# House Speaker Contest **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770 "2022-11-12T00:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 77
**Author:** ![BrianDime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BrianDime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrianDime)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1521 "2023-01-06T16:13:20Z")
> And if by some miracle they survive re-election, the rest of the Republican party will never speak to them again. Sounds like a major benefit, to me at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1522 "2023-01-06T16:14:15Z")
If I were a Democratic House member, the only way I’d even consider bailing the Republicans’ sorry assess out of this mess is with these stipulations 1. A compromise speaker with absolutely no higher political aspirations than to take care of House business competently for the next two years. 2. An iron-clad assurance that all motions to impeach Biden, subpoena Hunter’s laptop, reopen the Benghazi investigation, etc. disappear down a rabbit hole never to be talked about again. 3. The Republicans police their own idiots by denying them committee assignments, or better yet, giving them the worst committee assignments possible. And no help from Republican PACs until they’ve shown they can play nice - let them go out and raise their own contributions. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1523 "2023-01-06T16:14:36Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Gop agrees to elect Jeffries, who agrees to step down immediately after the house has voted to expel certain members. > Discuss? You’d still need GOP votes to expel them; and quite a lot of those votes. Making Jeffries the speaker wouldn’t somehow make the Democrats the majority party - let alone the two-thirds majority party. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’m fine with Democrats considering, with appropriate negotiations, a compromise Republican as speaker. But that should not be McCarthy. McCarthy is dishonorable and cannot be trusted. The problem is, is there anyone left in there who they can trust? > [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > They’re worried about getting primaried in 2 years. And that is legitimately something that could and likely would happen. They’re supposed to be more concerned about the welfare of the country than about their chances of being re-elected. Yes, I know. Bwah-hah-hah-hah. There were Republicans of that sort; but the few that were still in Congress are pretty much gone now. But, you know, re-election worries are a reason. They’re not an excuse. > [@flurb](#): > > I just can’t see any of them saying “THIS is my breaking point!” Maybe another 50 or 100 useless votes will do it? I think the first thing that happens (besides a lot of laughter echoing in their ears) is that they and their staffers start missing their expected paychecks. A lot of the representatives can afford it for a while; some of their staff, probably not so much. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1524 "2023-01-06T16:15:46Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I just can’t see any of them saying “THIS is my breaking point!” For some it might be getting what they had been promised taken away … like that subcommittee chair. For others the informed self-interest that the most extreme few having control of virtually everything will make them unelectable as Republicans in their purple districts next cycle. But boy, if they aren’t at that breaking point NOW where is it? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1525 "2023-01-06T16:19:08Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > But boy, if they aren’t at that breaking point NOW where is it? IMHO it’ll be when we get to the far far right holdouts. Right now McCarthy is focused on Chip Roy and the 10 or so he claimed he could bring along. The 200 are ok with that. Once that part is over and McCarthy starts having to win over a Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, or Bob Good, however, the concessions he has to give them might be a bridge too far. Or maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1526 "2023-01-06T16:20:31Z")
Jeffries starts the negotiation with it being HIM and giving them things in return. He settles for that as the least acceptable offer. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1527 "2023-01-06T16:22:19Z")
Or when it is all these concessions and the most crazy have won on McCarthy too? Or not even then, they are that weak and spineless? ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1528 "2023-01-06T16:29:12Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > You’d still need GOP votes to expel them; and quite a lot of those votes. Making Jeffries the speaker wouldn’t somehow make the Democrats the majority party - let alone the two-thirds majority party. No of course not. Making Jeffries (or Pelosi) Speaker is a temporary measure–the Dems would LOVE to expel Gaetz and Gosar etc as seditionists. McCarthy would LOVE to expel them as assholes, disloyal members of his caucus, pains in his Irish ass etc. Once the House is down to 430 members with them expelled, the temporary Dem speaker resigns (as promised), and McCarthy wins 218-212 over Jeffries and everyone gets what he wants. Maybe the Dems wait for Scalise or some more reasonable GOP figure to run for Speaker first, but expelling a few recalcitrant GOP hardliners would allow for a Speaker to be chosen–and everyone hates the 4 or 5 Never Kevins for different reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1529 "2023-01-06T16:30:00Z")
> [@bump](#): > > and everyone’s known that the GOP has a sort of choice to make- double down on the MAGA crazy/far-right wing stuff, or pull back toward where their traditional center is, This is really the key to it all. Some of the GOP members will have to do some real soul-searching. It should be clear by now that McCarthy is not going to win just on the basis of GOP votes alone. The Crazy Wing simply won’t allow that. So to break the log jam, the GOP is going to have to go one way or the other. Capitulate to the Crazy Wing, and vote for whatever candidate they demand, and whatever rules they demand, or work with the Democrats, to find a bipartisan candidate. I can’t see it working any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1530 "2023-01-06T16:35:42Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Da. I believe the Czech word for yes is “ano”. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1531 "2023-01-06T16:39:14Z")
I know Ken Buck (R-CO) is not in the chambers because he has a prescheduled medical procedure today and I saw someone say there are 7 out today. How many of those are Dems? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1532 "2023-01-06T16:44:26Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > McCarthy would LOVE to expel them I’m highly dubious that a large number of the current GOP House want to do something as drastic as expel a significant number of their members. Especially considering how thin their majority is already. To make it work, they might have to expel enough to lose that majority entirely. There are currently 19 or 20 votes blocking McCarthy, not 5. Some of them would cave; but others might join in, out of indignation at the deal and/or at the expulsions – if there’d be enough votes for the expulsions in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1533 "2023-01-06T16:47:58Z")
Reporting is that 5 republicans will not be in attendance today. They have other commitments. They have all been voting for McCarthy. If 7-8 more republicans don’t attend or vote present Jeffries wins. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1534 "2023-01-06T16:48:00Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > To make it work, they might have to expel enough to lose that majority entirely. There are currently 19 or 20 votes blocking McCarthy, not 5. Expel the worst 5, and then see what happens. “[Pour encourager les autres.](https://wordhistories.net/2016/10/22/pour-encourager-les-autres/)” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1535 "2023-01-06T16:48:29Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’m highly dubious that a large number of the current GOP House want to do something as drastic as expel a significant number of their members. Agreed. Of all the unlikely things to happen, I’d put “Republicans expel the nutjobs” somewhere below “Sentient dolphins rise from the depths of the ocean and enact martial law on the surface world.” So much of this thread is predicated on the question, “But what if a majority of Republican representatives suddenly decide to act like decent, reasonable human beings?” As I keep saying, if they were going to do that, they would already have done that. It’s possible–barely possible–that a half-dozen Republican representatives will finally declare themselves for team Fuck it, let’s act like humans for once. But even that seems really unlikely at this stage. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1536 "2023-01-06T16:54:42Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > There are currently 19 or 20 votes blocking McCarthy, not 5. Everyone keeps talking about Scalise as a possible fallback. Why is it that none of the 20 never-Kevins (nevers-Kevin?) has tried nominating Scalise to try to crack the McCarthy block? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1537 "2023-01-06T16:54:43Z")
I, for one, welcome our new delphine overlords. That said, I think you still overestimate the chances they expel anybody. Warlike, sentient dolphins are considerably more likely. That runs counter to electoral strategy, which is and has been the primary consideration. There’s still the dream/hope/fever dream that they can somehow cater to the voters who want the crazy wing while maintaining some semblance of effective governance, even if ‘effective’ in their minds is endless Hunter Biden investigations, impeachment threats, and so forth. At long last, after years and years of this nonsesnse, they’ve hit the point where they can no longer needle that thread. > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Everyone keeps talking about Scalise as a possible fallback. Why is it that none of the 20 never-Kevins (nevers-Kevin?) has tried nominating Scalise to try to crack the McCarthy block? They don’t want him, either. It’s a bit of a Hail Mary sort of idea. He’d be somebody the establishment Republicans could still support but maybe with less baggage for the 20. Can’t call them ‘never Kevins’ because of Hern, har, har, har 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1538 "2023-01-06T16:57:03Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > That said, I think you still overestimate the chances they expel anybody. I said it’s less likely than tyrant porpoises, and you still think I’m overestimating the chances? Either I’m misunderstanding you, or else you have interesting ideas about marine evolution and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1539 "2023-01-06T16:57:43Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Can’t call them ‘never Kevins’ because of Hern, har, har, har 🙄 They’re the “Never Kevin **S** ”. They can still have one Kevin, and that’s Hern. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1540 "2023-01-06T16:58:14Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Can’t call them ‘never Kevins’ because of Hern, har, har, har 🙄 It says ‘No _Kevins_.’ We’re allowed to have one. Dang it. Ninjad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=76) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=78)