The motion to table (procedurally kill) Matt Gaetz’s motion to vacate the chair (vote Speaker McCarthy off his island at the top of the well of the House) just went down in flames.
Now we’re on to the main event and if the vote totals on the tabling motion hold, McCarthy will be the first Speaker in history to be put to the parliamentary sword.
Minority Leader Jeffries effectively gave the Democratic Caucus response with the most politely worded “up yours, McCarthy” I’ve ever seen. They don’t seem at all inclined to help the GOP solve their messy civil war and now that the CR has passed and given a 45-day lifeline to the government, they don’t have to.
I’m sure he was thinking of riding McCarthy like a donkey (much as the MAGA crowd has since that tortuous Speaker election in January) but I’m guessing the Speaker’s tendency to say what he thinks his audience wants to hear and promise anything for the gavel but then not follow through left them rather cold.
So now the House is having their Liz Truss moment and this mess won’t be fixed anytime soon as anyone elected Speaker will still be blackmailed by the MAGA extremist wing.
When McCarthy goes down in flames in the next vote, his interim successor will be top of the list of Speaker pro tempore chair warmers currently in the possession of the Clerk of the House.
Their job?
Elect a new Speaker from a fractured GOP caucus that was already dysfunctional and is now devolving to outright hatred and civil war.
Good luck with that!
And the House can do nothing else until some poor bastard is sat upon the Throne of Thorns.
This is absolute gold for us CSPAN junkies but lousy for the country.
They used to joke that the job of Vice President wasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit.
The job of Speaker in this hyper partisan environment isn’t worth a metric tonne of bovine poos.
Grab your popcorn and enjoy the show…it will have it’s moments.
Check out this shot of “Sam the Eagle” behind Rep Good of Virginia. The guy next to him behind Gaetz looks like he’s trying to catch up on his sleep, praying, or hoping for oxygen to come his way.
Do check out the Congressional Record for the debate on the motion to vacate the chair. The current theme and vibe makes it clear that regardless of how this goes, Gaetz is about as welcome in the GOP caucus as Rep Santos of NY.