This bit dramedy(drama-comedy) took place over the weekend and it is just too juicy to ignore.

Scalise has taken a back seat in the run for Speaker….that leaves Jordan as the the most likely new Speaker….but does he have the clout to get elected?

Ten days after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker from the House, the chamber’s Republicans appear to still be a long way from choosing a replacement—and they’ve rejected a proposal to avoid a potentially messy vote on the House floor. Politico reports that GOP lawmakers voted against a plan to require 217 members of the conference to agree on a nominee before there is a vote on the full House floor. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was nominated in a 113-99 vote on Wednesday, but he dropped out Thursday night after it became clear that he had no hope of getting 217 votes, the minimum needed to be elected speaker.

Rep. Jim Jordan was the only declared GOP candidate for speaker after Scalise’s exit, but he was joined before the noon deadline Friday by Rep. Austin Scott. “I have filed to be Speaker of the House,” the Georgia lawmaker said in a post on X. “We are in Washington to legislate, and I want to lead a House that functions in the best interest of the American people.” Republicans are holding more closed-door meetings Friday but a floor vote appears unlikely, NBC News reports. Some lawmakers have already left town for the weekend, leaving only 209 of the 221 Republicans, meaning Democratic nominee Rep. Hakeem Jeffries could be elected if a floor vote happens.

After some late political drama, Republicans have chosen Rep. Jim Jordan as their new nominee to be House speaker. However, it remains very much up in the air whether Jordan, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, will be able to get enough votes in the full House to secure the gavel, reports the Hill. Jordan defeated late entrant Austin Scott of Georgia in the Friday afternoon GOP vote. Politico reports he won with 124 ballots, but he will need 217 to become speaker. All of this comes a day after Steve Scalise withdrew as “speaker designate,” knowing he would not be able to reach the magic number of 217. No word yet on when Republicans might schedule a full House vote.

If you think this is a done deal then think again….someone left the back door unlock and a new candidate came through.

When a surprise new challenger emerged Friday for the House speakership, everyone but the most diehard political junkies could be forgiven for asking, “Austin who?” That would be GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, for whom the descriptor “little-known” was being applied often in coverage. “We are busily googling Austin Scott right now,” one House Democrat told Axios. Some basics:

• The 53-year-old Scott is a “mainstream conservative” and an ally of ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, per the New York Times. Scott has served in Congress since 2011 and sits on the influential Intelligence Committee.
• He has been openly critical of the hard-right flank in the House that removed McCarthy from his leadership post, per the AP. “It makes us look like a bunch of idiots,” he told CNN earlier this week.
• After Steve Scalise withdrew from the speaker’s race on Thursday night, Scott made clear that he would not support new front-runner Jim Jordan. The Hill sees him as an “apparent protest” candidate against Jordan, though Scott told reporters Friday, “Jim’s a friend of mine.”
• The move further complicates Jordan’s path toward receiving the necessary 217 votes to become speaker. “I assume a large block of people that work for Steve will probably start out with Austin,” GOP Rep. Warren Davidson, a Jordan backer, told the Hill.
• “When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of doing this,” Scott told reporters. “But I believe if we as Republicans are going to make the majority, we have to do the right things the right way. And we’re not doing that right now.”

I told you this would get sillier.

Now we wait for the floor vote to see just how silly this can get.

Then there is a deal being purposed….a bi-partisan deal…..

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat nominee for speaker, said on NBC News Sunday that some moderate Republicans are considering a bipartisan solution. “There are informal conversations that have been underway. When we get back to Washington tomorrow, it’s important to begin to formalize those discussions,” he said. “We have made clear, publicly and privately, that we are ready, willing, and able to enter into a bipartisan governing coalition that puts the American people first.”

Would that mean a Democrat or a Republican as the potential speaker? As Fox News reports, multiple Republicans have predicted that not even their moderate colleagues would agree to vote for a Democrat as speaker. On NBC, Kristen Welker noted to Jeffries that “you’d effectively need about five Democrats to get on board and support a Republican speaker to have a governing coalition,” asking if Democrats had identified any Republican colleague they could get behind. Jeffries said no.

Why not? “Our focus is not on the individual,” he said. “It’s on the institution of Congress and the best interests of the American people, which is why what we suggested is that we reevaluate the rules that are currently in place to facilitate bipartisan cooperation and to eliminate division.”

Personally I believe that this is nothing but wishful thinking….does anyone truly believe there can be a bi-partisan approach to a speaker?

Any guesses?

One final thought….as usual the Repubs try to blame Biden for all this chaos in the House….

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was asked about the chaos amongst House Republicans on CNN Sunday. She led off her answer by addressing “chaos” related to the Biden administration, and was promptly cut off by Jake Tapper, the Hill reports. “You can’t blame that on Biden. You can’t blame this on Biden,” Tapper said. “Well, you have to let me finish,” Haley continued before listing several examples of what she considers “chaotic,” including inflation, the border, crime, education, and world affairs. “What I’m saying is you can’t fix Democrat chaos with Republican chaos. They need to get it together,” she said, ultimately conceding that the speaker debacle is “not a good look” for the GOP.

God I love this stuff….aren’t you glad you have the Old Professor to do the hard lift for you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”