One of the last House rules that was passed was one in which it only takes one vote to put his position up for a vote. This whole footage thing with tucker stinks to high heaven and might be justification imo.
McCarthy gets recalled.
And then?
I didn’t think that far ahead; I was just a little pissy about the footage thing, and thought it might be a good way to send him a message. It should be an ethics violation at least, imo.
Would anyone in the Republican caucus care? Does it have to be a member of his caucus to trigger the vote?
You think the message would be “We care about ethics”?
The Republicans don’t need to send McCarthy a message. He’s already aware that his position is extremely precarious.
But McCarthy can send the same message back to the members. He can let them know that if they give him a nudge, he’ll fall - and then they’ll have to deal with the aftermath. Which will be finding a new Speaker. And that was a very difficult job the last time and it will be even harder if they have to do it again. If McCarthy is ousted, the Republicans will spend weeks trying to find a replacement that can get enough votes - assuming such a person exists.
The Republicans are already destroying each other in the presidential race. They won’t do themselves any favors in they start destroying each other in Congress as well.
He’s the Speaker of the House, not the Speaker of the Repugs. I think any member can call for it.
But at least the House of Reps would still function,* wouldn’t it? They have a deputy speaker and committees appointed now, so it wouldn’t be quite the show as back in January.
*For certain values of “function”.
It would be unpleasant for Kevin- he’s wanted that job so bad he sold his soul to the execrable Perjury Traitor Goone.
And the downside?
I’m baffled why any Republican would object to what McCarthy did.
Having Carlson release only cherrypicked segments of the thousands of hours of video means that all Fox viewers can now totally dismiss any claims that 1/6 was anything other than the quiet, police-aided, non-event protest that the right has been insisting on. It’s a fabulous propaganda coup for the Republicans.
The Democrats should be furious, obviously. I would call this an impeachable offense. But the Republicans? The worst thing I can think of their doing is carrying him around on their shoulders shouting hosannas.
So will the Democrats introduce a motion to vacate the chair? Here’s what would happen.
A member would have to introduce the resolution on the floor. If they introduce it as a “privileged” resolution, it would force the House to take it up at some point.
Most likely, there wouldn’t be a quick up-or-down vote on removing the speaker. It could be delayed for a certain period of time, and there could be a number of procedural votes as well – on whether to refer it to a committee or on whether it is considered appropriate.
So it would go nowhere, would lose on a straight party-line vote if it did go anywhere, and the Republicans could use it as propagandistic proof of whatever they feel like making it into.
McCarthy won this round. Other than hoping it’s a one-off, not much more can or will be done.
Thanks, now I haz a sad.
Looking like a bunch of clowns who can’t even work with each other is not a public image that will help them in the 2024 elections.
But it reminds people there was a riot and that hurts the Republican party.
One of the central pillars of Republican strategy going back decades has been scaring voters. It doesn’t matter what the threat is. It can be communists, black people, women, gays, hippies, terrorists, the Mafia, Mexicans, socialists, Muslims, drug dealers, Satanists, flag burners, gang members, whatever. The important thing is to get a certain segment of the population scared.
But here’s the important thing. After you’ve got them scared, you have to offer them safety. The Republicans sell the idea that they are the party that can protect people from the thing that scares them. So the scared people vote for Republicans.
Now the rioters have certainly been scary. But the problem (for the Republicans) is people aren’t going to see the Republicans as their protectors. They’re going to see the rioters as the thing that scares them and they’ll see the Democrats as the ones who will protect them.
He’s not holding an office that’s subject to impeachment, though; is he? He can lose his job as Speaker of the House, but still remain in office as a representative and of course that would still be on the Repbulican side.
I wish that were the way the world works but I know no evidence for it.
Senator William Blount was impeached in 1797 but he was expelled from the Senate first and the case was mooted.
The house’s official website has this to say.
Blount’s impeachment trial—the first ever conducted—established the principle that Members of Congress and Senators were not “Civil Officers” under the Constitution, and accordingly, they could only be removed from office by a two-thirds vote for expulsion by their respective chambers. Blount, who had been accused of instigating an insurrection of American Indians to further British interests in Florida, was not convicted by the Senate, but the Senate did expel him.
So probably not, but technically it’s never been tested.
Now that’s some mighty good SD answerin’. Thanks!
People voted for Joe Biden instead of Donald Trump.
Admittedly, this was before the riots, which were a result of Trump’s refusal to concede his defeat. But I feel it’s evidence that a lot of voters were already worried about Trump and the people he represented and looked to somebody like Biden for a return to feeling safe. The riots that followed reinforced the choice people had made.
I agree there is a segment of the Republican base that it motivated by anger. But I feel people overestimate that bloc because they are disproportionately loud. I feel scared voters are a larger bloc in the Republican base. And by appealing to the angry voters, Republicans are risking their control of scared voters.
Two things:
- Would they be scared by footage that makes the riots look peaceful?
- Are the people who voted for Biden or even were just worried about Trump actually watching Tucker Carlson?
Showing the footage, not matter how it’s edited, reminds people that the riot occurred. The smartest thing the Republicans could do would be to keep anything about the riots out of the news and hope people forget before Election Day.
But Carlson is using the edit to claim there was no riot.