SINO (Speaker in name only)

Stop electing Republicans

Almost all?  WTF?

Democrats voting for the "conservative" defense bill:

Jared Golden of Maine
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington
Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico
Don Davis of North Carolina

Meanwhile, four Republicans voted against it: Arizona Representatives Andy Biggs and Eli Crane, Ken Buck of Colorado, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.  Was the bill not mean-spirited enough for those guys?

Good God

The Black Caucus is meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss next steps after several of their members told Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team that they will refuse to advance a must-pass defense policy measure without securing a vote on their voting rights bill, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.

[...]

The bill they're pushing to add, as first reported by Punchbowl News, has already been passed by the Democratic-controlled House. It would restore a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — which requires states with histories of discriminatory voting practices to have new election laws or practices reviewed by a federal court or the Justice Department. Democrats named their bill after the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).

  Politico

If the Dems can cave to Republican demands that military personnel not be subject to a Covid vaccine mandate, then, for the love of god, can they not allow voting rights demands?

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

Chickenshit

Congress is poised to use the annual defense policy bill to eliminate the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate — a major concession by President Biden’s Democratic allies that helps clear the way to passing the sweeping package before year’s end.

In a compromise with Republicans, House Democrats are allowing language into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that repeals the coronavirus vaccine mandate for U.S. service members a year after it was enacted.

[...]

Republican lawmakers for months have pushed back on the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin first installed in August 2021.

Since then, thousands of active-duty service members have been discharged for refusing the shots, according to the latest Pentagon numbers.

  The Hill

Will they have to be let back in?

One thing not expected in the bill, however, is language to reinstate troops, sailors and airmen who were discharged or received penalties for declining the vaccine, a provision GOP lawmakers hoped to insert in the legislation.

[...]

“There’s no statutory language, but there’s report language that tells the [Defense Department] to ascertain everybody that’s been adversely affected by the vaccine mandate and what it would take to make them whole and get that to us next year. Then we can decide if we want to try to do that or not,” he said.

They'll want to. Because there'll be lawsuits if they don't.

“The politics on that have changed,” said Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas), another member of the Armed Services panel. “If this were 2020, it would be a different story.”

It shouldn't be. Covid cases are again on the rise.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday strongly supported the Pentagon’s mandate, but also emphasized that the art of compromise means that no side gets everything it wants. For Democrats, he said, that might mean they have to give up the mandate to pass the bigger package.

  The Hill

Democrats cave once more. What a surprise. You might think they'd have had a great hammer over Republicans if the GOP refused to pass the bill.

As the barriers fall, top Democrats are already predicting that the House will ultimately pass the package with broad bipartisan support by the end of the week.

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

For McCarthy "woke" policies are an existential threat

Perhaps we should learn never to let a McCarthy into Congress.

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

Welp, he did it

He vetoed the defense bill. I should have known. He's truly hell-bent on destroying the GOP and clearing the table of any 2024 competition.  But I don't see how this helps, unless it's just to set up an adversarial position. his doesn't seem like the place to do it. 

It's unclear if Republicans will again defy the President and vote to override his veto. Multiple House lawmakers, including the top Democrat and Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, however, previously said they will cut their holidays short for Congress to return to Washington to override a veto if necessary. A new vote has yet to be scheduled.

...

The conservative House Freedom Caucus announced ahead of the House vote that its members will side with Trump in his opposition to the legislation.

  CNN

No surprise there.

Update:

He's going to sign the defense bill

And here's why...

"In the event that President Trump does elect to veto this bipartisan bill, it appears the House may choose to return after the holidays to set up a vote to consider the veto. ... In the event that the president has vetoed the bill, and the House has voted to override the veto, the Senate would have the opportunity to process a veto override at that time," McConnell [said].

[...]

Trump has issued eight vetoes during his tenure, none of which have been successfully overridden.

[...]

Congress has until noon on Jan. 3 to override the veto. If Congress fails to override the veto by then, lawmakers would need to start from scratch on the bill, and it would be the first time in 60 years the bill does not become law.

[...]

“I will Veto the Defense Bill, which will make China very unhappy,” Trump tweeted last Thursday. “They love it. Must have Section 230 termination, protect our National Monuments and allow for removal of military from far away, and very unappreciative, lands. Thank you!”

He'll just act like he never said that. He's flip-flopped countless times in his tenure. No big deal.

The defense bill passed both chambers with veto-proof majorities and top GOP senators had indicated that there was backchanneling underway to try to get Trump to back down from his veto threat. He has until Wednesday to veto the bill.

  The Hill

He won't want the final bill he signs to be vetoed. He can't take being booted from office and vetoed all at the same time. He'll sign it.

It's what he'll do in January that should worry us.

UPDATE: