Well, this has suddenly gotten interesting. As you probably know, “Gym” Jordan came up short with the vote to become Speaker earlier this afternoon. TWENTY votes short in fact. I’m pretty sure he was hoping the number would be, if not in single digits then barely into double ones. So the plan to have multiple rounds of voting today to put pressure on holdouts was put on hold. Seconds after reading the vote totals and declaring there wasn’t a sufficient majority to elect a Speaker (in fact, Jeffries had more vote than Jordan, just not enough) he gaveled the House into recess “Subject to the call of the Chair.”
Interestingly, even though McCarthy had expressed support for Jordan both in private conference and publicly, and even voted for him earlier he still got seven votes. So did Steve Scalise who withdrew his name despite having won the initial voting in the GOPer conference meeting last week. There were a half dozen votes for others.
Even MORE interesting was that of the eighteen present who are in so-called “Biden districts” the bulk of them sealed their own defeats next year by voting for Jordan. Hmmmmm. It seems to me like the GOP has, by pressuring those folks to vote the way they did writing off those Districts next year, in which case they’ll be back in the minority!
There’s no telling what kind of pressure, even outright threats are being applied behind closed doors right now but I heard on MSNBC that apparently at least one more round of voting will take place later today. Or this evening. Jordan seems to think maybe like McCarthy he’ll whittle down the opposition to a manageable number that can be “whipped” (a legislative term but what Jordan and his most hard core supporters would like to actually do. Maybe one of them has BDSM gear?) to fall into line. However, the reporting I’m seeing indicated Jordan will fall short in another vote and that will be that. At least until tomorrow.
However, another intriguing possibility has emerged. More importantly it seems to be picking up steam. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with the Rules of the House, a Speaker Pro Tempore (in this case Patrick Henry) has quite limited power. He/she can gavel in a session of the House but ONLY business allowed is the selection of a new Speaker. No other bills can come to the floor, nor can they do anything when it comes to Committees. The proposal now being floated is to TEMPORATILY empower McHenry with still limited but more authority. Even the crazies are worried about not being able to pass an aid package for Israel. Others want that, aid for Ukraine and resolving the budget issue to prevent a shutdown.
So what’s being kicked around is giving McHenry more power for a limited period of time – 30 days. The idea isn’t exactly new, but as this article makes clear it’s no longer “theory:”
The center-right Republican Governance Group has gathered signatures on a petition to suggest giving McHenry, R-N.C., the authority to lead the House in legislative business, according to Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla.
in fact, if you do a web search multiple outlets are digging into this. Again, it’s not exactly new but what grabbed my attention was an interview on MSNBC with a Democratic Congressman (live) saying he (and he suggested other Democrats) would be open to such a thing. That’s what got me to starting to look into this. Later, in some back & forth with host Katy Tur Congressional reporter Ali Vitale said she’s been hearing the same thing. To put a cherry on top, I even heard one talking head that seems to have GOP sources saying that Republicans are even taking a “we don’t need Democrats for this” line. I rather doubt that’s true but even if 150 or so Republicans who are sick and tired of their Party looking like idiots who can’t hit the toilet when taking a dump vote for such a proposal Democrats might well go for it.
Frankly, at this point I think it’s the best of a bad set of options. We need the House to function, if only on a few matters (Ukraine funding, Israel funding and funding the govt.) and we need it right away. The question is, as I asked in a recent article whether (now) thirty days helps or hurts Jordan’s chances. Major news outlets failed to step up and put both Jordan’s role in January 6 and his failure back when he was a wrestling coach to protect his wrestlers from a sexual predator front and center. Hell, recent Jordan convert (and as yet undeclared please Mr. Trump pick ME for VP candidate) Nancy Mace was let off the hook when she claimed she knew nothing about the Ohio State sex scandal. Last night Murfster put up an article about it. IF there’s a thirty day reprieve with all this by giving McHenry the gavel for 30 days for a handful of specific issues then PLEASE George Clooney start pushing your pals in the media to cover this.
In the end though I think if we get those thirty days it’s going to be up to us, as in everyone horrified by the prospect of Speaker Jim Jordan to flood blogs and social media with the FACT that he’s an insurrectionist and an enabler of sexual abuse. His dream of being Speaker can be killed but we can’t count on major news outlets to do the right thing and do it themselves. Not without being hounded by “citizen reporters” at least.
For the moment though, even though Jordan had indicated another vote would be held this afternoon it’s past four pm in the east and there’s no indication Republicans are ready to head back into the House Chamber for another round. We’ll have to wait and see about this evening. In the meantime, from where I sit this idea of temporarily empowering Speaker Pro Tempore McHenry is the best we can hope for (I’ll say it again – FORGET fantasies about GOPer’s crossing over and Jeffries becoming Speaker) at the moment. I don’t care if to save face Republicans do it without help from Democrats.
Just get it done. Right away. So crucial business that HAS to happen and now can get done.
Many views here at Politizoom. Quite a different take from Murfster’s. His argument is that this is just another MAGA con, and unconstitutional to boot. I found this persuasive. You seem to be saying it’s the best of a lot of bad options. But do we really know at this point what is an option and what isn’t? — It also seems to me that McHenry CANNOT resign as speaker pro tempore to be nominated for the speakership like an ordinary congressman. because in case he does not win the vote there would be no one left to appoint his successor as speaker pro tem. He has to remain speaker pro tem and nothing but, until a new speaker is voted in.
Actually a Speaker files a list of names with the clerk, with an order of preference. After all, the person they most prefer (in this case McHenry) might not be available for one reason or another. So technically McHenry could resign or step aside and be nominated for actual Speaker just like anyone else and it wouldn’t affect the overall process.
Having said that, it IS pretty cool to come to a place like this and see like-minded people coming up with different takes on a given issue/situation. I think Murfster wrote a very good article and made a quite solid case for his view. If you haven’t done so, go back and read my comment in response.
Well, it’s getting late and I’m too worn out to try and write a new article on a different topic. But thanks for weighing in with your thoughts.
No I hadn’t read your comment to Murfster’s “The Plot Thickens,” but now I have. Very thoughtful and interesting. You are right, there are some potentially very complicated issues, and thanks for clarifying (in your comment here) the nuances of how McHenry was actually chosen. I just hope this doesn’t get TOO complicated, and that cooler heads will prevail.