The 15th vote was the charm for U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). But Wisconsin’s Republican House members had the new Speaker’s back from the first vote.
As McCarthy finally claimed enough votes for his narrow victory early Saturday morning (on the 15th ballot), U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Janesville) tweeted a photo of himself holding the last tally with the celebratory message, “McCarthy Wins!”
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Even though U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-55) would win the House Speaker’s race, it may have been overshadowed by an incident moments earlier on the U.S. House of Representatives floor involving U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL-03) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01). Throughout the week, Gaetz had been the figurehead for the opposition to McCarthy’s bid, which kept McCarthy from reaching the required majority to earn the role.
Rogers had emerged as one of McCarthy’s most staunch allies in the ordeal by taking an aggressive tack against the 20-something holdouts led by Gaetz. At one point, Rogers called for stripping the holdouts of their committee assignments, which drew the ire of U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21).
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As of January 3, 2023, the Republicans were supposed to control the United States House of Representatives by a slim majority. On that date, many expected that the task of electing a new Speaker and moving forward with the business of “the people” in the House would start under Republican party control. But as of January 6, 2023, those elected to serve in the House have not selected a Speaker and so the House has not been organized nor undertaken regular operations. National news reports indicate that the presumptive Republican Speaker so far has fallen short in getting the required number of votes in part because approximately 20 Republicans who were elected in November have refused to vote for McCarty and no other individual has demonstrated enough votes to get the position.
One of the issues that is being discussed is whether any of those who have refused to support McCarthy in the 11 votes taken as of January 5th have broken a promise, perhaps a campaign promise, to do so. It is an active discussion over what was promised and whether there are any valid justifications for withholding support if a promise was made. Indeed, at least in Nashville, the talk radio shows are expending a great amount of time reviewing this issue because there is a Congressman-elect from Tennessee who is part of the story.
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President Joe Biden sparked controversy for pushing through Congress increased federal funding for 87,000 new IRS employees to audit Americans, but Republican leadership has pledged to overturn that expansion if they win the majority.
House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., pledged at a Pennsylvania event to “repeal” the IRS expansion.
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As Democrats ramp up hearings and secure a second Trump advisor’s arrest for contempt, Republicans are finally launching a counteroffensive to the Jan. 6 committee designed to portray the investigation as “unconstitutional and illegitimate” and to put a focus on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s failures in protecting the Capitol.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the third ranking lead in the House gave a preview of the strategy during a radio interview with Breitbart News on Saturday.
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President Joe Biden has stumbled, mumbled, and bumbled his way through his first year in office. While many of his gaffes leave us laughing, much of what comes out of his mouth isn’t just nonsense, it’s outright lies. Here’s a look at Biden’s Top 10 Lies of the past year.
Georgia election reforms
Biden claimed “Georgia’s new law ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote.”
Even the Washington Post called Biden out for this lie (after the paper repeatedly repeated it for months!)
Biden repeatedly condemned a new Georgia election law that imposed new restrictions on voting, but one of his complaints was simply false: “It ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote after their shift is over.” Many listeners might assume he was talking about voting on Election Day. But Election Day hours were not changed. The law did make some changes to early voting. But experts say the net effect of the new early-voting rules was to expand the opportunities to vote for most Georgians, not limit them.
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The Supreme Court could decide as soon as Friday whether to take up a lawsuit brought by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to address the practice of proxy voting in the lower chamber.
House members from both parties have cited the pandemic as the reason they have failed to recently vote in person, though many of them vote in absentia for reasons that seemingly have nothing to do with the virus. Campaigning with high-profile candidates has often taken precedence over appearing in person to vote for certain members. For others, taking care of sick family members or attending to newborn babies have been reasons to vote by proxy.
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“I didn’t even know the Chamber was around anymore.”
That was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) response to Punchbowl News’ question about the Chamber of Commerce being kicked off GOP strategy calls on Capitol Hill.
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U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02), an Iraqi War veteran, is calling Democrats out over the House’s passage of two measures to hamper President Donald Trump’s war powers toward Iran and Iraq.
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Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy easily won an internal party election Wednesday to take over the shrunken House GOP caucus, handing the seven-term Californian a familiar role of building the party back to a majority as well as protecting President Donald Trump’s agenda. With current speaker Paul Ryan retiring and the…
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