This is just embarrassing
One might think that Kevin McCarthy is ashamed after losing several rounds of votes, but one thing Kevin McCarthy has is no shame. He’s still trying to manipulate the vote by lowering thresholds and changing rules. Where is the man’s pride? Hell, Hakeem Jeffries has more votes than McCarthy. Donald Trump’s endorsement for McCarthy should be enough to end this charade. In fact, The Hill reported that Trump’s endorsement has made McCarthy’s opponents stand stronger. On Wednesday morning, they all voted for Byron Donalds (R-FL), continuing to keep the gavel out of McCarthy’s hands. Trump, of course, took to his failed social media platform to post: “REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMP INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT.” Too late for that. Surely, McCarthy is at least embarrassed.
To show just how little shame McCarthy has, the Hill reported that he has begun talking with Democrats about a “deal.” Desperation is not pretty, and Democrats have no desire to help McCarthy or any other Republicans for that matter. “This is on them,” Pete Aguilar (D-CA) is quoted as saying during a press conference. Hey, they wanted to take over Congress, and they’ve done that by the slimmest of possible margins. If they can’t figure out who they want as speaker, as Aguilar said, that’s on them. Republicans have never worked with Democrats on anything; why should they step in and help McCarthy? He is one of the worst of the worst and doesn’t need to lead anything. What Republicans are really showing us is how poorly they will lead the House, not that this should come as a surprise to anyone.
According to the Hill, Pete Sessions (R-TX) believes the opposition to McCarthy is growing. While McCarthy secured 200 votes, 19 Republicans voted for others, which grew to 20 by the third vote. The good news is that the longer Republicans draw this out, the less time they will spend on ridiculous investigations. They have already been talking about investigating and/or defunding the FBI and the DOJ and investigating Mayorkas and Biden. None of that is going anywhere and will merely be more wasted taxpayer dollars and time. Their constituents didn’t send them to DC to spend time on fruitless investigations. They are supposed to be working for the people, and they plan to do anything else but that.
Emily Brooks of the Hill lays out three different scenarios that could occur if the fight over McCarthy continues. Scenario one involves McCarthy dropping out (which he is very unlikely to do) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) becoming speaker in his stead. Of course, Scalise has been vocal in his support of McCarthy. Second, moderate Republicans might well choose to work with Democrats to select a speaker, and reports are that this has already begun. Finally, McCarthy could eventually break through to his detractors and take the gavel, but unless something dramatic happens, that is also unlikely. At this point, Republicans are in utter chaos, which is giving a hint of how they will govern.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years