Kevin McCarthy not enough of a weasel

[bmw]

Right now PredictIt has it a virtual coin flip between McCarthy and Scalise and a 15% chance that it goes to someone else.

[Honeyman]

Right now PredictIt has it a virtual coin flip between McCarthy and Scalise and a 15% chance that it goes to someone else.

I'd throw a few bucks on "someone else", beemer. Remember Dennis Hastert?

[TC Talks]

I don't see how moderates and the Trump fringe will ever find common ground.

Options that the NY Times suggested:

Mr. Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, is in some ways Mr. McCarthy’s obvious successor.

Deeply conservative and always on message, Mr. Scalise began his ascent up the leadership ranks in Congress when he became the chairman of the influential right-wing Republican Study Committee and beat out a candidate who endorsed a more combative approach to dealing with party leadership. Speculation about his ambition to one day become speaker has followed him ever since.

The party’s hard-right flank is not altogether trusting of Mr. Scalise, in part because the whip has sometimes quietly staked out neutral or mainstream positions when his colleagues have gone the other way. He broke with most other top House leaders in declining to endorse the primary challenger to Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who was exiled by Republicans for repudiating former President Donald J. Trump’s election lies.

At the internal conference election to choose party leaders in November, Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida pressed Mr. Scalise about comments he made on a private conference call days after the Jan. 6 riot. During that call, Mr. Scalise agreed with Mr. McCarthy that Mr. Gaetz’s comments about conservatives he deemed insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump had been dangerous and “potentially illegal.”

Still, many rank-and-file lawmakers regard Mr. Scalise as a solid alternative and one seen by some conservative lawmakers as a more palatable option than Mr. McCarthy.

The Firebrand: Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio
Mr. Jordan, a founder of the Freedom Caucus, helped upend Mr. McCarthy’s last bid to become speaker in 2015. He continued to be an irritant to the California Republican when he challenged Mr. McCarthy, unsuccessfully, for the top leadership position in 2018.

But Mr. McCarthy worked to mend fences with Mr. Jordan when he paved the way for him to take the top seat on the Judiciary Committee and dispatched him as a pugilistic defender of Mr. Trump during two impeachments.

It is unclear whether the more moderate lawmakers in the party would back a bid by Mr. Jordan for speaker. But he has a number of disciples among the far-right group of lawmakers who have vowed to oppose Mr. McCarthy.

The Dark Horse: Representative Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina
Mr. McHenry came to Congress in 2005 at the age of 29 as a conservative rabble-rouser, and was frequently seen yelling on the House floor or on cable news shows.

But in the years that followed, the silver-haired, bow-tie-wearing Mr. McHenry underwent a metamorphosis. He became chief deputy whip to Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, who later predicted that Mr. McHenry would become speaker himself one day. He pointedly took a lower-profile, behind-the-scenes approach to the job. And he developed a reputation among other lawmakers for his braininess and interest in tax and financial policy.

“What changed for me was once I slowed down enough to respect the process and to respect the people that I served with in the institution,” Mr. McHenry once told a local newspaper. “I was able to get more done when I slowed down and had respect for others.”

Mr. McHenry, who has for years been an informal adviser to Mr. McCarthy, has previously tried to scuttle the notion that he was interested in any top leadership post, saying he would rather lead the Financial Services Committee. He once gave the Republican leader a silver bowl in a joking reference to a famous scene from the crime drama series “The Wire,” in which a former mayor tells an incoming one that the vaunted top job is akin to eating silver bowls of feces all day.

He is the only Republican lawmaker whose name has been floated as a possible candidate for speaker who voted to certify the 2020 presidential election.


The MAGA Warrior: Representative Elise Stefanik of New York
When Ms. Stefanik first came to the House in 2014 as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, she was viewed as a rising star in the mold of Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who had hired her to work on his 2012 campaign for vice president.

She presented herself as a moderate pragmatist willing to work with Democrats and hoping to expand the party’s appeal. When Mr. Trump’s star began to rise in the Republican Party, she remained so skeptical of his inflammatory style that she refused to say his name in 2016 when she rolled out a tepid endorsement of her party’s presidential nominee.

But she has undergone a profound political metamorphosis. Ms. Stefanik is now one of the former president’s most vociferous and aggressive defenders in Congress. She became the No. 3 House Republican in May 2021 after the party ousted Ms. Cheney from the post for her vocal criticism of Mr. Trump.

[MWmetalhead]

McCarthy will either consent to the rules changes that the holdouts are seeking, or Scalise will emerge as a compromise candidate.

Some ex-communicated former GOP house members are salivating at the thought of building a coalition vote (mostly Dems plus a few centrist Repubs) to gain speakership. That seems like a far fetched scenario, though.

[Mike]

Anyone know if there are actually any changes that he's NOT consented to up to now? I can't think of any - and yet, the Never-McCarthy block is holding firm (chipping away at him, actually, however slightly).

[Lester The Nightfly]

McCarthy will either consent to the rules changes that the holdouts are seeking, or Scalise will emerge as a compromise candidate.

Some ex-communicated former GOP house members are salivating at the thought of building a coalition vote (mostly Dems plus a few centrist Repubs) to gain speakership. That seems like a far fetched scenario, though.

I'm pleasantly surprised that thus far the Democrats appear to be standing as one. That's not to say at some point the Pubs won't make someone an offer they can't refuse but so far there've been no cracks in the wall that we are aware of. It will be interesting to see if this holds once the House convenes for actual business, because I'm sure that wasn't in the Pubs calculation of not having a few Dems if not in their pockets at least sympathetic.

As an aside, watching the coverage it sure looks like there's a lot more gesticulation between Pub house members going on today than yesterday. The frustration must be immense. For Christ's sake, they are letting Boebert help make their case addressing the floor.

[FakeAndyStuart]

This is most embarrassing for poor Mr. McCarthy. He has lost control of his conference and is just about to swirl down the bowl. The whole idea was "Republicans were going to take control and get things done..." that what won them some votes. And that certainly looks pretty bad right now. McCarthy NOT going to some truly moderate Dems and not even allowing the first vote. Or did he NOT know he was going to lose? That's an even worse sign.

[TC Talks]

Just 6 Republican defectors from purple districts would get the job done... 2/3 of the candidates are not white, no wonder Trump is calling on Republicans to vote for Kevin...

And McCarthy keeps LOSING votes, he was at 203.

[Mega Hertz]

[MWmetalhead]

I have no sympathy for Mr. McCarthy's plight. Biggest weasel there is.

[bmw]

Regardless of how this ends, it is clear that the next 2 years are going to be a clown show in the House.

[Mega Hertz]

So when and how does this end?

[audiophile]

LOL

[Circle Seven]

This is becoming comical.
Apparently McCarthy has instructed his staff to call him "Mr. Speaker". And has already started moving into the Speaker's suite.
Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote a letter to the Capitol's landlord calling McCarthy a squatter:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... r-AA15YmKF

[Lester The Nightfly]

If you're seeking a textbook example how to insure you'll never get any cooperation from your political opponents, I present Exhibit A:

‘Popcorn and blankets and alcohol’: GOP lawmaker jabs Democrats amid Speaker vote
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3798 ... aker-vote/

Fuck the GOP