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”

McCarthy is in his ‘hidden’ office licking his wounds and two major players have stepped up to slither their way into the House leadership….Jim Jordan and Scalise…..

I was wondering if the opponents would bring up the past allegations against Jordan….they did.

Jim Jordan should not be speaker of the House, according to four former Ohio State University wrestlers who claim the House Judiciary Committee chairman failed to protect them from a sexual predator. Jordan served as assistant coach of the OSU wrestling team from 1986 to 1994, when Richard Strauss was employed as a school physician. A 2019 investigative report found Strauss, who died in 2005, sexually abused at least 177 students from 1979 to 1997, including through 47 cases of rape. The 2019 investigation found coaches and athletic administrators knew Strauss was abusing male athletes and failed to stop him, though individual names were redacted in the public report. Jordan has claimed he never saw or heard about any abuse while at the school.

But some former wrestlers have disputed that. Dunyasha Yetts has said he personally told Jordan that Strauss tried to remove his shorts when he went to see the doctor about a thumb injury. “He doesn’t deserve to be House speaker,” Yetts now tells NBC News. “He still has to answer for what happened to us.” Other Strauss accusers have backed up Yetts’ claim that Jordan knew what the doctor was up to, claiming the coach took part in locker room discussions to that effect. “There’s no way he didn’t know what was going on,” says Mike Schyck, another former OSU wrestler. “Do you really want a guy in that job who chose not to stand up for his guys? Is that the kind of character trait you want for a House speaker?”

“None of us used the words ‘sexual abuse’ when we talked about what Doc Strauss was doing to us,” but Jordan “knew about it because we talked about it all the time in the locker room, at practices, everywhere,” says a third former OSU wrestler, identified as John Doe in a lawsuit against the university. In a 2018 interview, Jordan noted “conversations in a locker room are a lot different than allegations of abuse. No one ever reported any abuse to me.” But he went on to deny knowledge of these locker room discussions, too. Rocky Ratliff, a former OSU wrestler and lawyer representing plaintiffs in the suit against the school, now wants to hear him say the same under oath. Ratliff, who claims Jordan “abandoned his former wrestlers,” plans to have him deposed, per NBC.

Did this work to keep Jordan out of the Big Chair?

It appears to may have help the Repubs decide on Scalise for the Speakership….

House Republicans have landed on Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their pick for next speaker, with the Hill reporting he bested Jim Jordan in a 113-99 closed-door vote. Things will next head to the House floor, where he’ll face off against Democrats’ pick: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The one who ends up with the gavel will be the one who emerges with the majority, which could take a while. Republicans hold a very slim majority, and ousted speaker Kevin McCarthy didn’t emerge victorious for 15 rounds.

The AP writes of Scalise, “The Louisiana lawmaker is seen as a hero to some after surviving a mass shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice a few years ago.” The Hill adds, “Scalise’s nomination marks the pinnacle of his congressional career, which began in 2008 and has spanned more than nine years in leadership, including stints as Republican whip and, most recently, majority leader.” Sources tell CNN that a full House vote won’t happen today, with interim speaker Rep. Patrick McHenry expected to call a recess when the House meets at 3pm.

Several GOP lawmakers have already said they won’t vote for Scalise, and it’s unclear whether he has a path to winning a majority. “Surprises are for little kids at birthday parties, not Congress,” Rep. Thomas Massie said in a post on X. “So, I let Scalise know in person that he doesn’t have my vote on the floor.” Rep. Max Miller said he would vote for Jordan even if Jordan asks his supporters to vote for Scalise, the Washington Post reports.

This ought to be fascinating.

Let The Games Begin!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

I preempt my posting schedule for this breaking news…..

First let me apologize my usual post on useless news will be tomorrow….but this info was too important to pass up.

After days of chaos, of accusations, of games the House has settled on a Speaker person….it will be McCarthy….

It was 15th time lucky for Rep. Kevin McCarthy—the Republican was elected speaker of the House at around 12:30am Saturday after the longest speakership election since 1859. He received a standing ovation after getting 216 votes in the 15th round of voting. The victory followed extraordinary scenes of chaos on the House floor. After McCarthy failed to win the House speakership on a 14th ballot late Friday, tensions boiled over. McCarth had appeared poised to win but Rep. Matt Gaetz, the last holdout to vote, voted “present,” leaving McCarthy one vote short of a majority. McCarthy strode to the back of the chamber to confront Gaetz, who was sitting with Lauren Boebert and other holdouts. Fingers were pointed, words exchanged and violence apparently just averted, the AP reports.

At one point, Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama started to charge toward Gaetz before Richard Hudson physically pulled him back. “Stay civil!” someone shouted. There was a vote to adjourn—but Republicans led by McCarthy started changing their votes to stay in session, and the 15th round of voting began as the clock neared midnight. Before the 14th vote, McCarthy had flipped 15 conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus, leaving him just a few shy of seizing the gavel for the new Congress.

The day’s stunning turn of events came after McCarthy agreed to many of the detractors’ demands—including the reinstatement of a longstanding House rule that would allow any single member to call a vote to oust him from office. Sources tell the New York Times that after the 14th round, Gaetz and at least one other holdout changed their votes after a call from Donald Trump. McCarthy will be a weakened speaker, having given away some powers and constantly under the threat of being booted by his detractors, the AP notes. But he could also be emboldened as a survivor of one of the more brutal fights for the gavel in US history. This story has been updated with McCarthy’s victory.

Trump still throws his powers around to the mental midgets that will lick his boots every time.

After 15 votes how did McCarthy win approval?

After 11 failed attempts with near-identical results, Rep. Kevin McCarthy will be hoping for something different when the House reconvenes Friday to continue what is now the longest-running speakership election since before the Civil War. Some 20 hardline conservatives have consistently voted against McCarthy, but some opponents said late Thursday that talks with the McCarthy camp are moving forward, the Hill reports. “It’s changes that we wanted,” and the proposals are “on paper, which is a good thing,” said holdout Rep. Ralph Norman. McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes, and a few of his fiercest critics, including Reps. Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz, were not present at negotiations in the chief whip’s office Thursday.

According to the Post’s sources, “phase one” of the McCarthy team’s plan involves getting at least a few holdouts to vote for him—and if that succeeds, “phase two” will involve putting pressure on the remaining holdouts until there are only four left. After the House adjourned Thursday night, McCarthy denied that concessions including allowing a snap vote for removal weakened the power of the speakership, the New York Times reports. “The entire conference is going to have to learn how to work together,” he said. “So it’s better that we go through this process right now.” The AP reports that after the tenth and eleventh rounds of voting Thursday surpassed the nine ballots from 1923, the last time a speaker wasn’t chosen on the first ballot, McCarthy joked, “Apparently, I like to make history.”

Was it McCarty’s plan or was it toeing the line for Donald the Orange?

Will Gaetz do as promised and resign if a GOP moderate is elected Speaker?

(I think not)

Now with a new Speaker the GOP can get to work trying to destroy all social safety nets.

If you voted for any of these ‘people’ then you should be pleased…..if not you should be afraid.

Let the political comedy begin.

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“lego ergo scribo”