October 8, 2023

Sunday, October 8, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

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Special Focused Roundup.

Who will be Speaker of the House of Representatives?

First, amidst the madness of the GOP controlled House following the removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker, there was a move to name Donald Trump Speaker. Apparently, this is what happened.👇

How Trump was talked into — and out of — a run for speaker.

Just hours after Kevin McCarthy was deposed as House speaker, the “draft Trump” movement began.

“I called him and I said, ‘Sir, I’m nominating you for the speaker of the House,’” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), describing a Tuesday call to former President Donald Trump. “I said, ‘I think that you would do a great job fixing the brokenness we see in the Congress.’”

So began a wild 48-hour scramble that saw Trump openly pondering a quixotic bid to become the first nonmember to be elected speaker before his political advisers and House allies managed to convince him it was a terrible idea.

The Trump-for-speaker bubble officially popped early Friday morning, when he took sides in the brewing battle between Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.).

“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”

It was not preordained that Trump would bless Jordan, his longtime ally and most loyal defender in Congress. Nehls and a handful of the ex-president’s loyalists in the House, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), immediately went to work trying to turn “Speaker Trump” from fever dream into reality.

Nehls said he even researched the question of whether Trump’s criminal indictments would be a problem and assured the former president that a potentially disqualifying internal House GOP rule could be easily smoothed over.

Trump, who was busy at his civil fraud trial in Manhattan this week, was noncommittal. But as the idea took off among the MAGA base, Trump began to see the idea as a fortuitous distraction from the constant barrage of headlines about his legal woes, according to one Trump ally in Congress.

The flirtations culminated in a Thursday afternoon interview with Fox News, where Trump not only confirmed his willingness to serve as speaker for a “short period” but said he would come to Washington next week to attend the House GOP’s election.

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The story triggered panic among House Republicans. It wasn’t that anyone seriously thought he’d win the 218 votes to be elected. In fact, most who were familiar with the conference’s internal dynamics believed he couldn’t even get the conference nomination, requiring a simple majority of Republicans.

Centrist Republicans running in Biden districts were dreading the prospect of being tied to Trump as speaker. And even traditional and conservative Republicans were not happy about the idea of reporters peppering them with questions about whether they think Trump should lead the House.

Moreover, many Republicans believed that Trump’s foray into the fight was going to only prolong the power vacuum ahead of another government shutdown fight.

That’s when Trump’s more senior allies stepped up, according to people familiar with the backroom maneuvering who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They argued to Trump that his pursuit of the speaker’s gavel would backfire.

Not only would he lose to Scalise or Jordan, they told him but that he could receive just a handful of votes since the nomination process is done by secret ballot — meaning Republicans were free to vote their conscience without MAGA blowback.

In fact, they warned, Trump might not even be admitted to the closed-door election, which are typically held in “executive session” where outsiders and even most staff are kicked out of the room.

They also told his inner circle that the tallies are publicly released, meaning Trump could be embarrassed by a poor showing.

They encouraged him to play kingmaker in the race and focus on the 2024 president race instead.

Trump took the advice and began a carefully choreographed backtrack. The pivot was first publicly teased last night by Sean Hannity, moments before interviewing Jordan on Fox News, and Trump made it official a few hours later on Truth Social.

Nehls said tried to talk Trump into it one more time last night: “I said, ‘You know, you made America great again. You can come in and make Congress great again.’”

He still thinks Trump could end up as speaker if there’s a deadlock. (Politico).

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It is not likely that either Jordan or Scalise can win the Speakership.

On Friday, there was a suggestion by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Hakeem Jeffries: A bipartisan coalition is the way forward for the House.

In recent days, Democrats have tried to show our colleagues in the Republican majority a way out of the dysfunction and rancor they have allowed to engulf the House. That path to a better place is still there for the taking.


Over the past several weeks, when it appeared likely that a motion to vacate the office of speaker was forthcoming, House Democrats repeatedly raised the issue of entering into a bipartisan governing coalition with our Republican counterparts, publicly as well as privately.

It was my sincere hope that House Democrats and more traditional Republicans would be able to reach an enlightened arrangement to end the chaos in the House, allowing us to work together to make life better for everyday Americans while protecting national security.


Regrettably, at every turn, House Republicans have categorically rejected making changes to the rules designed to accomplish two objectives: encourage bipartisan governance and undermine the ability of extremists to hold Congress hostage. Indeed, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) publicly declared more than five hours before the motion to vacate was brought up for a vote that he would not work with House Democrats as a bipartisan coalition partner. That declaration mirrored the posture taken by House Republicans in the weeks leading up to the motion-to-vacate vote. It also ended the possibility of changing the House rules to facilitate a bipartisan governance structure.


Things further deteriorated from there. Less than two hours after the speakership was vacated upon a motion brought by a member of the GOP conference, House Republicans ordered Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and former majority leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) to “vacate” their hideaway offices in the Capitol.

The decision to strip Speaker Emerita Pelosi and Leader Hoyer of office space was petty, partisan and petulant.


House Republicans have lashed out at historic public servants and tried to shift blame for the failed Republican strategy of appeasement.

But what if they pursued a different path and confronted the extremism that has spread unchecked on the Republican side of the aisle? When that step has been taken in good faith, we can proceed together to reform the rules of the House in a manner that permits us to govern in a pragmatic fashion.


The details would be subject to negotiation, though the principles are no secret: The House should be restructured to promote governance by consensus and facilitate up-or-down votes on bills that have strong bipartisan support.

Under the current procedural landscape, a small handful of extreme members on the Rules Committee or in the House Republican conference can prevent common-sense legislation from ever seeing the light of day. That must change — perhaps in a manner consistent with bipartisan recommendations from the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.

In short, the rules of the House should reflect the inescapable reality that Republicans are reliant on Democratic support to do the basic work of governing.

A small band of extremists should not be capable of obstructing that cooperation.
The need to change course is urgent.

Congress is in the midst of a Republican civil war that undermines our ability to make life more affordable for American taxpayers, to keep communities safe and to strengthen democracy.

Traditional Republicans need to break with the MAGA extremism that has poisoned the House of Representatives since the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and its aftermath — when the overwhelming majority of House Republicans continued to promote the “big lie” and voted not to certify the presidential election.


House Democrats remain committed to a bipartisan path forward, as we have repeatedly demonstrated throughout this Congress by providing a majority of the votes to prevent a government shutdown this month and avoid a catastrophic default on America’s debt in June.


At this point, we simply need Republican partners willing to break with MAGA extremism, reform the highly partisan House rules that were adopted at the beginning of this Congress and join us in finding common ground for the people. (Guest Opinion Column, The Washington Post).
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Representative Jeffries was NOT suggesting he be elected Speaker - only that willing members of both parties come together to change the House rules, elect a Speaker (a so-called moderate Republican) and govern in a bi-partisan way.

That ain’t going to happen.

This 👇 seems to be where we are now.

Days Before a Vote, Republicans Feud Over How to Choose a New Speaker.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, (right above), you probably recall, as a pugnacious thug during Trump’s impeachments. As assistant wresting coach at Ohio State, he has long been accused of turning a blind eye to sexual abuse by the wrestling coach under whom he served.

Rep. Steven Scalise of Louisiana, (left above), was #2 for the House GOP under Kevin McCarthy. Scalise has often described himself as “David Duke without the baggage.”

You may recall that, on June 14, 2017, during practice for that year's Congressional Baseball Game, Scalise was shot and seriously wounded by an anti-Trump domestic terrorist who was targeting Republicans. One of the two police who saved Scalise’s life was a lesbian, Crystal Griner of the Capitol Police. Scalise remains fiercely anti-LGBTQ.

House Republicans, divided and demoralized after the ouster of their speaker this week, are now quietly feuding over how to elect a successor.

The dispute, which erupted on Friday, suggests that the same divisions that led to the downfall of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy are continuing to fester inside the G.O.P. ranks, setting the stage for a potentially bruising contest next week when lawmakers were set to meet to elect his replacement.

At issue is a request made by more than 90 House Republicans on Friday to temporarily change the party’s internal rules for nominating a candidate for speaker. In a brief letter to Representative Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, the interim speaker, and Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the conference chair, the group requested a “special organizational meeting” to consider the change. The New York Times obtained a copy of the letter.

In the letter, they asked for an amendment to temporarily raise the threshold to become the nominee. Proponents of the change have been pushing to require a unanimous vote of the Republican conference, instead of the current bar of a majority.

They have presented the idea as a way to foster unity after the deeply divisive ouster of Mr. McCarthy at the hands of eight, mostly right-wing rebels who went against the rest of their Republican colleagues this week.

It would, in theory, avoid a replay of the public chaos that unfolded in January, when the nation watched as the House slogged through 15 rounds of roll call votes until Republicans finally coalesced around Mr. McCarthy, a veteran lawmaker from California.

But supporters of Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the majority leader who is running for speaker, quickly cried foul, arguing that the change would only make it more difficult for him to be elected.

The idea that the fractured G.O.P. conference could unanimously come together behind either Mr. Scalise or the other declared candidate, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, is also virtually unthinkable.

But Mr. Scalise’s allies believe that he would win a majority over Mr. Jordan, putting him in a strong position to beat the Ohio Republican on the House floor under the current rules.

“Changing the rules is going to create chaos and only advantages candidates who can’t get to 51 percent in the closed-door vote,” said Representative Lance Gooden of Texas, who has said he is backing Mr. Scalise.

Representative Ann Wagner of Missouri, who is also backing Mr. Scalise, said that “a last-minute, rushed rule change is really not what the conference needs right now.”

“We need unity and we need leadership,” she said. “We should all be prepared to support the nominee who the majority chooses.”

She added that there was “nothing binding” about a conference meeting vote. “The only vote that is binding is done in full transparency on the floor of the House of Representatives,” she said.

House Republicans were scheduled to meet behind closed doors on Tuesday to nominate a new candidate for speaker by secret ballot, and a floor vote could take place as early as the next day.

Under the current Republican conference rules, whoever emerges from the secret ballot with a simple majority of votes wins. Changing the rules could lead to a much more drawn-out process wherein both candidates would have to battle to get the entire conference behind them.

Mr. Scalise’s allies regard the effort as a bid by those who are boosting Mr. Jordan’s candidacy to tilt the scales in his favor. One of the people leading the charge for the change was Representative Chip Roy of Texas, who has endorsed Mr. Jordan.

Mr. McCarthy’s allies have also been pressing members to sign on, arguing that the rule change would help keep any infighting behind closed doors. The former speaker has long had a rocky and competitive relationship with Mr. Scalise. And the sense among Mr. Scalise's backers is that they have a vested interest in helping to elect Mr. Jordan as speaker.

The members who signed the letter come from all factions of the Republican conference. They included Representative Garret Graves of Louisiana, a loyal McCarthy ally, and Representative Bob Good of Virginia, one of the eight hard-right members who voted to oust him. (New York Times).

Stay tuned. Undoubtedly, more chaos to come in the GOP controlled House.

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The news broke yesterday about the war in Israel.

Our first response was fear. Fear for family and friends in Israel, but also fear for how humans fail to solve problems without resorting to violence.

I had planned to take today off, eyes glued to a big screen at home to watch the first game of the New York Liberty/Las Vegas Aces WNBA Final. 3 pm ET, for those interested.

I will still do that but my day will no longer be so innocent. I will breathe thoughts of death and mourn deaths in the Middle East.

That will be no Roundup on Monday. See you on Tuesday.

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