Partial Government Shutdown Averted & McCarthy’s Ouster Attempt to Come – Top 3 Takeaways – October 2nd, 2023
- Go ahead and try. Strong words from a strong Speaker of the House in Kevin McCarthy. After the House passed the 45-day stopgap spending bill on Saturday, with majority Democrat support avoiding a partial government shutdown, at least for now, McCarthy had strong words to say to those seeking to oust him within his own party. Go ahead and try. When asked if he’s concerned that Republican hardliners – starting with Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz will follow through with a threat to attempt to oust him as House Speaker he said... I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try. And you know what? If I have to risk my job for standing up for the American public, I will do that. A total of 209 Democrats in the House, or almost the entire Democrat caucus, voted to support the spending measure compared to just 126 Republicans, or just over half of McCarthy’s caucus voting to do so. With a slight majority of Republicans backing the legislation it’s possible that he can likewise narrowly thwart an attempted effort to knock him off as House Speaker as well – which under House rules for this conference can be attempted at any time by only one member. And speaking of Gaetz, and speaking of that possibility, it appears as though we won’t have to wait long to see what may be. Joining CNN’s "State of the Union” Sunday he said this to Jake Tapper... Speaker McCarthy made an agreement with House conservatives in January and since then he’s been in brazen, repeated material breach of that agreement. This agreement that he made with Democrats to really blow past a lot of the spending guardrails we set up is a last straw. I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week. I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that will be trustworthy. And Gaetz didn’t stop there, also stating: Look, the one thing everybody has in common is that nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. He lied to Biden, he lied to House conservatives. He had appropriators marking to a different number altogether. And the reason we were backed up against the shutdown politics is not a bug of the system. It’s a feature. Now here’s the thing, and it may be a big thing for Kevin McCarthy and what’s to be for House leadership. Given that there is a divided Congress it’s impossible for one political party to get everything they want. Whatever one’s opinion of McCarthy, that’s an immovable fact of divided government. Due to McCarthy’s pragmatism in negotiating with Democrats on occasion, a la Saturday’s bill to avert the partial government shutdown for now, some Democrats may consider lending support to McCarthy that could save his speakership (with the thought being that he’s better from their perspective than a hardliner would be). However, McCarthy’s previous unilateral action, to move forward with an Impeachment Inquiry of President Biden (which was likely done in part to stave off the previous threats of an ouster attempt by GOP hardliners), has angered some Democrats to the point where that might not happen. If Gaetz and co. move forward with the motion to oust McCarthy as promised, the drama would begin no later than Wednesday. There’s really no telling where this goes from here. But there’s a scenario in which Democrat Hakim Jefferies is the next Speaker of the House if Gaetz and co. choose to go there out of spite for McCarthy. And while a Floridian in Matt Gaetz is once again leading the anti-McCarthy movement in the House, who might join him from our state?
- How Floridians voted. Just as the Republican conference was split on their vote for the stopgap spending bill on Saturday, so too was Florida’s representation. While it’s evident how Gaetz voted here’s what the rest of the Florida delegation looked like. Senators Rubio and Scott voted for the legislation (there were only 9 Republicans in the Senate who did not). And of the 90 Republicans in the House who voted against it ten were from Florida. The final House vote in Florida was 16-10 in favor of the legislation. That included every Democrat in Florida voting for it in addition to the following Republicans... Neal Dunn, John Rutherford, Gus Bilirakis, Laurel Lee, Vern Buchannan, Mario-Diaz Balart, Maria Elvira-Salazar and Carlos Gimenez. Notably, Anna Paulina-Luna and Byron Donalds, two high profile conservatives, didn’t vote. As for the Florida GOP contingent which voted against the funding measure, you notably had Brian Mast, Michael Waltz, Kat Cammack and Greg Steube. Will any of them join in the Gaetz-led effort to oust Speaker McCarthy? That could prove to be an important question this week. And as for additional Congressional drama, independent of what happens with House Speaker McCarthy, there will still be the next potential threat of a partial government shutdown just about the time Americans are set to get together for Thanksgiving. It’s been a bumpy ride in the House this year – starting with the 15 votes needed to arrive at a House Speaker. It’s potentially going to get even bumpier from here. And as usual, Floridians are front and center in the conversation. As for...
- What should happen from here? As I mentioned on Friday, I have no fear of partial government shutdowns. We shouldn’t lament 15% less federal government for a short period of time...we should embrace it and make it permanent...and then keep going to downsize the size of our bloated bureaucracy to that of something that we could actually afford. Which, by the way if we did, there would never be another government shutdown again. It’s a permanent solution to this problem. For that reason, I respect those who voted against the stopgap spending measure. But what I wouldn’t respect and absolutely can’t support is a McCarthy ouster attempt. Democrats control two-thirds of the Federal government. Expecting McCarthy to act as hardline ideologue as opposed to a conservative pragmatist is unrealistic. If you want more conservative policies in Congress – win more elections. Because Republicans didn’t win more elections last year – especially in the Senate – compromised policy is the only policy that exists in this Congress. It is literally the only policy that can exist. Opening pandora’s box to see what’s potentially behind door number two in the House Speakership, which could even create a situation in which Democrat Hakim Jefferies become the next Speaker, isn’t the answer.