Either he had a plan or it was nerves

It was nerves. 

Kevin McCarthy had a big smile on his face as he made his way through the House to his seat this morning.  There was reporting overnight that numerous boxes of pizza had been delivered to “his” office – that is to say, the office of the Speaker of the House which he has been squatting in since January 2 – indicating that lamps stayed lit into the wee hours as McCarthy met with allies trying to come up with a way to break the logjam the Republicans have erected for themselves since Tuesday.

Notice I didn’t say that McCarthy had been meeting with the Insurrection Caucus of 20 to 21 members who have either voted against him or voted “present,” which amounts to the same thing.  I don’t know if they’re refusing to meet in person with him, or if it’s the other way around, but as they continue to play the game by junior high school rules, it’s unsurprising either way. As McCarthy went down to a 7th defeat last night in his quest to occupy the Speaker’s office for real , MSNBC was reporting that Insurrection Caucus members were meeting downstairs from the House chamber with allies of McCarthy trying to reach some sort of compromise that would secure their votes.  Which was a joke, because the Kamikaze wing McCarthy’s allies are trying to deal with have pledged that they will never compromise on their “principles,” whatever the hell those are.

During Pizza Time last night, McCarthy had already made what the Washington Post called “fresh concessions” to the little band of Republican hostage takers, including reducing the number of members necessary to make a “motion to vacate” – essentially a vote to fire the Speaker – from five to one, and to appoint more Kamikazis to the House Rules Committee, where the real power in the body resides, which controls what legislation proposed by members will reach the floor.  Additionally, McCarthy promised to allow a floor vote on term limits for members of the House, which could put a torpedo in his leadership (should he ever get to exercise it) if it even begins.

Now they’re going to an eighth ballot.  The guy who nominated McCarthy didn’t even bother to make one of those fake he’s-the-greatest-and-I’d-trust-him-with-my-life introductions.  He just stood up and nominated him.  The Democrats nominated Hakeem Jeffries with a stirring speech running down the long list of doors the Republicans slammed on meaningful, helpful legislation proposed by Democrats in the last Congress – from a bill that would codify Roe v. Wade right on down to capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month. 

And now the barely intelligible Andy Biggs is up nominating Byron Donald as “the man who is living the American dream” for the role of Speaker.  Donald “has a loving family,” Biggs assured his compatriots.  He “worked hard to get here.” 

Wow, maybe they should nominate one of the Capitol police who were injured during the coup on 1/6.  They’ve got those qualifications, and more.

The really big question today is whether the Republicans have the votes to adjourn the House for the weekend – weekends in political Washington D.C. beginning on Thursday rather than Friday, in order that members of Congress can take the long weekend to go home and raise money for the next time they run.

We’ll see about that too.  One indication of just how collapsed is the foundation holding up what’s left of the Republican Party is the fact that the first guy who nominated McCarthy got a big cheer when he noted that they showed they could govern with the vote to adjourn they won last night – it was 216 to 214, and they cheated, allowing a few Republicans to change their votes after the 15-minutes allowed for the vote had elapsed.

McCarthy has now lost the eighth ballot, with at least seventeen insurrectionists voting against him at this hour.  Now the MSNBC expert pundits are parsing individual votes, specifically that of Colorado Congressman Ken Buck, who has been saying he’ll switch his vote for McCarthy to against him if he keeps losing.  At least on Capitol Hill, it’s a big deal that Buck just cast his vote for McCarthy once more, apparently not having given up on him yet.

Despite the chaos of the last few days, it’s good to see the Republicans are holding firm to their commitment to continue lying and cheating and breaking promises if and when they are ever sworn in and take control of the House, with whatever loon they settle on “leading” them.