Today the Republican Congress marked a truly historic day. The Republicans vacated their Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s position ousting him after some 279 days. The vote was 216-210 led by the members of the Freedom Caucus committee which had taken a stance on his failure to honor their position on the budget, which was to shut government down. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who proposed the bill yesterday to vacate the Speakership, has been a vocal proponent of McCarthy’s ejection. The Democrats had decided not to support McCarthy based on his lack of willingness to work with the party.
What does this mean to most Americans and the readiness of our government to legislate? As a result of Speaker McCarthy’s firing the Republicans will take another week to decide who may replace the Speaker. Yes, another week by the Republicans while the budget is only five weeks away. Another showstopper disregarding the business of the American government and the people. Congressman Tim Burchett, (R-TN) criticizes McCarthy and the stopgap measure he took to maintain the government operating! Senator Cronyn (R-TX) criticized Senator Schumer (D-NY) for lack of leadership. Note the deflection! What did Senator Schumer have to do with the minority Freedom Caucus committee voting out Speaker McCarthy or the fact that McCarthy chose to keep the government operating another 45 days or so? Chaos abounds with the Republican Congress led by Trump and his influence on their careers. There are names already being considered for the position like Representatives Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) as front runners. It would be a tragedy to have Jim Jordan who currently chairs the Judicial Committee. He is the one who is currently leading the Hunter Biden tribunal and pushed to initiate President Joe Biden’s impeachment investigation. Jim Jordan conducted some 11 investigations into Hilary Clinton’s role in the Benghazi fiasco. Can you imagine all Congress would be doing is having investigations on private and government officials Republican or Democrat anyone who had taken a stance against Trump and the January 6 attack on the Capitol or whatever Trump decides is fair game?
Knowing there is an issue with the upcoming budget discussion and vote the Republicans are taking a week off to decide on who may be the Speaker, conducting a floor vote on whether there is enough evidence to indict President Biden while discussion and negotiation on the 2024 Budget continues neglected. The next few weeks will go by quickly and we may again be facing a government shutdown. There will be no excuse for “I did not have time to review the bill” which has been a general excuse by Congress especially the Republican Congress who has held the helm since 2012!