Yesterday, Rev. Speaker Mike put a piece of poison on the floor and dared his caucus to vote for it.
For political veterans, however, the most striking absence in the revised bill was the language that would have extended funding for the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Program.
The program, named after a 10-year-old Virginia girl who died from an inoperable brain tumor in 2013, was something of a miracle to begin with. When it passed in 2014, the Obama administration and congressional Republicans had been at a standstill over federal spending. […]
But the funding needed to be extended. And the bill that the current crop of congressional leaders agreed to earlier this week did just that, devoting an estimated $190 million to the program through 2033. [,,,]
By December 19, the provision had been axed from the bill, after Musk went on an X rampage, tweeting that the bill was a Christmas tree that was antithetical to conservative, small-government ambitions and threatening the primary lawmakers who supported it.
Unlike a lot of the press and some posters on BlueSky, this is a political blog where we know what the House Clerk’s website is, and what it says. Let’s look at yesterday’s roll call. First, the part that a lot of folks are missing:
Just a reminder that this bill, like every other bill brought up recently (you can see them on the Clerk’s site), is brought up under suspension of the rules and requires a 2/3 majority. That means the Democrats will have to support it, as they’ve been supporting the other bills that passed recently under suspension of the rules.
Now let’s look at the vote breakdown by party.
Dumbass Mike brought a bill to the floor that 38 of his members wouldn’t vote for. I saw a quote somewhere that he has arrived at the Capitol this morning and promised more votes today. Exciting! This is the Congressional equivalent of reconnaissance by fire.
Those of you who live in Republican districts probably think that calling your Congressperson is a pointless gesture, but this might prove the exception to the rule. The link to the roll call lets you search for your rep and see how they voted. If they voted for the bill, it would be worth asking why they don’t want to support kids with cancer. If they voted against, call to congratulate them on their tough stance, and encourage them to stand firm.
If your rep is Marie Glusenkamp-Perez (D-WA-3) or Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), call them and ask whether there was a malfunction in the vote counting apparatus that caused them to vote for a bill stripped of funding for kids with cancer.
Anyway, my guess was that Elon would go to Mar-a-Lago, Trump would calm him down, and the original bill (or a very close facsimile) that was agreed between Pastor Mike and the Democrats would hit the floor again, pass, and everyone would go home. But it looks to me like Trump is so enfeebled that he’s unable to keep Elon under control, so who the hell knows what’s going to happen next. Meanwhile, ketamine’s favorite little boy who never grew up tweeted out support for the German neo-nazi party overnight.
Also, brief posting note: this will probably be my last post for a couple of days and I have a Christmas trip tomorrow and need to prepare today.
A Closer Look at Yesterday’s FestivitiesPost + Comments (87)
Next time I’ll start with a base of white icing (would have done today but didn’t have any ready made) and add shredded coconut for the fur.