Republicans Are Again Threatening To Remove Their Speaker
It must be another day that ends in a "Y"
Less than a month ago, just before the Easter Recess, Marjorie Taylor Green filed a motion to have Mike Johnson vacate his position as Speaker of the House. At the time, I noted that it didn’t appear that it had the support to go to go anywhere at the time. That was then, this is now. This morning, Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News, who broke the story about MTG’s motion, shared the following on x-tter:
Massie is a member of the House Rules Committee and wields a lot of power within the Republican Caucus. Massie has since confirmed this story on his x-tter feed:
This decision seems tied to Johnson’s attempt to bring Foreign Aide funding for Israel, Taiwan, and most importantly for this fight–Ukraine–up for a vote. Former President Trump has publicly announced that he does not want Republicans to make any border or Ukraine funding agreements until after the election.
Johnson has since publicly stated he is not resigning, setting up a battle within the razor-thin House Republican Majority. On the one side, we have Trump’s strongest supporters in the House who don’t want any legislation moving forward that entails any form of compromise. On the other side, you have moderate Republicans, including those in more competitive districts and those interested in actually governing, who have signaled that if the House doesn’t vote on these aid packages in some form, they will take the unusual step of bringing the Senate bill to the floor via a discharge petition.
Beyond all that, there is a question of what the Democrats will do. Johnson will need their support to stay in the Speakership. Plus, they’re not sure how to react to them finally not being the party that is constantly in “disarray.” Well, other than popping popcorn and dreaming of the solution to this mess being “Speaker Jefferies”–which while still unlikely seems a bit more possible as of today.
Several R’s have announced they aren’t running for reelection, they could end this BS by stating that if Johnson is removed, they’ll vote for Jeffers.
Who would replace Johnson? MTG? Boebert? Gaetz? Gosar?
What is it about current Kentucky politicians?
I mean: Thomas Massie, James Comer, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell.
Massie is a kind of darling of the New York Times – they’ve done features on him.
Like Rand Paul, he’s a ‘libertarian’ whatever THAT means these days. I understand that to mean that he’s a Republican, but he drives an electric vehicle.
All of that said, I hope Johnson flips Massie and Marj off, and let the chips fall where they may.
@CSK: Given that the problem with being not-Johnson the last time was that no one else could be trusted farther than you can throw a potato chip, I would suggest that those “candidates” will be found wanting.
If Johnson brings up the Ukraine aid to the floor, Jeffries should commit his conference to oppose the motion to vacate.
They tolerate him best for the enemies he’s made.
@Kathy: My recollection was that Jeffries has already done so. When MJT first filed the motion, Jeffries said that if the vote is over Ukraine aid, they will support Johnson.
I play chess online these days. I’m not very good, but I win some games against other players who aren’t very good.
There is a kind of player you see sometimes who will be down three pieces or a queen but will keep on making moves rather than resign (even if I have lots of time left). I mean, at my level, you should be slow to resign because everyone makes blunders, but these guys take it to the next level. They are all “Prove it! Checkmate me!” Which, in chess, is fair enough. The games have a time limit of 10 mins/side, so we aren’t going to waste that much time.
So, these MAGA guys remind me of them. They have a losing hand, but they are going to get their drama. I don’t know where Massie is, maybe he’s currying favor? He doesn’t seem to be hardcore MAGA, but could be posturing. Making statements about things that he knows won’t happen, something like that.
@Sleeping Dog:
This would require integrity, patriotism, and moral courage.
Unfortunately, we’re stuck with Republicans.
@Jay L Gischer:
Ah. I see your confusion. “Getting their drama” is winning to them. That’s all they are in it for.
This would all be hilarious if it weren’t killing Ukrainians.
We are not the greatest democracy in the world.
We are not a reliable ally.
@Jay L Gischer: “So, these MAGA guys remind me of them. They have a losing hand, but they are going to get their drama. I don’t know where Massie is, maybe he’s currying favor? He doesn’t seem to be hardcore MAGA, but could be posturing. Making statements about things that he knows won’t happen, something like that.”
Remember, they hate Ukraine and love Putin. Several months with no ammunition is enough to lose the war.
They want chaos at the border.
Many are in safe seats.
@Sleeping Dog:
Gaetz has said publicly that he knows enough Republicans who will vote for Jeffries that he will not support a motion to vacate.
@Michael Cain:
I’d believe that if we hadn’t heard about how many GQP senators wanted Lardass gone, or how his support is slipping, or how no one in the party really wants him around any more, and almost 8 years since the Orange nightmare began the monster is still here.
From the Republican and MAGA perspective…
Spending is out of control.
The border is a disaster.
Democratic prosecutors are trying to throw the presumptive GOP nominee in prison.
Johnson just completely reversed himself to support spying on Americans without warrants.
And he’s now lining up votes to pass things Democrats and Biden want without getting anything in return.
It’s like the Joker said:
“Nobody panics when things go “according to plan.” Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all “part of the plan”.”
First, I think you really mean the MAGA perspective as it appears that there are a number of Republicans who support funding and even the discharge route if these bills go down in flames.
If Trump had not repeatedly and flagrantly decided that laws didn’t apply to him, this wouldn’t have been such an issue.
But hey, if you’re interested in joining us on the criminal reform side and looking to work on changing laws to make them more defendant-friendly, we’ll welcome you in that hard work.
And, let’s check the notes–the FISA bill was voted for by the majority of Republicans (126 yeas to 88 nays). So why would House Republicans be mad about it or Johnson brought forward a bill that the majority of his caucus supported? Again, it’s the MAGA wing that’s upset (and much like the point above, they only began to oppose FISA when they perceived it as being used against Trump).
Let’s not forget that the orginial Senate Foreign Aid and Border bill made many concessions to the Republican side (so much so that the Border Guard Union supported it). Heck even the scaled back Senate bill managed to get a lot of Republicans voting for it. Or do those Republicans not count?
So they were going to get things. Just not enough for the hardliners, which is an issue when you only control one half of one branch of Government (the House) by 4 seats. BTW, if that bill was brought to the floor, a number of Republicans have already expressed they would vote for it. BTW, the primary reason you don’t control the Senate… Former President Trump’s undercutting of his own party in multiple states (both through decreasing his own party’s turnout and pushing really weak candidates).
But hey, you can pretend the facts are different.
I’m always curious why people decide they are going to back up their parties strategy by… quoting the *checks notes* villian of a film, who is *checks notes* a murderous sociopath, and further, *checks notes* loses at the end of the film and thinks that it somehow reflects well on them and their party of choice.
Or wait, I forget, are you still doing the entire “I’m not really a Trump supporter, I just explain their mindset by using the standard right-wing talking points that seem to misrepresent some key facts” thing?
I’m also curious who you think would be a good replacement within the Republican party for Johnson if they move forward with this?
And do you think booting the speaker for the second time in less than a year with a Presidential election only months away is a good strategy for the House Republicans?
@Matt Bernius:
FWIW, I took TheRyGuy’s post as illustrating a perspective, not advocating for it. It seems to track what many people believe down here in SC.
@Rick Almeida:
That makes sense. And, to my response, it’s a perspective that’s almost entirely shaped by right wing media talking points. Some are pure opinion. Other items above are making claims that don’t necessarily match the facts on the ground.
That said, if in quoting the Joker from The Dark Knight, TheRyGuy is positioning RWM and the MAGA movement as villainous agents of homicidal chaos out to harm society… well, who am I to disagree with that?
All that said, it would be great to get a sense of what positions TheRyGuy actually advocates for or believes in. My sense is he’s a Trump supporter to the degree that he only seems to post to inform us of the Trump supporter’s point of view.
@Matt Bernius: Or maybe RyGuy is just a troll saying what he says for the lulz and reactions. He certainly doesn’t invest a lot in making his point of view clear.
At least RyGuy is coherent. I’ll take a coherent troll over Paul any day of the week. I always feel like a slug slimed my computer screen trying to figure out what P’s actual point is.
@
Is it? Why do you say that? Can you be more specific?
Again, can you be more specific? What specific harms are we enduring that qualify as “a disaster”?”
I think you meant to say “Law enforcement officials are enforcing the law impartially.” The fact that the presumptive GOP nominee is a self-professed criminal is not the fault of Democrats.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
For the record, I don’t think that he is primarily trolling. Or perhaps even trolling at all.
I suspect that he is posting to try to remind us that there are other positions and views out there–which he may or may not share in. I just wish there was a way to have conversations about those views and where they came from.
Ultimately I have been reflecting on this, and if I get time, I definitely want to post those thoughts for feedback from the broader community.
@Matt Bernius: “All that said, it would be great to get a sense of what positions TheRyGuy actually advocates for or believes in. ”
What makes you think he actually believes in anything?
@wr:
Everyone believes in something… which is an irony, of course, in the case of nihilists.
BTW, that wasn’t to imply he’s a nihilist. Just simply that, at least from a social sciences perspective (not to mention the band Rush’s perspective), even believing in nothing (or just lulz) is still believing in something.