McCarthy is retiring in a couple of weeks. Aren’t most of the rest of them going to complete their term?
Correct, that’s why I listed him separately.
I can understand retirement, but by leaving in January, McCarthy is really sticking it to Majority Leader Johnson and the GOP caucus. The GOP margin fell to 3 seats when George Santos succumbed to the witch hunt last week. In January it will be 2. Why would McCarthy do this?
NYT:
For Mr. McCarthy, who has struggled to adjust to life as a rank-and-file lawmaker, the early departure holds nothing but upside. Former members are banned for one year after leaving Congress from lobbying their former colleagues. By resigning this month, Mr. McCarthy can start the clock on that delay from what promises to be lucrative work in the private sector a year earlier than he would have been able to if he served out his term.
Jan 2025 will be a great time to start a lobbying career.
Wait. So you are saying he’s doing this for himself and not for the betterment of the country or party? I am getting the vapors just hearing this!
Having only a 2 seat majority will hopefully put a crimp in their impending impeachment plans. Surely there are at least 2 Republican house members who will acknowledge that there isn’t any evidence behind all the smoke and mirrors.
I believe there’s currently only one vacancy in the House (Santos’ seat). Assuming McCarthy resigns December 31, that would still leave Republicans with a 220-213 (i.e. three seat margin) until the February 13 special election for Santos’ seat. Democrat Brian Higgins and Republican Bill Johnson have both announced their intent to resign sometime early next year as well.
I’ll bet he also contributed the maximum amount to his FSA.
NYT:
If Mr. McCarthy were to exit Congress right away, it would also shrink the already-slim Republican majority, which went from four to three seats with the expulsion on Friday of Representative George Santos of New York.
Cite: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/02/us/politics/mccarthy-house-speaker-republicans.html
Ah, OK. It went to a three-seat margin with Santos’ expulsion because the House is now 221R-213D. Assuming all members vote, Republicans can only afford to lose three R votes because losing four would result in a tie (and therefore defeat). But it’s STILL a three-seat margin when McCarthy resigns, because losing three R votes would result in a 217-216 outcome if all members voted.
I don’t get it, if it’s 221-213 wouldn’t it be an 8 seats difference?
Think of it this way - Gaetz gets his panties in a bunch, and calls for the removal of Johnson. If Gaetz, Green, and Boebert are all in (3 votes), and all others are against, he’s OK. One more vote, and he’s in trouble.
It depends on whether the lost votes go to the other side or just abstain. If they all vote, then losing 4 votes means it’ll be a tie and the vote fails.
Yep, because most votes are binary in the House, when people talk about the majority’s “voting margin” they’re referring to the maximum number of votes they can lose to the other side and still carry the vote.
Oh, I see, thanks!
I’m about halfway through Liz Cheney’s book (listening on Audible), and she is absolutely scathing in her regard for Johnson; which is mostly noteworthy because (one assumes) she wrote those chapters well before anybody knew who the hell he was.
He enters the story as the author of an amicus brief for the (constitutionally wacko) suit by Texas claiming that 4 other states had mis-managed their elections (as Liz points out, Texas only named states that went for Biden). She calls him craven, cowardly, duplicitous and a Trump lick-spittle toady.
I’ll say this: the lady has a way with words.
I’ll admire her when I see who she votes for this time.
Pretty certain she has stated no way she votes for DJT. I would expect Biden, but not 100% she has said such. I suppose she might vote GOP if it is Haley or Christie but I really don’t see that happening.
(I can’t see her voting for Kennedy, Stein or West. Who else did I miss that may run? I’m not including primary candidates.)
I heard Cheney interviewed on NPR the other day and was a little surprised to learn she voted for Trump twice. She cited “good policies” before firmly saying she wouldn’t vote for him again.
So on the one hand, good for her for the stance she took after January 6. It was principled and I appreciate it. But… like some other people who feel similarly (Mitt Romney, for one) it seems too little, too late. Before the horde descended on the Capitol they thought everything was fine? Separating kids from the their families at the border, trying to decree Muslims couldn’t enter the country, the numerous counts of idiocy during the pandemic… Maybe it was only when they felt personally threatened that they started to grow a spine. What good is Romney doing even now? Collecting royalties on a book, and not much else so far.
Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that Republicans supported a Republican president. But I still blame them for it, and the only way to redeem them in my view is to scream from the ramparts and do everything they can to fight off his next attempt at power. And I suppose Cheney is now doing that, but I feel the same way about her as I did about John McCain. He was a principled man with truly awful politics, and I would have gone a long way to vote against him. Liz Cheney is not about to become a Democrat or support anything like typical Democratic policies. I’ll be glad for her help against Trump, but I kind of hope she goes away after that.
Is Vermin Supreme running this time?