Hard to argue with the January 6 QAnon Shaman's proposals

Donald who?

In just under the wire.  An 11th hour passage.

How many times have we seen this?  A week of scare reporting on the possibility of a shutdown, and then they pass a budget.  You may have noticed YWA didn't even bother to post anything about it, assuming they'd get it done, as they do, with very rare exceptions.  

At 2:22 PM, a sweaty and stressed-out looking Mike Johnson emerged from his meeting with House Republicans and declared: "We have a unified Republican conference. There's a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward. I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet...I expect that we will be proceeding forward. We will not have a government shutdown."

The House was finally able to pass the 3rd Edition of the Mini-Omni-CR as Mike Johnson largely surrendered to Democrats and mostly returned to the original deal he reneged on before Musk started popping off two days ago. There are very few differences between the original deal and this one because Johnson brought Hakeem Jeffries back into negotiations, and the bill passed with Democratic support.

Every Democrat voted for the bill. 34 Republicans voted against it.

According to WaPo, these are the things that were taken out of the original deal, with the rest of it remaining the same:

1. Provision aimed at ensuring food stamps are replenished for Americans whose benefits are stolen. Possibly as many as 300K affected, per CBPP.

2. A series of changes to the operations of pharmacy benefit managers — middlemen in the medicine business that negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. (EG attempt to end “spread pricing,” where PBMs charge a health plan more for a drug than what they pay to the pharmacies that dispense it.)

3. Pay hikes for members of Congress -- 4% or so increases.

4. Transferring control of the land in Washington, D.C., where RFK Stadium sits to the District. (No new funds here) .

5. Cruz/Klobuchar bill aimed at cracking down on revenge porn/deepfakes.

6. New and expanded restrictions on U.S. investments in China.

  Meidas

So the tech bros and Ivanka can still do business.

Johnson and Musk are saying they are happy with the final deal.

Well, as long as President Musk is happy.

House Republicans had scuttled the CR agreed upon earlier when President Elon told them to, threatening to primary anyone who didn't vote against it.  When Trump said they should pass a resolution and, importantly, lift the debt ceiling to avoid having the mess continue into his reign, they ignored him.

Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Matt Boyle to Steve Bannon: “What we are seeing is Trump is beginning to turn on Mike Johnson.”

Tommy Tuberville: “We should have done this two months ago. Mike Johnson has been riding around on airplanes with Trump, going places, doing speeches with the president. Get back here and do your damn job! We do things half-assed up here. Don’t worry about your Speakership - do your job!”

Johnson backed out of his scheduled appearance at Charlie Kirk’s big AmFest event in Arizona tomorrow because he knew he was about to get booed off stage. The first time his name was mentioned at the event today, the crowd erupted in boos. Probably the first smart move he’s made in months to back out of that.

Mike Johnson's days are numbered. And Republicans are floating making Musk Speaker of the House. They may settle for Vivek Ramaswamy. 

They might not get their wish, however, as it's doubtful Democrats would vote for either.  It's odd to me that the party holding the office doesn't get to simply install whomever they want.

MAGA is really rough on its own when they get any independent ideas.  Not that I have any sympathy for the ones they tear up and spit out.  

I'm surprised they're bucking the Orange God at all.  Maybe they really are looking to Elon to run their party.

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY): “I hate to say this in public, but this is a chess game. The Speaker is in a finesse game, this isn’t a bludgeon game. Trump can sit on Truth Social all day, but that didn’t persuade 38 Members of Congress.”

Ouch.

As I said in yesterday's post, Elon may get bumped sooner than we think if Trump feels he's losing the top spot.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 04:57 pm:

Jeez.  He looks 95.  Hasn't had his spray tan yet either.

UPDATE 12/22/2024:

A worried mind.

So.....on to the next

That's the Washington Post. But they're not alone.

But then again, no Republican has any business being Speaker.

Or ...

Speaker Other.  Has a nice ring.  Looks to stand a chance.  No adverse publicity.  Yet.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 09:42 am:  JFC

You recognize Steve Scalise, Elise Stefanik, and Lauren Boebert.  That old white haired biddy hollering, "Shut up!" is Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.  

UPDATE 01:52 pm:  Looks like they rallied around him.

Sadly, it is altogether too fathomable.

UPDATE 02:53 pm:

Huh?

Yep.

It's gonna be a mess.

UPDATE 10/26/2023 08:25 am:

These people are like Stalin's cohort.  Hoping their obsequiousness will save them.

UPDATE 10:22 am:

Another one bites the dust

How's it going over in the House?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 10/25/2023:

GOP SNAFU

The stalemate in the House is forcing the Senate to pick up the legislative slack and take the lead on spending.

[...]

There is less than a month before the next government shutdown deadline, with the House having effectively zapped three weeks of the stopgap bill that helped cost Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) the Speakership earlier this month.

The Senate is also set to work up the White House’s $105 billion supplemental package that includes aid for Israel and Ukraine in their battles against Hamas and Russia, respectively.

This leaves lawmakers with a time crunch as they hope to get the work done before Thanksgiving without much help from across the Capitol complex, where funding legislation normally originates.

[...]

The effort on the Israel and the Ukraine fronts in Congress are being shepherded by the two Senate leaders. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been a leading proponent for the boost in funds, saying in a statement after Biden announced his plan that it “sends a clear message to America’s friends and allies that we have your back.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also appeared on a pair of Sunday talk shows last week to talk up the need for funds to help the two war-torn countries, having said on Friday that the situation requires “decisive action” by the upper chamber.

  The Hill

House Republicans haven't been listening to Mitch McConnell for years. And, you know what? Fuck Mitch McConnell. It's because of him we're still in this predicament. His leadership in the refusal to impeach Trump when he knew Trump was responsible for the January 6 insurrection (McConnell said so on February 13 following the failed coup), and his cheating bullshit packing the court with Trump nominees have brought us to the brink of losing democracy.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Not so popular

That tells me that there are 108 cowards in the Republican caucus.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Neeeeext

On Tuesday, 20 Republicans voted against [Jordan], putting him far below the threshold he needed to be speaker. Twenty-two Republicans voted against him in a second vote on Wednesday. Twenty-five Republicans opposed him in a third vote, putting him even further from the speakership.

[...]

After the third failed vote, Republicans took a vote by secret ballot on whether Jordan should remain the nominee. He lost that vote handily, losing his status as the Republican nominee for speaker.

The speaker runs the business of the House and controls the floor schedule and which bills come to the floor. Without one, the House cannot operate.

[...]

Democrats have all voted for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, in each of the speakership elections. Jeffries has said there have been “informal talks” with Republicans, but Democrats have been quiet about any negotiations. A pre-condition for any Democratic support for a speaker appears to be that they would allow any bipartisan bills come up for a vote.

  Guardian

As long as the House remains without a speaker, the chamber cannot advance any legislation, leaving members unable to pass critical bills like a stopgap government funding measure or an aid package for Israel and Ukraine. Government funding is set to run out in less than a month, raising the threat of a federal shutdown next month.

[...]

The conference is expected to return on Monday evening to hear from candidates for the speakership, with voting set for Tuesday. By that time, the House will have been without a speaker for three weeks.

  Guardian

UPDATE 08:06 am:

Donalds got votes in Kevin McCarthy's nomination fiasco.  This is what I know about Donalds:

Look 'em up if you want.  I'll wait until I see one of them actually make it to a vote.

UPDATE 09:00 am:

Even if Emmer were to wind up finding the 217 votes it would take to win on the House floor and become speaker, the source said, "He can expect a tumultuous speakership. That’s the last thing the conference needs right now."

The divide between Trump and Emmer runs deep.

Emmer voted to certify the 2020 election results, bucking pressure from the former president and his allies to overturn Joe Biden's victory. Emmer, who ran the campaign arm of House Republicans in the 2022 cycle, reportedly implored candidates not not "be distracted" by Trump and, instead, stick to focusing on policies that matter to voters.

[...]

[However,] Emmer [...] spoke glowingly of Trump during the midterms. He said Trump was a "fantastic ally" during the elections.

  The Messenger

UPDATE 10/22/2023:

I think there are 9.

UPDATE 10/23/2023:

Jordan's Speaker debacle - day 3, Round 3

Still losing more votes.

Second day he lost more votes than the first.  And now, three more than yesterday.  And the House is still without a Speaker while the world is going up in flames.

So fear seems to be losing its grip on the House GOP.

Third ballot votes:

Two Democrats were absent, therefore 210 rather than 212 votes for Jeffries this time.

Maybe they shouldn't be having another meeting.  I think that's how they lost more on this last round.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 01:03 pm:  Embarrassing.

UPDATE 02:56 pm:

On Tuesday, 20 Republicans voted against [Jordan], putting him far below the threshold he needed to be speaker. Twenty-two Republicans voted against him in a second vote on Wednesday. Twenty-five Republicans opposed him in a third vote, putting him even further from the speakership.

After the third failed vote, Republicans took a vote by secret ballot on whether Jordan should remain the nominee. He lost that vote handily, losing his status as the Republican nominee for speaker.

[...]

Several of the members who are opposed to Jordan are members of the House appropriations committee, who are reportedly opposed to the way Jordan has embraced a hard line on spending cuts and shutting down the government.

Members also reported receiving death threats and outside pressure to vote for Jordan, a position that has only hardened their opposition to him.

[...]

Some Scalise allies think Jordan didn’t do enough to rally Republicans around Scalise.

[...]

Even as it was clear that Jordan had no clear path to becoming the speaker, no Republican emerged to seriously challenge him. Republicans currently have a Sunday noon deadline to announce their candidacy ahead of another round of speakership talks.

[...]

The speaker runs the business of the House and controls the floor schedule and which bills come to the floor. Without one, the House cannot operate.

[...]

Democrats have all voted for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, in each of the speakership elections. Jeffries has said there have been “informal talks” with Republicans, but Democrats have been quiet about any negotiations. A pre-condition for any Democratic support for a speaker appears to be that they would allow any bipartisan bills come up for a vote.

  Guardian

As long as the House remains without a speaker, the chamber cannot advance any legislation, leaving members unable to pass critical bills like a stopgap government funding measure or an aid package for Israel and Ukraine. Government funding is set to run out in less than a month, raising the threat of a federal shutdown next month.

[...]

The conference is expected to return on Monday evening to hear from candidates for the speakership, with voting set for Tuesday. By that time, the House will have been without a speaker for three weeks.

  Guardian