And so Kevin McCarthy appears to be on his way to losing six votes for the Speaker of the House seat. Paging Number Seven.
Not surprisingly, Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert are at loggerheads over the position of Speaker of the House. On Tuesday, Green, frustrated with Matt Gaetz and the GOP dissenters, stated the following:
Marge: “If my friends in the Freedom Caucus, Matt Gaetz and others .. they’re proving to the country that they don’t care about doing the right thing for America .. they’re just destructionists. That’s why Repubs fail, and I’m really tired of it. 🎥 RSBN pic.twitter.com/T1gMvN8uOI
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) January 3, 2023
Green was reacting to the positions of Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert:
If you want to drain The Swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise. pic.twitter.com/HEnk1JVeIV
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) January 3, 2023
As it stands, I will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy to be Speaker of the House. pic.twitter.com/rUDuHS45hH
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 3, 2023
Boebert also called on Trump to withdraw his support for McCarthy. Fox News had this quote from the Congresswoman:
Even having my favorite president call us and tell us we need to knock this off, I think it actually needs to be reversed. The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that sir, you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw.
Boebert was also the one to nominate Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) for the position of Speaker.
Earlier, I said that federalism matters and that the business of the Republic is not supposed to be easy. I still believe that. But past a certain point, our elected geniuses also need to ask themselves cui bono (who benefits)? Debate and dissent are important, and no, we should not simply rubber-stamp policies and people. But there does come a time when one has to deal with reality. If a congressperson genuinely believes that McCarthy poses a threat to the Republic, then, by all means, they should vote their conscience. After all, as Stacey Lennox reported earlier, the majority of Republican voters are on the side of the dissenters. GOP voters are tired of being betrayed by people who give great stump speeches, only to drop the ball on their own 20-yard line, intentionally or otherwise, when it comes to actually legislating. As Stacey pointed out:
The political realignment has been evident to anyone paying attention since Donald Trump rode down the escalator in 2015. Republicans will continue to ignore the Obama-Obama-Trump voter, the blue-collar voter, the parents, and the freedom voters at their peril. The recent Florida election results show that rejecting the status quo and delivering results for the people you represent is a winning strategy. Perhaps the GOP should try it.
Related: A Significant Majority of Republican Voters Agree With the GOP Rebels
If, however, the interest is over committee assignments or potential benefits, or if said congressperson simply has an axe that they feel needs grinding, then it may be time to reconsider. If personal gain or making a point is the reason for objecting to McCarthy, then there is an albeit risk not only of electing a minority party speaker but also of turning into the thing to which you are ostensibly opposed and rendering the GOP MIA.
That is not to say that the dissenters need to roll over. McCarthy would do well to heed the concerns of the opposition. That is also part of running a Republic. Compromise can work and Boebert asserts that McCarthy has rebuffed proposals from his opponents.
The questions that McCarthy and rebellion must answer, as soon as possible, are not just cui bono, but what are they trying to accomplish? Our Republic is not designed to be easy, but at some point, there comes a time to get on with the people’s business.
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