We will see how much power Vlad’s fans have in the budget process.

“Hill to die on,” own goal, own goal.

I too am curious to see how the drama plays out – especially considering the Senate, where Cory Booker and bipartisan allies vow shutdown if Ukraine funds are not forthcoming. We shall see whether funding or not funding Ukraine is judged to be the better shutdown hill to die on.

Wasn’t the side deal on a temporary measure (I think 45 days) to avoid a shutdown? So wouldn’t avoiding a side deal involve a shutdown? And wasn’t it Gaetz’s group that wouldn’t vote for some of the bills that didn’t involve side deals? I’m in a hurry and not going to look it up right now, but those are my questions and those are my recollections, although I could be wrong.

You can find my answer to Bauxite’s question here.

If I’m not mistaken, favoring the dropping of funding for the Ukraine war effort is by no means a unanimous or near-unanimous position among the GOP members of the House. I’m curious to know how Jordan, if he becomes Speaker, will get enough them to agree on such a thing.

What should McCarthy have done? What is Jim Jordan or Steve Scalise going to do to succeed where McCarthy failed?

That’s easy: No direct or side deals for funding you know what. Jordan’s recent answer on that is dead on.

Speaking of Hunter Biden (and you know what), Non Profit Efforts To Find (You Know What)’s Missing Children Hire Hunter Biden Linked Consultants. There’s been a lot of ostensibly good intentioned money headed in that direction, most of which has enriched the worst people.

That Sundance article you linked was linked before by a previous commenter, and I responded to it. I will do so again. And perhaps I’ll write a post about it, too.

You write of the Sundance article, “I find the following brief history of Rs in Congress to be an outstanding explanation/reminder of why early polling shows a majority of R voters have no problem with what Gaetz et al did Tuesday; why Trump is leading resoundingly in all primary polls…”

And yet are you aware that the factual information in that article is ignorant, incorrect, or perhaps a deliberate lie (I don’t know which)? I wrote many many posts in real time about what happened with the GOP and Obamacare, and Sundance is just plain wrong. Here, for the sake of brevity, I will only link to two of my posts on the subject that give an overview of the actual facts as opposed to the mythology: see this, which discusses the history up to April of 2016, and then see this about subsequent efforts.

I think the argument is that another Speaker would force a shutdown. Why that would be better – or whether it would – isn’t clear, except it would show more fight and more defiance. In the past, the shutdowns have backfired on the GOP for the most part.

That’s why I say people advocating the idea that another Speaker would have somehow managed to do better are not being realistic. However, if Jordan becomes Speaker, I guess we’ll get to see whether he can do better.

McCarthy’s style was too insider Washington. I think McCarthy was responsible for the 2022 version of the Contract with America, and in my opinion, it was completely ineffective. I think Jordan is feisty, while still being controlled.

Jim Jordan makes his case for speakership: ‘I can bring our team together’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNXHJ_M3o9Y

But in the end Matt Gaetz voted with all the Democrats to get McCarthy. Lee can’t spin that away; Gaetz didn’t just talk betrayal he followed through. FAFO indeed.

Gaetz, the new, improved, “Maverick” of the House.

And please identify the “lie[s] from the press” and excuses “from the leadership” that I’m supposedly accepting.

(FWIW – I have no problem with Jordan or Scalise as Speaker, but I have no confidence whatsoever that they will get better results than McCarthy.)