run of the day. I am re-reading Joanne Freeman’s invaluable Field of Blood, about the descent of the Congress into madness and violence in the years leading up to the Civil War because, frankly, I think we’re getting close to that period again with the Republican majority over which Speaker Kevin McCarthy has about as much control as he has over the tides and the phases of the moon…
It’s a cannibal circus now, and the Democrats are better off out of it. They should ignore the siren songs of the Problem Solvers caucus and/or the New Democrats Coalition, who are said to be “negotiating” a way out of the impasse— which, it should be noted, is only an impasse because the Republicans are running a cannibal circus. These no-hopers have no constituency either inside or outside the Capitol. This is a classic case of throwing an anchor while your opponent is floundering mid-river. The Republicans created the base who created this Congress. They gave the cannibals their first taste of human flesh and, lo and behold, you taste the same as Democrats do.
Can we, as they say in the military textbooks, harass the retreat?
My
Constituents
Cannot
Afford
Rebellious
Tantrums,
Handle
Your Shutdown, @SpeakerMcCarthy.If the government shuts down & federal workers don’t get paid, Congress shouldn’t get paid either.
My MCCARTHY Shutdown Act blocks Member pay during a shutdown.https://t.co/WXin4sPmoV
— Angie Craig (@RepAngieCraig) September 21, 2023
A government shutdown would be devastating for the thousands of federal workers supporting their families. Congress shouldn’t get paid if they can’t do their jobs & keep the government open.
My MCCARTHY Shutdown Act would withhold pay from Members of Congress during a shutdown. pic.twitter.com/rb1TdlY7fM
— Angie Craig (@RepAngieCraig) September 23, 2023
I have some hopes that follow-up investigations on this top-secret rats’ nest will prove, shall we say, informative:
SCOOP: House Freedom Caucus conservatives have been holding government shutdown meetings in a townhome owned by a convicted tax cheat — the neighbors are pissed, and it's not clear who is paying the rent. Me w/@ZTPetrizzo @thedailybeast https://t.co/AxVsrNhHwr
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) September 20, 2023
Talk about your both-sides:
KWelker, on MTP, after Sec Buttigieg explains that the shutdown disagreement is ENTIRELY *within* House GOP, Welker: "But again, if there's a shutdown, that falls on everyone's shoulders… Why isn't prez using Bully Pulpit?"
Can't make it up.
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) September 24, 2023
Barreling destructively toward a federal government shutdown ==> pic.twitter.com/aUta87DHjt
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 21, 2023
War for Ukraine Day 578: A Yom Kippur Message from the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine
Ruckus
This is what is known as a tantrum.
They may not be laying on the floor screaming and possibly crying and pounding fists and kicking their heals against the floor, but it is a tantrum none the less.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: It really is.
SiubhanDuinne
It’s only her second week, and Walker’s tenure on Press the Meat is already pretty disastrous, it would appear.
Baud
He’s not powerless. He could work with Dems.
bbleh
At least the MSM are getting the story more or less right. It’s been a week of front-page photos of Squeaker McQarthy looking frazzled and headlines about Republicans (rather than “Congress”) floundering and failing.
The thing that worries me is, any “off-ramp” that will be available to McQarthy and the less-crazy Republicans after a shutdown is available to them now, so why should we expect anything to change? (Although they may yet pull it out; politicians and media love them some crises, but most of them seem to get resolved at the last minute.)
@Ruckus: This is what is known as a tantrum.
The entire Republican Party since before Trump has been one long tantrum. His election was a tantrum. His administration was a series of tantrums. That’s what they do. That’s all they do!
@Baud: yes he could. He could work out a solution to the current problem AND he could insulate himself from a Motion to Vacate. But apparently he doesn’t (yet) think it would be worth the blowback. And it’s not (yet) clear to me that some time in Shutdown Purgatory would change his calculations much.
West of the Rockies
One definition of insanity comes to mind…
Yarrow
I knew we’d be missing Chuck Todd, which is just a sad statement, but’s she’s even worse than I feared.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
God, bully pulpit is so 2008. She’s so 2000 and late.
Baud
This shutdown is also worse than prior ones because McCarthy is reneging on a deal he cut with Biden.
Yarrow
@Baud: She’s just awful. Her coached cheeriness on the weekend Today show always made me cringe. It’s like she had to take lessons on how to appear Friendly and Casual. Ugh.
Josie
I love the way Rep. Jeffries expresses himself–succinct and to the point. I wish more people could hear his explanations of how things work.
Betty Cracker
Kevin McCarthy isn’t so much a man as he is a haircut. And really, not a very impressive or particularly distinguished haircut. SuperCuts could replicate it for $15.
bbleh
@Baud: funny how that seems mostly to have slipped down the memory hole. They reneged on the deal shortly after making it, when they started proposing appropriations that violated it.
Today’s Republicans simply cannot be trusted, ever. They do not bargain in good faith. Seems to me that ought to be seeping into the discussion by one means or another.
ETtheLibrarian
What’s that quote about the gods punishing us by answering our prayers? Bet McCarthy has it on his mind at least for a moment.
If course I have no sympathy he knew what his party was when he picked up the gavel.
Jackie
My Kevin KNOWINGLY AND WILLINGLY sold all “his” power to the MAGA Repugs, just so he could hold The Gavel and see his name attached to the Speaker of the House plaque hanging above his office door.
He’s getting exactly what he deserves.
bbleh
@Yarrow: I admire Buttigieg for (among other reasons) his obvious intelligence and his ability to articulate a point of view clearly and concisely, and also (per that interview) for his ability to deal real-time with someone clearly dumb as a box of rocks and not twitch a muscle.
Suzanne
Cue Rocket J. Squirrel: “A-gain?! This trick never works!”
mrmoshpotato
Let them
fightfeast!TriassicSands
@Ruckus:
Oh, Ruckus, why ya wanna be so mean (laughter)? The Republican Party is a victim (laughter). They’re all victims — of mean Democrats, anti-Christian bigotry, the weaponization of the DoJ and everything else (except guns), you name it. (laughter). But they are all so stupid, they can’t help themselves (laughter).
However, if anyone is looking for injustice, it is the fact that people keep voting for these clowns (sobbing), electing them to do nothing positive (crying), and letting them shut down the government over and over (weeping). Will it never end?
If the U.S. had even a half-way decent electorate, Democrats would have veto-proof majorities in both Houses and every state legislature.
Jackie
@Baud: THAT pisses me off more than anything. Once upon a time – until June 2023 – a handshake deal was as binding as a signed contract. A handshake was as good as your word; we now know the word of Kevin McCarthy is meaningless.
Trollhattan
What would be great would be more stupider Republicans and by great I mean we’re doomed.
Josie
@bbleh:
I find it hard to believe that she really is that dumb. There has to be some other explanation. Hmm…..
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: If by that you mean that she is a disaster, I wholeheartedly agree.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
This. He could put a continuing resolution on the House floor, funding the government for a few more months at current funding levels. All the Dems would vote for it, and it would pick up the three or four GOP votes needed to pass.
Piece of cake, IF he had the guts to stand up to the crazies in his own party. Which he doesn’t, Lord only knows why. His job as Speaker is probably safe; he’s probably the only guy in the House GOP caucus who wants the job. Certainly none of the Freedom Caucus crazies do.
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
In the most unbelievably stupid way possible, since if the budget has to be re-decided, then the result of the debt ceiling debate was…
Debt ceiling is raised until after the next election. Some welfare rules were rewritten that took aid away from some people who need it and gave it to a larger number of different people who need it.
And that’s it. They raised the debt ceiling and got jack shit for it.
Righteous Hazard
I was astounded, but not a bit surprised, that the handful of GOP defections needed to add to Mitt and Murkowski to convict Trump in his 1/6 impeachment trial could not be found. Just a few would have done it, people who cared about somone other than themselves is all it would have took to forever rid the country of the biggest internal national security risk it has faced since the civil war. They know, better than anyone, exactly who Trump is. But they are cowards. Astounding, but not in the least surprising.
Right now, all it would take is a handful of center-right gop house members to avert another idiotic disaster. As I understand it, all it would take is a handful of them to call to vacate the speaker’s chair. Then switch parties, elect Jeffries, and this whole nightmare goes away.
I know that in reality, it is impossible for something like this to ever happen, but it astounds me nonetheless that these fuckers will throw up their hands and do nothing while the shittiest people in the world proceed to try to burn America down.
bbleh
@Josie: ok, someone playing dumb as a box of rocks. Either way, she’s doing it on national TV, and he’s not staring like she’s some sort of swamp alien, or sighing exasperatedly, or exploding at her obtuseness, or politely and methodically verbally cutting her to bits. I don’t think I could keep that up for long.
JMG
The debt ceiling bill is a written agreement. Biden ought to make the point that he can hardly deal with people whose word is garbage, written or spoken.
dmsilev
@Baud:
In theory, yes. But, from McCarthy’s standpoint, the challenge would be how to do so while keeping his job. He would need the support, or at least the passive acquiescence, of the Democrats in the inevitable defenestration-attempt vote. That sort of favor would come, rightfully, with a high price of some sort. What would he be willing and able to offer?
Josie
@bbleh:
I agree. He has an extraordinary amount of self control. I could not begin to do what he does. I would be leaning forward and saying.” I can’t believe you are saying something so incredibly stupid.” and the interview would be over immediately. ;-)
Danielx
@lowtechcyclist:
Nay, not so! Matt Gaetz would love to be Speaker (shudder).
bbleh
@lowtechcyclist:@dmsilev: arguably he could work out a deal (y’know, what’s supposed to happen in Congress) that would get 300+ votes and be reconciled easily with the Senate, OR arrange a Kabuki where he Stands Strongly Against whatever whatever but will do something that barely passes For The Good Of The Country, and on the side get Jeffries’s assurance that enough Dems would vote to kill a Motion to Vacate. BUT that assumes (1) he has any leadership ability, (2) enough pusillanimous Republican “moderates” would be willing to publicly confront the flying monkeys (which would be largely irrelevant by primary time), and (3) that his word can be trusted.
(1) and (3) are clearly untrue, and (2) is debatable; I still think they’re trying to have their cake and eat it too: “we’re Loyal Republicans, so we won’t deal with those dirty Dems, but we’re sensible, not like those Crazies!”
Jackie
@Josie: As it is, NBC is TIFG’s newest enemy; “if he’s re-elected, he’ll DEMAND they lose their license!”
😂 https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2024-nbc/
pluky
@ETtheLibrarian: I think you’re mashing up two quotes.
Whom the Gods would destroy they first make mad — Homer
More tears have been shed over answered prayers than unanswered — Santa Teresa de Avila
MattF
I’d call the RW House cabal the Clown Caucus, except that actual clowns generally have a sense of humor and a degree of professional responsibility. But here we are definitely in ‘by reason of insanity’ territory. TFG himself has lately been even crazier in his social media whining, so maybe it’s a case of leading by example.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Yes, this doesn’t get mentioned enough.
Citizen Alan
Kristen Welker is “The Thinking Person’s Candace Owens.” She is a black female who has figured out that tacitly supporting white supremacy is the Golden Ticket for any POC who is devoid of ethical character. But unlike Dear Candace, Welker’s approach is to support white supremacy in calm, dulcet tones so she can get a weekly gig as a network pundit instead of making a living dependent on social media websites and public speaking gigs at CPAC events.
Alison Rose
God, Welker sucks.
Yarrow
@bbleh: Kristen Welker is not remotely dumb. She’s smart. She was a moderator for one of the TFG – Biden debates and she did a surprisingly good job. I couldn’t stand her on the weekend Today show so I thought she’d be awful. She wasn’t.
She’s doing this bothside bs because she’s been told to do it. She’s working for her bosses.
Jackie
@Danielx: This is timely!
https://www.rawstory.com/speaker-gaetz-or-not/
Maybe at another time – like with a 40 seat GQP majority, but I doubt ANY GQPer wants the job right now… except My Kevin.
mvr
I’m flying out of town to NJ on Thursday to give a talk at something I can’t miss. Set to return Sunday. I think this means I will be hitch-hiking home next week while trying to conduct classes via Zoom. Or will the planes still fly when the gov’t shuts down October 1?
Used to be pretty good at hitch hiking. I remember once tallying the miles on my thumb at 100K. But I had many fewer miles on myself then.
Lyrebird
@ETtheLibrarian:
@pluky:
I thought you were thinking of Oscar Wilde,
” there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.”
I didn’t know Teresa de Avila said that, thanks!
Kent
I was in the Federal government during the 1990s and early 2000s shutdowns.
The Biden Administration should fucking weaponize this bullshit. They the power to do so. How so? By doing the following:
First, be very judicious about which government functions you determine to be essential. The administration has near total discretion here. Government functions that serve primarily GOP constituencies, shut them the fuck down. Those that don’t? Find reason to declare them essential. What is the GOP House going to do?
Second, use the shut down to delay GOP-friendly initiatives. For example, if you have something like an oil lease auction that you are loathe to move forward with for climate reasons but the law compels it? Cancel it due to the shutdown and then slow walk the rescheduling. Your office is too damn busy with all the backlog due to the shutdown that you can’t get the hearing rescheduled for that oil lease sale until 2025. Complain to the GOP House.
They won’t do this. Because agencies strive to be non-partisan. And that is probably (definitely) a good thing. But they should.
Another Scott
@Kent: I think that more rules are put in place after each shutdown. GovExec.com:
Cheers,
Scott.
Miss Bianca
@ETtheLibrarian: St Theresa is alleged to have said, “There are more tears shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.”
@pluky: You got there first.
Villago Delenda Est
@Yarrow: She’s a dyed-in-the-wool disciple of Broder. Utterly without any worth as a “journalist.”
Hoppie
Just to point out, in the previous shutdown threats, it has ALWAYS run right up to the end. No guarantee that that Kabuki has ended, but fool me six times? I don’t think so.
They will pay for this, and I am more optimistic about 2024 every day this continues.
Regine Touchon
@Yarrow: Especially when she was part of the press gaggle that wined and dined with tfg and his deplorable minions. On top of it all is that it was a Ron DeSantis roast. They’re all in on the horse race.
Elizabelle
Good news, via the LA Times:
Villago Delenda Est
@Elizabelle: I am hopeful that this agreement, if ratified, will put the producers on notice that things have changed, and they’re just going to have to suffer by deciding that they must choose only two of the three expensive sportscars in their garage. Kiss the Ferrari, the Maserati, or the Lotus goodbye.
kindness
Kevin could write a CR and pass it with Democrats help. Would Democrats then vote for McCarthy when one of the Freedom crazy caucus challenged McCarthy’s Speakership? I don’t know that Democrats would vote for McCarthy. I figure McCarthy knows this, values himself being Speaker more than anything in the world, so he refuses to do the right thing. It’s always ego run amuck that screws things up.
Geminid
I wonder if Trump is pulling some strings here. He may be talking to a couple of tbose holdouts. Matt Rosendale (MT) strikes me as a possibility. Trump might be hoping that a shutdown will cause a recession.
Villago Delenda Est
@Geminid: Of this I have little doubt. If TFG cannot have the world, he wants it to burn.
Frankensteinbeck
@kindness:
One thing that surprised me after the debt ceiling deal where the crazy caucus got hosed so badly is that they didn’t pull the trigger. They’ve threatened several times to evict McCarthy, but haven’t done it, even when he publicly dared them to. I wish I knew what’s holding them back. It would make the House much easier to predict.
@Geminid:
What Trump has publicly demanded out of this negotiation is for the deal to defund all attempts to prosecute him. It’s the most pathetic and predictable demand possible. Anyone who is working for Trump will make that their demand. So, pay attention to that and see how much effect he has on the negotiation.
sdhays
@kindness: Democrats don’t need to vote for McQarthy, they would just need to vote “present”. Then the vote would only be a matter of being able to get to a majority of the Republican House Carcass.
The problem is, once you’ve done that, you’ve crossed the Rubicon. His “majority coalition” is no longer Republican, it’s a bipartisan coalition that has split the Republican Party.
This would be very good for the country, but terrible for the Republican Party (in the near term), and these people have long decided Party is far more important than country because fighting the party would be personally unpleasant.
Jackie
@kindness: They might – with the stipulation of dropping the for-show-only-Biden impeachment. As long as the MAGAts insist on impeaching Biden for being a father who loves his son unconditionally, helping Kevin out of his self made pickle should be a no-go.
sdhays
I think what’s holding them back is:
Mike in NC
GQP government shutdown is the least surprising thing ever!
Another Scott
@Frankensteinbeck:
Their power is in the threats. Once they get called on it, it’s quite clear they will lose (even if they take Qevin down with them). And if they take Qevin down and force more votes for a replacement, they’re going to piss off their colleagues who want to have some chance of being re-elected.
We’ve been here before. If they get rid of Qevin, they’re not going to get a true-believer to replace him. One doesn’t get to be Speaker by just having the support of 20 bomb throwers.
Zombie-eyed granny starver’sRyan’s gone. If there were someone more acceptable to the GQP, then there wouldn’t have been 15 votes to push Qevin over the line in January.So, I expect the threats against Qevin’s speakership to continue, and I expect little if anything to get done before the November election. The bomb throwers will continue their tantrums, because that’s all they know how to do to stay in the news…
We’ll see.
Cheers,
Scott.
wjca
Pretty simply, threatening to boot him as Speaker gets concessions. But actually booting him gets them nothing. (Unless, which seems unlikely, they can find an alternative Speaker who can get elected and is equally spineless.) So they haven’t pulled the trigger. And won’t. Because without a Speaker, their opportunities to posture decrease.
mvr
@wjca: They only have a threat advantage with a speaker who cares about being speaker in these circumstances. (He must just be worrying about his resume’ because what other advantages are there for him?) They’ve found that one guy.
tobie
If we go into a shutdown, I think the admin should put a freeze on all discretionary spending in rural zip codes.
Captain C
@Ruckus:
Just give them a few more days and they may well get there. I would rate the probability somewhat higher than them getting their shit together.
Frankensteinbeck
@Another Scott: and @wjca:
But at that point, they don’t have a threat anymore, and McCarthy knows it. He publicly dared them, with added profanity, to call a vote. They backed down. So if their threat is completely hollow and McCarthy knows that, what is going on?
…oh, right. Boehner Disease is going on. McCarthy is stomping his feet and whining that he is the real Speaker, he is, and he can get a budget passed without those stinky old Democrats, just watch.
Captain C
@Righteous Hazard:
There have to be at least five in full blue Biden districts (thanks my NY Dems /s) who are sick of this shit and ready to retire on full pension and enjoy some time with their grandkids. Get them to switch and go out heroes (at least in their own hagiographies).
Frankensteinbeck
@Captain C:
If they weren’t assholes, they wouldn’t be elected Republicans. That spectrum starts, at its sane and moderate end, with people who think that making the lives of regular people better is a bad thing.
Yutsano
The word from our union is ambiguous. There should be funds to allow all of us to work but we’re also being told because some of that got allocated away during the debt ceiling bill we might not be fully covered. Well for right now my plan is to work on October 2nd unless I hear otherwise. But I haven’t gotten the big looming shutdown e-mail yet.
Captain C
@Frankensteinbeck: This is true. I would hope, though, there are at least five whose sick-of-this-shit meter now outweighs the satisfaction of being in the House. On the other hand, the various perks, technically legal and not, may well outweigh all of that. Cf. Democratic Senator Gold Bars who needs to resign yesterday and face the music
ETA: It’s too bad that 40+ years of Reaganism, Newtery, Busshit, and TFG has left the GQP without anyone to whom status and legacy matters even a minuscule fraction as much as grabbing as much cash and dealing as much sadism as possible in the shortest amount of time, for the longest amount of time.
Captain C
@Captain C: Despite what he says, even Dred Scott Roberts only claims to care about his legacy. He’s a craven GQP hack through and through.
AlaskaReader
@tobie: As if no Democrats live in rural America.
Hoppie
@Jackie: Impeachment works to our advantage I think. Even Qevin knows this. Let them put their freak on for everybody to see. Another hundred moderate-right suburban Atlanta voters defect every day they do this.
Jackie
@Hoppie: Maybe. But the GQP who only gets their news from RW “news” outlets won’t have a clue and will buy and drink the koolade.
Shalimar
@Frankensteinbeck: The thing is, Republicans did get jack shit for the debt ceiling agreement. It basically held things steady, which was the best Democrats were ever going to get from House Republicans. I said at the time that the only way the deal made any sense at all is if McCarthy also got Jefferies’ promise that all Democrats would vote for him when the inevitable no-confidence vote came. His actions since make it obvious he did not get that.
Shalimar
@Hoppie: And even more immediate than that, Republicans rightfully taking all the blame for a shutdown 5 weeks before Virginia elections would be incredibly stupid with so many government workers living in the state. They’re going to do it anyway, because Gaetz doesn’t give a fuck about anything except his own power. But god it’s dumb.
Hoppie
@Jackie: We don’t need the kool-aid drinkers. We need the IRA/401K uber alles folks. We get them when it’s clear the thugs will tank their money. Also, convincing them not to vote at all is half a vote for us.
Frankensteinbeck
@Shalimar:
I don’t know. One explanation that would fit circumstances is if the Freedom Fries Caucus knows that Democrats probably would rescue McCarthy from an overthrow attempt. In that case we would see them occasionally posture without going through with the threat, and McCarthy continue his incompetent attempts to actually be Speaker. Trying and failing to craft Republican-only budgets, that sort of thing. Exactly what we’re seeing now.
Shalimar
@Frankensteinbeck: As sdhays points out, the only alternative to McCarthy with even a hope of getting 218 votes is Scalize, who
A) is fighting cancer currently, and
B) is already Majority Leader and hasn’t been any more effective than McCarthy at coming up with solutions to this clusterfuck.
No one else has a chance at becoming Speaker. Which means if they actually succeed in removing McCarthy, we go 13 months without a House of Representatives at all. No Speaker means no rules means no work can be done.
Shalimar
@Frankensteinbeck: Good point. I hope that is true, because it means there will be a resolution when McCarthy finally chooses to abide by the previous deal. But it doesn’t explain why he hasn’t already done it.
NotMax
Not one to make predictions but from this vantage point looks like there will be an eleventh hour one week CR.
What McCarthy hopes to hammer out in that week defies explanation.
Hoppie
@NotMax: Well, yeah.
Not to diss your point, but much of this is predictable. We hope.
NotMax
@Hoppie
Only thing is my spidey sense is for a very short term CR, less time than previous ones. Delays but in no way keeps the axe from falling.
Best bet seems to be legislative finagling to buy more time, with the Senate taking up an appropriation bill already passed in the House, stripping the language and inserting more comprehensive budgetary text on the assumption that Ds and a handful of not totally nutzoid Rs in the House will vote yea on that.
Hoppie
@NotMax: We shall see. Aloha from San Diego, hope to visit soon. We really adored Lahaina, RIP
Left coast still alive tonight, at least
ETA: short term extensions have always been part of the Kabuki.
Ksmiami
@Kent: make red states take it on the chin. Sorry not sorry.
AlaskaReader
@Ksmiami: Speaking as someone who lives in a state that has transitioned from blue to red, what does its say that you’re wiling to dunk on all those who happen to live in a ‘red’ state.
Spite should be a non-starter, especially when it’s indescriminate.
lowtechcyclist
@Another Scott:
Yeah, I remember that part! My whole agency was shut down – except for a few of us who worked on a survey sponsored by another agency that had already been funded for the year.
So a handful of us would be having to come in to work every day in this almost totally empty building, while the vast majority of our colleagues (including my wife!) stayed home.
It was very weird.
lowtechcyclist
@Hoppie:
I dunno. This GQP feels very different to me than even the GQPs of the Teabagger era. In 2010, a lot of Rethugs got elected to Congress who’d grown up on the nonsense that Rush and Fox had been spitting out, and actually believed it. But the pre-2010 people still had enough presence to keep the caucus semi-organized.
Now the House is almost entirely that crowd who believes their own propaganda, and they have no organizational capability. Qevin can try his hardest, but even he can’t organize a two-car funeral with this crowd.
It’s not like there’s enough ‘there’ there to claim that they got some ephemeral concession in return for agreeing to a CR of any length. There has to be two parties to a negotiation for that to happen. I don’t see that the House GQP caucus effectively constitutes a ‘side.’
lowtechcyclist
@lowtechcyclist:
Josh Marshall:
Matt McIrvin
@Hoppie: I think that a lot of them think the impeachments of Trump had no substance and were purely partisan attacks, so they’re not going to see why doing the same thing to Biden doesn’t have the same effect on the public.
Anne Laurie
Nope — we don’t want to punish the poor desperate rural residents who *didn’t* vote for Trump (including, least we forget, many people of color), those who actually need the help most.
Now, if we can find a way to target slow-walking / stopping constituent services to the boat-dealership, multiple-franchise-owners exurbs…
(Of course, it won’t happen, because That Would Be Wrong. But we’re allowed to snark.)
Geminid
@Righteous Hazard: If the radicals succeeded in a Motion to Vacate and Republicans proved incapable to elect a replacement, I guess it’s possible that a half dozen or so Republicans might switch parties and elect Jeffries as Speaker.
He might be reluctant to agree though. Then he’d be the one who had to reconcile the wishes of a disparate caucus, and for 13 months. And blame for a dysfunctional or barely functional House wiuld begin to attach to him personally and to Democrats in general, whereas now Jeffries is keeping the blame squarely on Republican shoulders.
Perhaps a more likely scenario is the one floated by Nebraska Republican Don Bacon at the beginning of this Congress. That would be election of an outsider with votes from a few Republicans and from all or almost all the Democrats. That new Speaker would bring legislation to the floor that had 218 members backing it, regardless of party. A retired Republican like New Yorker Tom Reed or Pennsylvanian Charlie Dent would be suitable for that role.
I know this scenario sounds farfetched, but I think it’s more likely than 5 Republicans switching parties outright, and maybe more desirable than Hakeem Jeffries trying to run the House with 213 Democrats and 5 party switchers.
The way things are going, Jeffries will be Speaker anyway come January 2025, with an outright majority behind him. The challenge for House Democrats is to get from here to there with the federal government intact and without their own caucus blowing up like the Republican caucus soon might. A Speaker Reed would enable those goals to be achieved.
Geminid
@Geminid: Actually, the last sentence should have read, “A Speaker Reed could enable those goals to be achieved, not would. This would not be a certainty
And Republicans still might be able to stumble through another 15 months with McCarthy at the helm of their Ship of Fools.
Procopius
I don’t see why all the MSM are blaming the Republicans. Yeah, they have a small majority in the House, but I notice every single Democrat Representative voted Nay. Are there things in this bill that Democrats cannot stomach? If so, why aren’t the media talking about them? It looks to me like the Democrats, with the help of a few extremist Republicans, are causing a government shutdown. I suppose on Thursday or Friday they’ll vote for the bill, but I can’t blame the Republicans for a shutdown.
Shalimar
@lowtechcyclist: Josh Marshall makes an excellent point about Republicans in the House not being able to agree this time being the big difference.
I think among the Freedom Caucus themselves, the 2010 leaders like Meadows, Pompeo, and Jordan were bomb-throwers, but they were also ambitious to rise within the party. They tried to influence Boehner and Ryan but ultimately they presented a united front against Democrats.
The 2018-2022 members who have joined the Freedom Caucus are nihilists. They truly despise government, but they also have no loyalty to anyone. Most of them have no interest in being in House leadership and really can’t even stand their leadership. Republican voters have had an anti-elite vibe for a long time where they felt their leaders were betraying them too, and this generation represents that.
Barry
@SiubhanDuinne: “It’s only her second week, and Walker’s tenure on Press the Meat is already pretty disastrous, it would appear.”
I would say that her tenure is secured. She is an obedient servant to her masters.
Barry
@Procopius: You are hired! We like the cut of your jib.
Geminid
@Procopius: Sure there were things in the bill that the Democrats can’t stomach. If they were in the Majority, their bill would contain elements the Republicans objected to would all vote against. And in either case, the Senate would have its say and the more objectionable House provisions would likely be stripped out by a Senate/House Conference Committee.
But in the meantime, House Democrats intend to hold Republican feet to the fire. House Republicans are trying to come up with a bill, and from what I’ve read it will be a doozie- 27% cuts everywhere but in Defense and Veterans Administration funding.
During the Debt Ceiling controversy in May, Republicans passed a bill with 22% cuts everywhere but Defense. That included the Veterans Administration. The next day, Democrats were running ads about it in swing districts like the veteran-heavy Virginia 2nd CD.
Republicans want to leave Veterans Administration untouched this time, but they still can’t erase their May votes. And now, Republicans are liable to be stuck with another vote, this one to cut many valued programs even more than they proposed in May. I think Democrats are smart to let Republicans create more campaign ads against themselves.
Unlike the prospective federal default that loomed over the Debt Ceiling negatiations, a government shutdown would not severely stress the national economy, and it would be unlikely to last more than a couple of weeks, I believe. So I don’t mind if House Republicans provide further proof of their incapacity.
Ed. This is not to mention the effects a shutdown would have on Republican prospects in the Virgina legislative elections. I’m not suggesting here that this prospect should influence House Democrats, just pointing out that Virginia Republicans will likely sustain collateral damage if House Republicans cause a shutdown.