Chaos in Congress

[Frelga]

I didn't think anything could surprise me anymore, but wow.

NEW YORK (AP) — New indictment charges Rep. George Santos with stealing donor IDs, making unauthorized charges to their credit cards.

[N.E. Brigand]

It gets worse for Santos (which probably means he rejected a plea deal).

He only faced 13 counts back in May. Now it's up to 23? Would he like to go for double jeopardy, where the scores can really change?

[Frelga]

I guess the Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace publically confessed to adultery. Or she didn't read the book she references. Or both.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

(Interestingly, the Supreme Court is currently discussing whether Nancy Mace's district was illegally racially gerrymandered [spoiler alert: it was, but the SCOTUS will almost certainly still hold otherwise].)

Meanwhile, there is exactly one member of Congress who has not filed their financial disclosures. Anyone care to guess who it might be, before clicking on the link.

https://www.citizensforethics.org/repor ... sclosures/

[Dave_LF]

So close! Now let's hear you say "no one has the right to 'rule' in this country, period, because we're still a democracy."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The GOP has voted to nominate Scalise. Whether he actually has the votes to be elected Speaker remains to be seen.

[RoseMorninStar]

So close! Now let's hear you say "no one has the right to 'rule' in this country, period, because we're still a democracy."

They seem to be big on Rule (by any and all means), not Represent.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The Speaker vote that was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. today (in 2 minutes) has been cancelled. At least 5 GOP members have said that they will not vote for Scalise, meaning that until that changes, he cannot become Speaker so long as Democrats remain united.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I guess the Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace publically confessed to adultery. Or she didn't read the book she references. Or both..

She has, in the past, been quite moderate on some issues, particularly in opposing off-shore oil drilling and supporting LGBTQ+ rights, but she has gone totally wingnut. Check out this interview that she did with Jake Tapper that left him completely dumbfounded.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Tis the season for superseding indictments!

[Dave_LF]

Didn’t anyone tell him that only Republican Congressmen are allowed to be openly corrupt?

Didn’t anyone tell him that only Republican Congressmen are allowed to serve openly as foreign agents?

[N.E. Brigand]

Didn’t anyone tell him that only Republican Congressmen are allowed to be openly corrupt?

Didn’t anyone tell him that only Republican Congressmen are allowed to serve openly as foreign agents?

Brandon van Grack observes that, as far as he knows, Sen. Menendez is the first person to be charged under 18 USC 219, the law that "prohibits public officials from acting as foreign agents." He adds that unlike people charged under the more familiar section of this law, it's not possible for a public official even to register as a foreign agent.

[N.E. Brigand]

The Speaker vote that was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. today (in 2 minutes) has been cancelled. At least 5 GOP members have said that they will not vote for Scalise, meaning that until that changes, he cannot become Speaker so long as Democrats remain united.

Independent reporter Lamar White explains that Rep. Scalise, who allegedly once described himself as "David Duke without the baggage," really did speak at a white supremacist conference in 2002 (and later apologized for it), something Scalise's supporters are now attempting to minimize.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Scalise has reportedly withdrawn as a candidate for Speaker.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[N.E. Brigand]

Josh Marshall digs into the conceptual

I had a conversation this evening that allowed me to clarify some of my own thinking about these developments. After Scalise won the caucus Speakership vote, you had a slow trickle of members saying “I’m still for Jim Jordan.” Then later you had news reports asking, “Can Steve Scalise get to 217?”

There’s a category, conceptual breakdown here that is kind of hiding in plain view. What do these members mean they’re still for Jim Jordan? He lost. It’s over. Scalise is the Republican Speaker candidate. End of story.

Hopefully it’s clear that I’m not making a case for Steve Scalise. I’m certainly not making a case for Jim Jordan. But there’s an elemental breakdown here that transcends the individuals involved. Participating in a majority organizational vote means, if sometimes only implicitly, abiding by its results. The caucus vote wasn’t a straw poll or an advisory opinion. It’s binding. It’s over. And yet it was treated as basically a given, in the GOP caucus and in the press coverage, that Scalise, having won the vote, then had to build from the 113 he got in the caucus vote to 217.

Also this:

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

In other words, 55 GOP members say they won't vote for Jordan for Speaker. What a shit show!



Even if they don't leave, what are they going to do? I don't think a person exists that enough members of their caucus will support. I have been very skeptical of the possibility that there will be some kind of a deal with the Democrats, but I also don't see what else can happen.

ETA:


Floor vote on whom? Jordan? Donald Trump? Some mythical savior?

[Frelga]

Hakeem Jeffries?