In the latest sign of House chaos, the temporary speaker is threatening to quit

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Thu Oct 19, 2023, 07:28 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: NBC News

Oct. 19, 2023, 5:41 PM EDT


WASHINGTON -- In a closed-door meeting Thursday, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told GOP colleagues he might resign as speaker pro tempore if Republicans push him to try to move legislation on the floor without an explicit vote to expand his powers, according to multiple lawmakers in the room.

"If you guys try to do that, you'll figure out who the next person on Kevin's list is," McHenry told the room, three sources said, referring to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's secret list of GOP lawmakers who would serve as temporary speaker in the event of a vacancy.

McHenry's comments underscore the quandary Republicans are in: They can't really do anything until they choose a new speaker, but they can't agree on someone who can get the votes to be that new speaker.

And McHenry is unwilling to set a precedent that would give future temporary speakers the full power of speakers who are elected on the House floor. It could mean that the House wouldn't need to elect speakers in the future.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/patrick-mchenry-house-speaker-pro-tempore-threaten-quit-rcna121314

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EDIT - The House just gavelled in (7:19 pm EDT) for a minute in order to put forward a motion to adjourn until 10:00 am EDT tomorrow (Friday).

[ananda]

1. What a can of tangled worms this is.

I don't think they can wriggle out of this mess, either.

[vlyons]

26. After you open a can ot worms, there's only 1 thing you can do ---

get a bigger can!!!

[ananda]

57. LOL

Righteo

[riversedge]

37. Given they have nothing to offer, the Repugs will LIE.

[COL Mustard]

47. They*can* get out of this mess

But only by reaching out to Democrats. They have to offer something, and for many of them, that’ll be a bitter pill to swallow.

And whatever they offer, they have to stick with.

[angrychair]

51. No trust at all

House Democrats had a deal with McCarthy and he backed out and almost shut down the government. No way to trust the Republicans to keep their word anymore.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Keeps getting better.

[Irish_Dem]

8. I agree. The entertainment value is priceless.

Comedy and tragedy at the same time.

[BOSSHOG]

30. "The Republican Party"

Soap Opera. Betrayal, hatred, car wrecks, bizarre sex scenes, lies, bad haircuts, stupid schemes, abortions, lied about and paid for, cheap podiums, cheap suits, temper tantrums. All in every episode.

[Irish_Dem]

52. Yes if it was a reality TV show, no one would believe it.

But yes, the GOP shit show is quite entertaining. If you can forget it is a great threat to democracy.

[COL Mustard]

48. The only problem is....

We need a functioning House. The government runs out of money in less than a month, and we can’t get an appropriation without the House. So while this is good as far as showing the Republicans’ incompetence, it’s bad for the country.

[Irish_Dem]

53. Yes that is certainly the catch.

That is why I call the GOP shit show both a comedy and a tragedy.

[angrychair]

55. Not up to Democrats

We are not the majority. Republicans made this mess and they have to fix it. Democrats cannot fix it. If the government shuts down it it will 100% be on the Republicans.

[SledDriver]

3. A repuke with a shred of integrity?

How'd he slip through?

[Claustrum]

4. How is McHenry showing shred of integrity?

He is saying he will resign if they don't vote to give him expanded power. He is trying to get more power for himself.

[rsdsharp]

10. They are asking him to do it anyway,

without giving him the power to do so. His role as temporary Speaker is limited to what is required to elect a new Speaker. He is unwilling to exceed the limits of what he is authorized to do by the House rules.

[getagrip_already]

19. Well, not resign his seat, just speaker pro tem role

He isn't giving up the cushiest job he has ever held over a silly thing like principles.....

[SledDriver]

28. My interpretation of the below quote

I took to mean he wasn't willing to exceed the authority of his position as pro-tem speaker, setting a precedent that could lead to abuse of the position in the future. Unusual for a repuke to do something like that, so I assumed it meant he had a shred of integrity.

"And McHenry is unwilling to set a precedent that would give future temporary speakers the full power of speakers who are elected on the House floor. It could mean that the House wouldn't need to elect speakers in the future."

[3Hotdogs]

50. Yes. I agree.

[blm]

9. Not at all. He just wants to get out of the top spot before

his dark past becomes an issue and makes for some not-so-family-friendly front page headlines.

[Rebl2]

27. His dark

past would be?

[blm]

43. Posted about a couple weeks ago.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218327475

Reminders about McHenry during Bush then Obama years.

[NBachers]

39. His dark

past would be?

[AllyCat]

16. No integrity. He's trying to get Gym elected.

[rurallib]

5. o shit

my sides hurt from laughing

[Diamond_Dog]

6. Republicans in closed door meeting

[rsdsharp]

11. Oh, lookie! Gaetz is just to the right of the middle.

[magicarpet]

7. Putie must be so proud of the mess,...

.... his comrade in arms trDumpie made of AmeriKKKan Democracy.

[rubbersole]

25. Calls for caviar, vodka and hookers...

..and party with his North Korean arms supplying bff.

[Maraya1969]

33. Who was it that said, "We don't need an army; we will destroy you from within"

I think it was the one before Putie

[magicarpet]

34. Nikita Khrushchev said that....

We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within."

This is a quote attributed to the late Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev

■○■○■○■○

https://www.amarillo.com/story/opinion/letters/2012/10/09/letter-khrushchev-prediction-slowly-coming-true/985300007/

[Judi Lynn]

35. Nikita Khrushchev.

He visited Eisenhower at the White House.

[Irish_Dem]

54. Putin spent decades and a lot of money to get to this point. He is very proud.

He has done a good job of taking a wrecking ball to American democracy.

[C_U_L8R]

12. They just can't bear to face the obvious

They need to compromise and work with Democrats. The GOP needs to grow up and deal with it.

[slightlv]

13. Earlier I read they were trying for

two weeks at a time for McHenry. Should we try for 30 minutes at a time, my hubby wants to know...

[moniss]

14. I think their game

is to run this right up to the deadline for a shutdown and then say it's Jordan or nothing.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. But don't forget the piece de resistance

"It's the 'Democrats' fault' (that we fucked up)".

[SergeStorms]

38. That was my first thought.

They'll say, "Look, it's Jordan or nothing".

I'd much prefer nothing, but then again I'm not a republican. Thank Dog for that. 🙄

[honest.abe]

56. Very possible.

I hope our side has a plan to deal with this.

[AllyCat]

15. And McHenry also supports the insurrectionist.

GQP is a mess of unlawfulness.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. You know who you need as House Speaker? Liz Truss.

I mean, it couldn't be any worse, could it? I haven't seen anything saying it has to be an American citizen ...

[BumRushDaShow]

21. ...

[FakeNoose]

41. Oooohh ..... this is perfect!

[Oopsie Daisy]

20. What a mess! I hope Americans are watching.

Actually, I hope that the media is watching AND REPORTING this "circle jerk" and "cluster fuck" and "goat screw" (pardon my French.)

[ificandream]

22. I keep thinking Jordan is behind this in some way.

We've heard he is still gasping for the Speaker's chair. I think he maybe thinks that by forcing McHenry out of the temp chair, his GOP mongrels will throw up their hand and vote him in. Except there's a bunch that won't.

Easy solution, mongrels: Vote Jeffries in. Can you imagine the look on Jordan's face. You know if John McCain was still around he would have voted for him.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. Him and Gaetz

This is really the Gaetz circus.



They literally JUST adjourned the House as I was typing this - until 10 am EDT tomorrow.

[keithbvadu2]

24. Fantastic toon!

[republianmushroom]

29. Going to get more popcorn.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

31. The Gangsters Of Putin can only agree to adjourn.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

32. Republicans reject expanding interim speaker's power as House stagnates

A group of House Republicans supporting a controversial proposal that would expand the power of a temporary speaker saw their hopes of reopening the chamber almost immediately dissipate Thursday as the conference struggles to coalesce around a permanent choice for speaker of the House.

The crippling dysfunction of the Republican conference has kept the House without a speaker for nearly three weeks, an unprecedented stretch of time ahead of must-pass deadlines to fund the government and other expiring priorities before the end of the year. Bitter divisions — both personal and political in nature — have played out in public and in heated conference meetings since a faction of hard-right Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House speaker earlier this month.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the conference’s current speaker-designate, has lost two votes on the House floor in his effort to clinch the gavel. On Thursday, he agreed to support a resolution that would have empowered Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) to temporarily perform the functions of speaker until Jan. 3, 2024. Doing so would have allowed Jordan to remain the conference’s nominee for speaker, try to corral support back into his corner and call up a vote for his speaker candidacy once he had the necessary 217 Republican votes.

But after a significant number of his far-right colleagues balked at the idea in a tense, hours-long meeting, Jordan reversed course from earlier in the day. He abandoned his support for empowering McHenry and announced he would hold a third vote Friday on his candidacy for speaker.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/19/interim-speaker-patrick-mchenry-expansion-rejected/

[Cha]

36. FU McDick.. I said he was a power hungry magat..

[BradBo]

40. This REALLY get the popcorn time for me.

[NBachers]

42. Countdown To Chaos II - 2023

[LudwigPastorius]

44. !

[Kablooie]

45. I'll bet the Republican base is delighted.

They’ve always want the government, aka deep state, to collapse.
Now their representatives are finally doing exactly what they were sent to Congress to do.
These Congressional bomb throwers will be enthusiastically reinstalled in the next election.

[ailsagirl]

46. United we stand...

Divided they fall
🥳😊🤭

[Javaman]

49. the never ending train wreck.nt

[aggiesal]

58. This would be funny, if it wasn't so serious. ...

Wait ... this is funny regardless.