Republicans are gearing up to potentially vote Kevin McCarthy out as Speaker of the House. Following Rep. Matt Gaetz’s lead, the GOP seems determined to break their party from the inside out. It took an absurd 15 rounds of voting to elect McCarthy in the position at the beginning of the year when Republicans gained the majority in the House of Representatives. Since then, Gaetz and others in the party have done everything to combat McCarthy.
The continued in-fighting has culminated in Gaetz moving to remove McCarthy as Speaker. The House is currently in the process of debating the issue prior to an official vote. The group opposing McCarthy is relatively small but extremely contentious and according to Gaetz, there is enough support among the GOP to remove McCarthy from the leadership position. With such a narrow majority, McCarthy and those who support him are eyeing the Democrats to come to his aid in this trying time.
If McCarthy garnered just a few votes—or even absences—from Dems to stay Speaker, he could hold onto his seat. The problem is that Democrats aren’t here to save you, McCarthy, or your disaster of a party.
May the odds be ever in your favor, McCarthy
To be clear, no one likes Kevin McCarthy. Removing him as Speaker would probably be a good move. The government almost shut down last weekend because McCarthy couldn’t get his own people on board with a deal he made with President Joe Biden back in May. He’s incompetent at best and dangerous at worst. It is almost guaranteed Gaetz’s plan is to put someone even worse, like himself, into the position. However, Democrats had no hand in creating this mess and won’t be part of the cleanup.
Democrats have shown solid backing from the beginning for Hakeem Jeffries as their speaker. The support he had for leadership never varied through the chaotic rounds of voting in January. They are not the ones making a mockery of our democracy. As Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made clear on MSNBC recently, “My vote at the beginning of this term for Speaker of the House was for Hakeem Jeffries, and I do not intend on voting for a Republican Speaker of the House.”
Earlier today, Rep. Pramila Jayapal explained to reporters at the Capitol exactly why Democrats won’t be lifting a finger to help McCarthy or any other Republicans. Jayapal cited how McCarthy had originally stood with Dems after the January 6 invasion of the House, then backpedaled after speaking with Trump. McCarthy has shown how untrustworthy he is.
Jayapal also pointed out this is only a Republican issue and the party with the majority should be able to vote in their own Speaker. Speaking the absolute truth, Jayapal said about the Republicans, “Let them wallow in their pigsty of incompetence and inability to govern. They are destroying our institutions.”
In the eternal words of Nelson Muntz, “Ha ha!”
(featured image: Fox)
