Calling for a week off after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted Oct. 3 from his job, 47-year-old interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said Republicans need a week off to pick a new House Speaker. McHenry infuriated 83-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), telling her to relocate offices. Pelosi complained about McHenry’s order while attending memorial services of the last Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.). McHenry was a close ally of McCarthy, not happy with the House voting yesterday to oust the 58-year-old former House Speaker. McCarthy lost his job because he defied Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) and the Freedom Caucus, signing onto a Sept. 30 stopgap bill to prevent a government shutdown. Gaetz and the Freedom Caucus wanted to shut down the government to start serious negotiations with Democrat on a new 2024 budget.
When the dust settled yesterday, McCarthy was ousted 216-210, with Democrats told by House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to vote yea to oust McCarthy. Jeffries played politics to assure McCarthy would be ousted, rather than let his Democrat caucus vote as they pleased. If Jeffries didn’t play politics, McCarthy would have gotten enough votes to save his job. Jeffiries followed the advise of Democrat operative like 78-year-old James Carvulle who wants to create as much GOP chaos to take back the House in 2024. Had Jeffries told Democrats to vote their conscience, McCarthy would have been saved. If Democrats saved McCarthy from the eight Freedom Caucus Republicans voting to oust him, he would have never heard the end of it. Gaetz already accused McCarthy of acting like a Democrat because he thought it was best to keep the government open while negotiating a new budget.
Democrats speaking to the media said it was up to Republicans to pick their own speaker, not up to Democrats to save McCarthy. So, in the final analysis, Democrats played politics to damage the GOP brand, making statements that Republicans can’t govern. Well, when McCarthy worked with Democrats on the stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown, he was certainly working across the aisle. Democrats claim they want bipartisanship but actually do the opposite, letting Jeffries tell the Democrat caucus to vote as a bloc to oust McCarthy. It would have only taken a handful of Democrats to save McCarthy’s job, showing that politics, not bipartisanship, sent McCarthy packing. Whatever problem McCarthy has with Gaetz and the Freedom Caucus, it wasn’t going to be solved by Democrats. Yet not all Democrats thought it was in the best interest o the House to fire McCarthy.
Democrats worked feverishly to avoid a government shutdown but wound up shutting down the government by joining Gaetz and the Freedom Caucus to get rid of McCarthy. What could be more hypocritical, saying they want the House to function but join the Freedom Caucus to oust McCarthy? When Democrats wanted to keep the government from shutting down, they worked with McCarthy to stop it. Had McCarthy let the government shut down, Gaetz and the Freedom Caucus would have not pushed the motion to vacate. So, when Democrats talk about how they’re all for governing, they apparently aided the Freedom Caucus in paralyzing the House. Republican now have a lot of work to pick a consensus candidate as the next House Speaker. It’s currently a two-way race between Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Jim Jorday (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Democrats and the press, while they gleefully celebrated McCarthy’s misfortune, said Scalise walks with a cane and suffers from cancer. Well, Scalise was shot playing a Congressional baseball game in 2017, nearly died, and now has been successfully treated for muliple myeloma, a blood cancer. When it comes to nastiness, no one doe it better than Democrats and their friends in the media. McCarthy’s job—and all the chaos—could have been avoided had Jeffries not played politics and told Democrats to vote their conscience. When it comes to the next speaker, Scalise would be a better choice than Jordan, who’s seen as an acolyte of Trump, someone better served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Scalise, for all his conservatism, has the respect on both side of the aisle, for everything he’s gone through. Democrats could work better with Scalise knowing he’s not a MAGA Republican.
Watching McCarthy sacrificed for network and cable news ratings gave great theater to those glued to the joyous broadcasts from liberal TV and cable news networks. But when you look through all the smoke, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did everything possible to sow chaos in the Republican Party. Jeffries and other Democrat operatives look to take the House back in 2024. What better way to do that to show Republican chaos governing the House. Jeffiries had the Democrat caucus join Rep. Matt Gaeztz (R-Fl.) and the Freedom Caucus in ousting McCarthy. Democrats and the media look to blame Republicans but Jeffries did everything possible to damage the GOP brand before the 2024 elections. When you look at the GOP the day after, they’re busy behind the scenes of picking a new House Speaker. Looks like House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is the odds on favorite.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
