Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So very ready.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

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

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

When I was faster i was always behind.

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

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

When we show up, we win.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Politics / Montana State Senate Republicans in Disarray!

Montana State Senate Republicans in Disarray!

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Things aren’t going smoothly in the Montana State Senate.

I don’t pretend to understand exactly what they’re fighting for or what they are fighting about, but I still like what I’m seeing!  9 Republicans apparently took a principled stand and didn’t vote in lock step with their party leadership.

Are there any Montana peeps who have more information?

I hope we see more of this in response as the extremist Republican party tries to rule!

Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, said Thursday night that he has “big concerns” about the remaining 86 days of the 69th Legislature after his fractured Republican majority failed to coalesce around leadership’s preference for the chamber’s rules.

“When you have, at the very beginning of session like this, a group that says, ‘Hey, we’re not going to affirm the majority’s decisions, the voters’ decision that the majority Republicans made back in November,’ it strains things,” Regier told reporters following a failed vote to take up a resolution on rules governing the body. “I mean the vote’s right there — going to the Democrats to buck the majority.”

The vote on the fourth evening of the Legislature was to adopt comprehensive rules governing the operations, decorum, and committee functions within the chamber, which became controversial.

On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, made a successful bid to change the rules Republican leadership wanted.

The change called for limiting a new Executive Review Committee in order to redistribute the small number of minority party members to other committees.

Nine Republican lawmakers, including former Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, joined the Democrats to pass those rules.

Republican leadership tried this week to revert to their initial plan, but failed Thursday night, as the same nine Republicans and all Democrats voted down an amended proposal from leadership.

Republican leaders stressed the amendment included concessions to the nine defectors.

“At some point you just say, ‘We’re going to move on with business, and I guess if you guys and the Democrats want to control the floor, that’s your prerogative,’” Regier said to the nine.

“I mean, we’ll be back. We’ll have permanent rules, we got to keep moving and get this squared away,” he added. “But in the meantime, there’s going to be committee meetings happening and we’ll get things ramped up here.”

ON MONDAY, the Senate approved temporary rules in order to begin functioning, and the Senate will continue to operate under them and may do so indefinitely.

h/t realbtl

Open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

39Comments

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    I hadn’t heard anything about this. Thanks for highlighting it.

    MontanaFreePress.org (from 1/10):

    The Senate will move forward next week under the rules as amended on opening day by Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers and supporters, meaning there will be new voting members on committees that Republican planners didn’t strategize for when announcing committee assignments last November.

    Meanwhile, House lawmakers moved ahead on the bill hearings. By Friday, the House Judiciary Committee was hearing House Bill 121, a bill to block transgender individuals from using public restrooms that align with their gender identity.

    The hearing drew national attention as the first state-level proposed transgender bathroom ban of 2025. The three-hour hearing Friday was packed with witnesses debating the logistics and purpose of screening people for bathroom access according to their sex assigned at birth. The bill comes after a group of GOP lawmakers also tried before the session started to block trans legislators from using certain bathrooms in the Capitol.

    (Emphasis added.)

    I think we really need to hammer the bolded stuff. These RWNJs are creating these onerous rules and laws and sitting back and empowering any unstable crank to be panty inspector of any woman. It’s an anathema to personal freedom to be left alone and an opening on the culture-side of the debate.

    Grr…

    Thanks.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  4. 4.

    Lobo

    It seems the Republican Party in the west is really composed of two parties, the so called “Freedom Party” and the traditional  “Republican” party.  The FP is a mix of anarchy/patriarchy.

  5. 5.

    Torrey

    As is usual with journalism that deals with legislation or the technical aspects of legislation and rules, there is no indication of what exactly the issue is. I googled to try to find out, and I still don’t understand it, except there is, or the Republicans want to put in place–it wasn’t clear–an Executive Rules Committee and those demuring, which includes nine Republicans, along with the Democrats, want to spread the Democrats out among other committees. There was also something about expertise. So yeah, if anbody can point me in the direction of actual information, I’d be grateful.

  6. 6.

    p.a.

    “When someone says “we have 2 quarterbacks” they don’t have any quarterbacks”

    When Republicans all think god is talking to them god isn’t talking to anyone.

  7. 7.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Well, here are some examples of Republican “principles”:

    Rep. Warren Davidson on California federal disaster relief: “If they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies … CA wants the money without changing the policies that are making the problem worse & I don’t see how Rs could possibly support that.”

    Must be consequences for having your house burn down in a firestorm! No more Santa Ana winds or drought if you want a BAILOUT.

    Sen. Marshall says, “Look, about 70% of your health outcomes are determined by you. It’s determined by what you eat & what you’re surrounded by. By the time you come to my office as a doctor, I can impact maybe 10 or 20% of your health outcomes”

    High A1C and blood pressure? YOUR FAULT! Think I became a doctor to help YOU?

    Strings attached for aid after natural disasters and bootstraps for healthcare. That’s the Republican playbook for America.

  9. 9.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    …bootstraps for healthcare.

    It’s a known fact (translated: I read it on Teh Internetzez at some point) that bootstraps have ancient medicinal powers over a wide variety of ailments.

    It’s basically an informal part of the vast, unregulated “Medical Supplement” industry that the right so loves to promote so it makes *total* sense.

  10. 10.

    realbtl

    The details will differ but the same fight/split will likely happen in most R controlled states; the tear down anything I don’t like Rs vs the Holy Shit this will fuck everything up Rs.

     

    WG I thought you would like this.

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    My cousin, who married into a Montana family of high-profile Democrats (e.g., FIL was part of group that rewrote the state constitution in the1970s), once told me that Montana culture has a strong libertarian streak. So not surprised that that some Montana Republicans don’t want to march lockstep with their nutty brethren.

  14. 14.

    TBone

    @Sure Lurkalot: I commented on the thread below about that flaming clown, but didn’t want to link because I was sure someone else would.

    It’s the Hunger Games from here on out.

    Maybe Fetterman knows that….

  15. 15.

    realbtl

    @Ohio Mom: Yup when I moved here in 2001 there was a strong don’t fuck with me and I won’t fuck with you vibe.  A lot of that is gone with the influx of rich out of staters.

  19. 19.

    KatKapCC

    May I ask a very Open Thread-ish and also probably dumb question? What is that in the current sidebar photo? I assume some type of flora, but it looks like a fluffy wedding garter around a stick.

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    @Torrey:

    Well it seems that their goal is to render the opposition completely useless and unable to accomplish anything. They don’t have the ultimate power that they want so that they can take THEIR state back a couple centuries. They know that if they play by the current rules they get squat. So their only choice is an end run. Except that not everyone agrees with that concept of government by the farthest side of anything.

    Many of the state politicians in many states want to revert to a time we never actually had in government and let them completely rewrite time and politics into a form that allows them all the power and say and everyone else to get doodly squat. They seem to think that is the way humanity is supposed to work. Them in charge and everyone else toting that barge.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    @KatKapCC: That is actually called a “frost flower”.

    I had never seen them or heard of them, but OzarkHillbilly took photos of them over the course of 4 years, and would send them in to the Garden Chats.

    So beautiful, yet so fleeting.  Once they melt, they are gone forever.

    That is one of my favorites!

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @eclare: Me, too, I’m glad you like it.  I hope everyone knows you can click on it for a full-size image.  I do that for some of the water photos, for sure.

    The daises photo from BigJimSlade had an adorable little bee on the flower, which you could only see if you clicked on it.

    I figure I’ll do the photo a day thing for all of January, then check in with folks for input.

  29. 29.

    gene108

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    I feel like this is done, in part, because when Democrats are in charge they will not withhold aid to Republican states for natural disasters.

    Republicans started doing this dance to not send aid to Democratic states after hurricane Sandy, and it hasn’t stopped.

  33. 33.

    Glory b

    @gene108: Yes, the idea is to nickle and dime us to death, or until we are equal to them.

    It’s like they tell you on jets, if you don’t put on you mask and save yourself, you can’t save someone else.

    They’re counting on us not saving ourselves.

  37. 37.

    Torrey

    @Ruckus:

    Thank you. But I was really hoping for information about the mechanics of the process. I don’t know what the Executive Rules Committee was meant to do (both officially and really meant to do, which are often politically two different things, especially in a tussle between interests or political parties) and whether it was a new committee or one of long-standing that was being reorganized or repurposed, as well as how redistribution of the minority members would affect the other committees. Often, one can reduce the ability of minority members to have an effect by scattering them among several committees, much as happens with voters in gerrymandering. In other words, what is the majority trying to do, what are the nuts and bolts, and what reasons are the dissident majority members giving for their refusal to go along?

  39. 39.

    cmorenc

    @Citizen Alan: …and if farm aid was cut to R Montana ranchers and they lost their shirts, out-of-state investors and wealthy folks would buy ‘em out much cheaper than if the ranchers weren’t so distressed financially, and run ‘em off the land.

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