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September Surprise: Government Shutdown Chaos is Coming From Inside the House

September 20, 2023 by Terry Moseley Leave a Comment

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sitting behind Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) during House Speaker vote.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is quickly running out of time as he tries to unify House Republicans to pass a bill to keep the federal government running as fresh challenges to his leadership intensify.

McCarthy has vowed to move forward on an $886 billion fiscal 2024 defense appropriations bill this week and bring a 30-day stop-gap measure – known as a “continuing resolution,” or CR – to the floor on Thursday.

“The ball’s in Kevin’s court,” said South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, a small but powerful bloc of 20+ House Republicans that want a guarantee on a “top line” spending level before approving additional funding bills.

McCarthy told reporters Wednesday that he’ll oversee an unusual Saturday session as Republicans remain deeply divided on how to prevent a shutdown scheduled at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for McCarthy: cave to the fiscal demands of the caucus or work out a deal with the Dems to keep the government open, effectively pulling the trigger for the Republiocan-led House to file a “motion to vacate” and remove him as Speaker.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York met with McCarthy earlier this week, but Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a proverbial thorn in the Speaker’s side, has been sniping from the sidelines as to the Speaker’s fate, including calling him “pathetic” in an interview with MSNBC.

Frustrated by the rebel chatter, the Speaker told Republicans behind closed doors last week to essentially kick him out or shut up.

“File the fucking motion,” a defiant McCarthy growled, according to those in the private meeting.

Political infighting could throw the House into further paralysis, as ex-Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan will attest. Both left office before their terms ended due to the legislative chaos caused by the Tea Party Caucus, which came to power in 2009.

“The far-right knuckleheads would refuse to back the House leadership no matter what, but because they were ‘insurgents,’ they never had the responsibility of trying to actually fix things themselves,” Boehner wrote in his political memoir, “On the House” in 2021.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, there have been 14 shutdowns since 1981. The most recent – and the longest – budget showdown went on for 35 days between December 2018 and January 2019, costing the economy about $3 billion.

Filed Under: September 2023, Uncategorized Tagged With: FREEDOM CAUCUS, GOP, Republicans, SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY

March Madness – the political edition

February 27, 2016 by Terry Moseley Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year for the annual NCAA college basketball tournament replete with bracket picks, Sweet 16, Final Four, and the National Championship. Replace the word “sports” with “politics” and March Madness best describes the 2016 U.S. presidential election cycle and what to expect regarding primaries, caucuses, and debates. Photo attributions: Getty Images and Fox Broadcasting

March 1: a/k/a Super Tuesday because more states vote and more delegates are at stake than any other single day in the presidential primary campaign. In alphabetical order: Alabama primary, Alaska caucus (GOP), American Samoa caucus (Dem), Arkansas primary, Colorado caucuses, Georgia primary, Massachusetts primary, Minnesota caucuses, Oklahoma primary, Tennessee primary, Texas primary, Vermont primary, Virginia primary, and Wyoming caucus (GOP).

March 2: Based on Super Tuesday’s election results, there will be lots of grinding and gnashing of teeth by candidates and their contributors. Stay in the race or fold?

March 3: Republican debate in Detroit, Michigan.

March 5: And another round of voting including the Kansas caucuses, Kentucky caucus (GOP), Louisiana primary, Maine caucus (GOP), Nebraska caucus (Dem).

March 6: Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan; Maine caucus (Dem) and Puerto Rico primary (GOP).

March 8: Hawaii caucus (GOP), Idaho primary (GOP), Michigan primary, Mississippi primary

March 9: Democratic debate in Miami, Florida.

March 10: Republican debate in Miami, Florida, U.S. Virgin Islands caucus (GOP).

March 11-20: SXSW (South by Southwest) in Austin, Texas kicks off for nine (9) days of film, interactive media, and music. And because it’s not gonna be crowded enough, U.S. President Obama is scheduled to attend a DNC fundraiser in Austin the first day of the festival with a musical performance by J. Cole. Be assured, every Airbnb in the area is sold out.

March 12: District of Columbia convention (GOP), Guam convention (GOP), Northern Mariana Island caucus (Dem).

March 15: Candidates lacking delegates should heed the ancient warning, “beware the Ides of March” as this is the last day of primaries/caucuses for the rest of the month. Meaning? Whoever is running short on numbers and money won’t be in race for much longer. Voting continues in the Florida primary, Illinois primary, Missouri primary, North Carolina primary, Northern Mariana Island caucus (GOP), and Ohio primary.

March 17: St. Patrick’s Day.

March 20: First day of Spring. (Spring Equinox).

March 21-22: U.S. President Obama and the First Lady say “hola” to the newly reinstated U.S. Embassy in Havana, the first visit by a sitting president since 1928. Coincidently, the GOP debate takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah and expect candidates to say “no bueno” to Obama’s visit to the Caribbean country.

March 22: American Samoa convention (GOP), Arizona primary, Idaho caucus (Dem), Utah caucuses

March 25: The Rolling Stones perform for the first time in Havana, Cuba — as per Reuters, a milestone event in a country where the communist government once banned the group’s music as an “ideological deviation.”

March 26: Alaska caucus (Dem), Hawaii caucus (Dem), Washington caucus (Dem).

Filed Under: March 2016 Tagged With: Democrats, March Madness, Republicans, SXSW, The Rolling Stones

Countdown

November 3, 2015 by Terry Moseley Leave a Comment

++ Updated ++ It’s now officially less than a year until Americans elect the next president but there’s a lot of hurdles, milestones, and general crap the candidates (and voters) need to suffer through before November 8, 2016.

Next stop: GOP debate in Milwaukee, WI on November 10. Rumor has it that beer and brats will be served

via GIPHY

Filed Under: November 2015 Tagged With: Democrats, Milwaukee, POTUS, Republicans, U.S. election

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Journo. Mischief monger. Former @Reuters & Hill staffer. Known to photobomb the red carpet. | terry@newsmaven.com

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