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House GOP makes a mockery of the legislative body, passes radical rules package

by Joan McCarter for Daily Kos Liveblogs

Daily Kos Staff

Monday, Jan. 09, 2023 Monday, Jan. 09, 2023 at 2:12:27pm PST

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 05: (L-R) U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) sit together in the House Chamber during the third day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 05, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives is meeting to vote for the next Speaker after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failed to earn more than 218 votes on several ballots; the first time in 100 years that the Speaker was not elected on the first ballot. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) — We know who's really in charge.

It will be hard for Republicans to top their performance of last week, but they’re going to do their damnedest these evening. All the promises Kevin McCarthy handed out in his nearly-failed bid to become Speaker are being revealed (nobody Rep. Byron Donalds getting a sweet committee post, the maniacs guaranteed multiple slots on what’s going to become the most important committee) and the ridiculousness of what they have in the works is being revealed. Settle in for the debate and the vote for a portent of things to come.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Jan 10, 2023 · 12:14:39 AM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

They’re doing a whole slew of housekeeping things now by unanimous consent, one of the things that all GOPers bitched about under the Democratic majority. But this is stuff like saying what time they come in everyday (noon or two on Mon-Thurs and 9:00 on the days that they’re never in).

UPDATE: Tuesday, Jan 10, 2023 · 12:10:57 AM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

The rules pass on a party-line vote (minus one GOPer).

UPDATE: Tuesday, Jan 10, 2023 · 12:10:23 AM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Every Democrat has been there and every Democrat has voted as a bloc. The GOP has guaranteed that this is going to be how it is for the next two years, if they hold their tiny majority (against deaths, indictments, retirements, whatever).

UPDATE: Tuesday, Jan 10, 2023 · 12:07:13 AM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Boy, the non-maniac GOP conference have put on a display the last several days. They’ve totally capitulated to the maniacs, along with McCarthy. There really isn’t a distinction between Freedom Caucus and the rest of them at this point. What a thing.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Jan 10, 2023 · 12:02:36 AM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Boy, they’re shoving through these votes. We’re now on the final approval of the rules, and it looks like almost all the Republicans are voting in lockstep with the Freedom Caucus maniacs. Just two defections so far.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:57:22 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Five minute votes are a great idea, if they can make them actually work. They hardly ever actually work.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:54:50 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

The White House issued its first veto threat, by the way, on the upcoming IRS defunding bill.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:50:29 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Yeah, second vote of the new Congress and they’re still full of shit. 15 minute votes will never be completed in 15 minutes.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:43:05 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Here’s that rules package, in case you want to peruse it. Except for the secret 3-page addendum.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:38:20 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

There will be two votes following this one, a Democratic motion to commit (the effort to restore the child tax credit expansion in the Rule) and then final package. This first vote is 15 minutes, the other two are 5 minute votes. Theoretically.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:34:14 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

This is the first procedural vote leading to the final voting on the rules package.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:31:10 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Oh, they’ve been in a 10 minute recess. No, I don’t know why they bothered, unless McCarthy needed more time to capitulate to more demands.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:25:12 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

The thing is, the only power the House GOP has it in shutting down government or causing the nation to default on its debt for the first time in history. They can talk about defunding the IRS or whatever, but that’s not going to happen because they are just one half of one branch of government. The only thing they can do is create utter chaos that will make it that much easier for Democrats to take a trifecta in 2024.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:21:19 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Cole must feel at least a little heartburn at the fact that McCarthy agreed to pack his committee with maniacs. You wouldn’t know it from his comments in debate.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:19:48 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

McGovern doing a pretty good job of making it clear that Democrats are not going to help Republicans out of the messes they are making unless Rs come to them after rejecting the maniacs.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:11:56 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

This isn’t going to be revealed until the Rules package passes, because McCarthy can’t risk the votes of the members he screwed over.

McCarthy would not say when the details of all the deals he cut to secure the speakership would be released.

Also Mike Rogers on being restrained and lunging at Matt Gaetz.
“No comment,” he said
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 9, 2023

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:08:46 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Smart upcoming motion to commit on the rules package from the Democrats, restoring the hugely popular and successful expanded child tac credit.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:06:46 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

They are transparent in one sense: just how craven they are.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:05:21 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

They’ve been talking a lot about getting rid of proxy voting, which is possibly the dumbest thing McCarthy has obsessed over, given his teeny-tiny majority. He needs all of his people there all of the time, or risk the Democrats holding the majority on any given day.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 11:01:45 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

When they talk about the Holman rule, they’re talking about defunding program, they’re talking about defunding individual people’s salaries—witchhunts, in other words.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 10:59:59 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Calling out hypocrisy is useless, because there’s no way in hell you can shame a Republican by exposing it. But goddamned is this debate full of it.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 10:58:17 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Chip Roy touts a term limit bill standing next to 11-term incumbent Tom Cole.
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) January 9, 2023

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 10:43:54 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

So far most of the speeches from Democratic lawmakers has focused on the Republican plans to limit women’s rights and to criminalize abortion.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 10:30:14 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Another piece of transparency gone:

NOTE: C-SPAN cameras are no longer in the House chamber. We have resumed using the feed from House/government-operated cameras.
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 9, 2023

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 10:24:42 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Now Tom Cole (R-OK) is up, announcing several committees to investigate law enforcement, finally proving that COVID was a massive plot against Trump, and something, something China.

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 10:19:26 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) opens with a laundry list of the Republicans’ vile plans, and notes that the “insurrectionists are in charge.”

UPDATE: Monday, Jan 9, 2023 · 10:16:08 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Steve Scalise opens by assuring America that there will no longer be proxy voting. A real kitchen table issue.