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Whew

Ken Melvin | October 18, 2023 1:50 pm

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On this day, 18 October 2023, a group representing, at best, 10 percent of House Republicans, 5 percent of the total House, and 5 percent of the total populace came too close to getting Jim Jordan selected Speaker of the House. We came this close to a coup. Albeit partial, a coup.

If they had been successful, as their first order of business, they would set about expunging Trump’s impeachments.

15 Comments

Fred C. Dobbs says:

October 18, 2023 at 4:03 pm

GOP Fears Jordan Speaker Bid Could Cost Them House Majority

NY Times – just in

Nearly 200 G.O.P. lawmakers have supported Representative Jim Jordan, the hard-right Ohio lawmaker, in the speaker fight. Some Republicans say that may doom the party in coming elections.

… If Mr. Jordan were to prevail — a prospect that appeared less likely on Wednesday after he lost a second ballot — his ascension would confirm concerns among a large swath of voters. Many believe that the G.O.P. is an extreme party that is badly out of step with most of the country, and that the House Republican conference is essentially composed of Mr. Trump’s loyal foot soldiers. And if the hard-right lawmaker continues to fail in his bid, it only hardens the view of Republicans as completely incapable of governing.

For mainstream Republicans representing politically competitive districts, the damage may already be done regardless of the outcome of the vote, or how many rounds it takes. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  October 18, 2023 at 4:07 pm
  
  NY Times – a little while ago
  
  Representative Jim Jordan, the hard-line Republican from Ohio, lost a second bid for speaker on Wednesday after running headlong into opposition from a bloc of mainstream G.O.P. holdouts.
  
  After he failed to win a majority on Tuesday, Mr. Jordan was defeated again when the number of Republicans refusing to back him grew by two. The result left the House in turmoil, still leaderless after two weeks of Republican infighting. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  October 18, 2023 at 4:11 pm
  
  NY Times – 45 minutes ago
  
  The second failed effort on Wednesday by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio to be elected House speaker added momentum to an idea that has been floated by lawmakers in both parties in recent days: Give Representative Patrick T. McHenry, the interim speaker, explicit power to conduct legislative business.
  
  Mr. McHenry is acting as temporary speaker under rules adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that require the speaker of the House to come up with a list of people to fill the post in the event that it becomes vacant. When former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was booted out by a right-wing rebellion two weeks ago, the world learned that Mr. McHenry’s was the first name on his list. …
- Ken Melvin says:
  
  October 18, 2023 at 4:43 pm
  
  Only 10% were brave enough to stand up to the Caucus and Trump.
  
  100% – (10%) – (10%) = 80 % who allowed themselves to be bullied into voting for Jordan.
  - Fred C. Dobbs says:
    
    October 18, 2023 at 4:49 pm
    
    That’s enuf for Jeffries to get more votes than Jordan.
    
    That’s about as good as you’d expect/hope for. They are going to take much vituperation from their GOP colleagues. Perhaos you were expecting some of them to vote for Jeffries. I would like to have seen that happen. Perhaps some of them should be willing to sign up with the Dems.
    - Ken Melvin says:
      
      October 18, 2023 at 5:45 pm
      
      They need to stand up to the Caucus, else this tyranny by minority will continue.
      - Fred C. Dobbs says:
        
        October 18, 2023 at 6:21 pm
        
        ‘They’ being the ostensibly ‘moderate’ GOP reps who are voting against Jordan? I hope they can continue to do so. Or that some of them can just join the other side, and be welcome there. And not vilified by the hard-right minority remaining.
Fred C. Dobbs says:

October 19, 2023 at 9:08 am

In a future vote (soon?), if the Dems are very careful to pick the proper number, they can get Hakeem Jeffries elected Speaker by having a few of them vote ‘present’. I believe the magic number is 5. That should produce 207 votes for Jeffries, with fewer for Jordan. 207 will be a majority. Do not point this out to the GOP.

It’s not necessarily about getting the most votes possible, it’s about getting the most votes cast.
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  October 19, 2023 at 9:12 am
  
  Y’know, as the first two ballots for Jordan show, the GOP is practically inviting the Dems to try this. It is it some kind of trick? Possibly. Insoired by Uncle Remus?
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  October 19, 2023 at 9:38 am
  
  OK, I have this wrong. The GOP votes for other non-Jordan GOP candidates are still votes, so that does not reduce the number required for a majority. Since there are currently 433 sitting Reps, the majority required is still 217. Gotta get 11 GOP Reps to vote ‘present’ also.
  
  Then the vote would be Jeffries, 212; Jordan, 200; Others, 10 for a total vote of 422. 11 GOP votes ‘present’. 212 for Jeffries would be a majority.
  - Fred C. Dobbs says:
    
    October 19, 2023 at 9:45 am
    
    My final (?) scheme requires all Dems to vote for Jeffries. No Dems can vote ‘present’. Good luck finding 11 GOP Reps to do so. Really.
Fred C. Dobbs says:

October 19, 2023 at 11:53 am

NY Times – just in

Representative Jim Jordan, the hard-line Republican from Ohio, does not plan to force a third vote on Thursday on his bid to become speaker after running headlong into opposition from a bloc of mainstream G.O.P. holdouts, according to two people familiar with his decision.

Instead, Mr. Jordan will endorse a plan to empower Representative Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina — the temporary speaker whose role is primarily to hold an election for a speaker — to carry out the chamber’s work through Jan. 3. In the meantime, Mr. Jordan will continue trying to build support to become speaker.

The people spoke on the condition of anonymity in advance of Mr. Jordan’s announcement. …
Fred C. Dobbs says:

October 21, 2023 at 9:31 am

For the record …

In Jim Jordan’s failure, House hard-liners get a taste of their own medicine

Boston Globe – Oct 20

Representative Jim Jordan built his career on using hardball tactics against his Republican colleagues to get his way. This week, those he tormented for years used Jordan’s strategies against him, defying their party by killing his bid to become speaker.

The Ohio Republican began Friday determined to press on with votes through this weekend. “There’s been multiple rounds of votes for speaker before. We all know that,” he told reporters, referencing the 15 rounds in January to choose Kevin McCarthy. “I just know that we need to get a speaker as soon as possible so we can get to work for the American people.”

But Jordan’s projected optimism was misplaced. His candidacy was all but grounded Friday as the opposition grew from 22 to 25 Republicans during the third vote he has lost in pursuit of the gavel. After 17 days without a speaker, they decided it wasn’t worth continuing to push for Jordan, voting in a secret ballot behind closed doors to ditch him as the party’s nominee. Republicans said they would reconvene Monday for a candidate forum to pick another nominee.

A hard-line conservative, Jordan was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, which has vexed speakers for the better part of a decade. As a leader of that insurgent wing, he has bucked his party at key moments, causing government shutdowns, driving two speakers from the job, and pulling Republican legislation steadily to the right. Former speaker John Boehner once referred to his fellow Ohio lawmaker as “a legislative terrorist.”

Jordan’s tactics have long caused grumbling among his more moderate and rule-following peers, many who saw his actions as counterproductive. But as Jordan mounted his own speaker race, those grumbles became roars.

“You can’t let somebody cheat while you’re playing by the rules,” said Nebraska Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican who voted for McCarthy instead of Jordan and helped organize opposition to Jordan. “They want us to play by the rules; they refuse to play by the rules. . . . I think they didn’t think we’d fight back. And we did.” …
Fred C. Dobbs says:

October 21, 2023 at 9:36 am

Note that before the disatrous 3rd vote, Jordan briefly planned to not have that (just yet), but to ‘temporarily’ promote Temporary Speaker McHenry, until members of the Freedom Caucus insisted that the GOP go forward with another vote. Alas.
- Ken Melvin says:
  
  October 21, 2023 at 3:30 pm
  
  We are watching history being made.