DeSantis has already ordered his Secretary of State to schedule the special elections for Gaetz and Rep Michael Waltz as soon as possible. Florida law only requires that there be a ten day qualifying period, followed by a minimum 14 days until the primary election, then another 14 days until the general election. So technically Gaetz’ replacement could be seated within two months.
I did hear a good joke about Gaetz. He’s was excited to hear he might get a recess appointment, because that’s what he calls a lunch date.
I wonder what the much-hated Ted Cruz thinks of him? “At least I’m not Matt!”
That was quite the tirade! However, the very next sentence after what you provided is my absolute favorite:
So why did he resign? Did he have to?
I am guessing he is hoping it will stop the House investigation?
IF he is approved, he has to resign.
He resigned now so that they can set up a VERY QUICK special election to fill his seat, with the new member arriving with the new incoming congress. That way, the Republicans will still have a majority.
They’ll have a majority anyway, even with Gaetz and the other Florida guy leaving for a cabinet position. He doesn’t give a shit about that. He did it to squash the investigation and Trump gave him cover.
Edit: Right now it’s 218-209. There are seven left to call. Even if the Democrats get all seven that are left, it would be 216-216. Three of the seven left are in the bag for the GOP though and maybe one more.
Not exactly. He resigned to stop the investigation first and foremost. The Ethics Committee was going to have a vote to release their report today, Friday. Because he resigned they will no longer release the report. The chair of the committee, Rep. Michael Guest said as much yesterday. Today Speaker Johnson had this to say:
We are not in the business of investigating and publishing a report of people who are not a part of this institution. The Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction is for sitting members of Congress. That’s an important rule.
I screwed that up. There are eight left to call but the GOP will still end up with the majority.
Any member of the committee retiring? They could leak it as their final public service.
I’m sure that they want to have a bit of a buffer in case a handful of the Freedom Caucus want to throw a tantrum and sabotage a vote. That’s not paranoia either because they’ve shown a propensity for doing so. With that in mind, every seat matters, and so it makes sense that they want to guarantee that they fill Gaetz’s spot.
Of course they do. It’s only logical. But that’s not why he resigned
Certainly not the only reason, but at least it’s the one that is being used as the official reason. And I’m sure that was at least part of the motivation.
There is no rule that prevents the report on Gaetz to come out. The House released reports on William Boner in 1987 and Donald Lukens in 1990, after both resigned. There’s precedent. It’s just a matter of whether or not they have the willpower to do it, and whether they think it will make a difference.
Yes, true, but a tiny majority.
Like they have now
Much smaller.
I don’t EVER want to hear Democrats talk about “bipartisanship” ever again.
This made my day: