Bye Kevin

We had the multi-day mess where no Speaker of the House of Representatives was chosen since dissident Republicans didn't vote for Kevin McCarthy. It took fifteen votes and meanwhile, a clerk presided over the house. It was fun and all, but eventually the inevitable happened.

A few Republicans still were not happy about the whole thing, certain members of the so-called "Freedom Caucus." A prime enemy of McCarthy, one of the last people to change his mind, was Matt Gaetz. Rep. Gaetz (who people for a long time assumed was just ABOUT to be indicted for some crime, perhaps involving funds obtained for jailbait, but he never was) is sleaze in human form. The two were made for each other.

Gaetz got his chance when Kevin McCarthy at the last minute (almost literally) decided to not leave things open for a government shutdown. He had a vote on Saturday to have a continuing budget resolution for another 45 days. 

[ETA: It seems surprising that McCarthy did this. The general idea is that he is not totally insane, realizing you need a budget. 

OTOH, a Democratic insider suggests -- makes a good case -- it was really a set-up, expecting the Democrats to vote against it (after all, they weren't even given a chance to examine it fully) and then they would get blamed. Online folks call this "Murc's Law" -- only Democrats have agency.]

This required the Democrats to go along since a significant minority of the Republicans voted against it. McCarthy didn't give the Democrats a chance to look at the resolution and then badmouthed them on Sunday talk shows or something. So, multiple groups didn't like him.

People didn't take Gaetz seriously, including Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo, partially because there was no great alternative. Who would want the position when they would basically be at the beck and call of that guy? Turned out, even with four Democrats absent (two at funerals, one sick, one had a family issue), McCarthy lost. And, it took a lot quicker.

The Democrats were not going to save him:

The litany piled up: his vote to overturn the 2020 presidential election results after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; his decision to renege on the debt limit deal he had brokered with President Biden in the summer to appease the rebels; his friendly relationship with former President Donald J. Trump; and his decision to open an impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden without evidence of wrongdoing.

Kevin McCarthy very well might have had a shot if he tried to negotiate some deal but he did not. He very well might have thought like the others that he was safe. Maybe, he also thought any deal with the Democrats would not go well within his own caucus. Would yet another challenge be made to his speakership, this time by even more people? 

I'm glad the guy is gone. I was tired of all the drama with Gaetz and more. We are getting some evidence of civil and criminal justice for Trump. And, now Kevin McCarthy is getting some of his comeuppance. Democratic unity is also good. Democratic leadership is coming off as the sane and secure group in the room. This all is a net good.

The rules have the Speaker secretly pick someone to fill in for him in case of a vacancy. So, there is a speaker pro tempore, but he only gets to preside over selecting a replacement. He did kick Pelosi out of a special office by tomorrow. She's not around because she is at Feinstein's funeral. The Democrats had proxy voting. The Republicans removed it. 

The new speaker should be chosen next week. There is always talk of Trump becoming Speaker since the Constitution does not literally say it has to be a member of the House. This is literally true though it never happened and doesn't make much sense. Anyway, current House Republican rules say such leadership cannot be indicted for serious crimes. 

Will the new leader be worse than Kevin? Like impeaching Biden, giving congressional tapes to Tucker Carlson, meeting Trump right after 1/6, and not including Ukraine funding in a continuing budget resolution? You figure if Kevin actually stayed, he would have to if anything be more subservient to the Freedom Caucus. But, there is also the "we can't have good things" principle that provides some negative to Kevin being gone.

Still, it's a good day. What an asshole. Plus, the new senator from California was sworn in. Feinstein dying was not really my choice. I wanted her to resign. But, it is not really a tragedy a very frail 90-year-old died.  She was not forced out. Except by nature, let's say. 

ETA: People, including Kevin McCarthy, still blaming the Democrats for this as if only Democrats have agency. Why didn't the Braves save the Mets last season? At the very least, you had to give them something. They didn't. Democrats are not suckers. 

Note that "House" rules don't deny people indicted for crimes with a certain level of seriousness the right to leadership positions. As the edit shows, it is a House Republican Conference rule. Makes it easier to change. I don't think that alone would block Trump from being speaker, but it helps.