Current Events > More GOP Infighting - McCarthy Against Government Shutdown

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2023/09/14/congress/mccarthys-profane-dare-00115873

Kevin McCarthy had convened a special conference meeting to detail the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. It instead turned into a profanity-laced venting session about the party's right flank. The House speaker used the first half of the Thursday morning gathering to voice frustrations about hardliner resistance to his fervent attempts to stave off a government shutdown before a Sept. 30 deadline and conservative threats to boot him from the speakership if he relies on Democratic help to do so. The typically affable McCarthy was clearly incensed, cursing in front of his members.

If you think you scare me because you want to file a motion to vacate, move the fuckinging motion, McCarthy said at the top of the meeting, according to three Republicans in the room, referring to the technical name of a vote that would oust him from leadership. It's a sign of the broader frustration building among the majority of House Republicans, many of whom were receptive to McCarthy's blow up. Some have advocated for increased pressure on conservative members, who have shrugged at the idea of a shutdown and continued pushing spending priorities that would be rejected by the Democratic Senate and White House.

And McCarthy is dialing up the pressure, telling his members during the closed-door meeting that once they return to Washington next week they wont leave until theyve funded the government. Were going to come back in next week and were not going to leave until we get the job done, he told reporters after the meeting.

Conservatives shrugged off McCarthy's fiery aside, saying they've warned him for months where they are on spending: They want pre-Covid levels that amount to an overall a $1.47 trillion price tag. I wish he wouldve been combative on this three months ago, said Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), who is not a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus but closely aligns with the group.

But McCarthy's opposition extends beyond conservatives. Other Republicans also oppose passing individual appropriation bills without a larger deal on overall spending levels, an issue that forced leadership to punt a massive defense bill on Wednesday. At the same time, conservatives are also opposing a short-term spending bill that would buy Congress more time to negotiate spending bills, unless they get significant policy concessions and spending cuts that have no shot at passing the Senate. Adding to the speaker's long list of problems: His members, including some of his allies, have starting privately complaining that their leader is not leading.

Republicans did eventually turn to their multi-pronged impeachment investigation. Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the three leaders of the inquiry, walked members through their findings so far and outlined where they will go next. Comer is focused on Hunter Bidens business deals, as Republicans hunt for a link to the president. No evidence has emerged that Joe Bidens actions as president or vice president were a result of his sons business arrangements. But Comer is preparing to request bank records from Hunter Biden and the presidents brother James Biden.

Jordan, meanwhile, is taking the lead on how the Justice Department and FBI handled the years-long federal investigation into Hunter Biden. As part of his investigation, Jordan said after the meeting that he signed two additional subpoenas for Justice Department officials this week spokespeople for the Ohio Republican didnt immediately respond to requests for comment on the legal summons. But the two men did not give a timeline for how long their inquiry will last, as they face competing demands from colleagues. Some want it wrapped by the end of the year, while others have privately talked about dragging it into 2024 to inflict maximum damage on Bidens reelection bid. We have a very diverse conference, Comer said. It is hard to put a timeline on it.

-Meanwhile GOP wasting time on impeachment inquiry. Hope they lose all the moderate seats

He's made his bed

People shouldn't be allowed to shut down the government on a whim, and those who try should not only be removed from power, but arrested and thrown in prison... throw away the fucking key. I'm tired of proud fucking traitors being tolerated.

Lol mccarthy will either shut it down or be replaced.

He has no choice. Hes a figurehead for the MTG/ Gaetz nut jobs the GOP is infested with.

He probably thought doing impeachment would get them on board but the MTG wing wants it their way or no way.

Should add DeSantis for shutdown as a former freedom GOP rep.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/14/desantis-leans-into-shutdown-fight-00115892

DeSantis message, according to a person familiar with the call: I got your back. Keep fighting.

It's too late for him to stand up to them now. They already know he's a little bitch that won't do anything. Since he spoke out, they're gonna give him an atomic wedgie so he remembers who the boss is around the GOP

jefffan posted...

be replaced

he's going to lose his job with the speakership (because he wouldn't kneel before conservative demands).

It instead turned into a profanity-laced venting session about the party's right flank.

Sure hope no one gets kicked in the balls next time like that GOP meeting in Michigan. Really would hate to see that. Really.

name_unknown posted...

Conservatives shrugged off McCarthy's fiery aside, saying they've warned him for months where they are on spending: They want pre-Covid levels that amount to an overall a $1.47 trillion price tag. I wish he wouldve been combative on this three months ago, said Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), who is not a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus but closely aligns with the group.

Please can you remind me what the price tag was for Trump's tax cuts? I think there's a pretty solid way to pay for these...

reincarnator07 posted...

Please can you remind me what the price tag was for Trump's tax cuts? I think there's a pretty solid way to pay for these...

Everyone knows the best recipe for fiscal conservatism is to increase spending (which Trump did at record levels, even pre-pandemic) coupled with a decrease in revenue (which Trump did with his tax cuts for the rich).

It really speaks volumes that even someone like McCarthy wants to scream over how fucking hopeless trying to serve a nation with MTG and Trumpism infecting it actually is.

Someone needs to tell Kev the hard truth Government will shutdown. If one asshole senator can shutdown Defense promotions for 6 months. There is nothing that will change the minds of the insane. They went into politics to obstruct not govern.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

"Hunter Biden is out there! All that other bullshit government stuff can wait until we solve the important things."

Reminder that under Donald Trump, these hypocritical fuckfaces gave him a blank checkbook and very simple directions: "Go nuts."

The end result? 8 trillion added to the deficit.

God, if 2024 doesn't end with Democrats having a super majority in all government there's no fucking hope for this country

mybbqrules posted...

Reminder that under Donald Trump, these hypocritical fuckfaces gave him a blank checkbook and very simple directions: "Go nuts."

The end result? 8 trillion added to the deficit.

but look at all the money big business put back into the economy after the tax cuts he gave them!

the super yacht industry is doing very well these days

tremain07 posted...

God, if 2024 doesn't end with Democrats having a super majority in all government there's no fucking hope for this country

The problem really is a solid 30% of the voting population is all in ride or die Trump, and a solid 10% on top of that massively lean Republican. With another fraction in the middle that somehow can manage to swing erratically between parties.

Meaning that the GOP floor is probably about 40% of the popular vote no matter what happens.

Cavewoman disapproves -50

thronedfire2 posted...

but look at all the money big business put back into the economy after the tax cuts he gave them!

They promised pay new jobs and pay raises. They delivered stock buybacks and executive bonuses.

Hilarious to me that out of 220 Republicans, there's not 5 decent human beings in the party. 5.

ClayGuida posted...

Hilarious to me that out of 220 Republicans, there's not 5 decent human beings in the party. 5.

5? There's not 1.

DarthAragorn posted...

5? There's not 1.

Well, 1 wouldn't change anything. 5 would change the entire makeup of the House.

All it would take is 5 Republicans to basically say 'hey, elect X the new Speaker, we won't impeach Biden, we won't shut down the government, and we'll try to work in a bipartisan way to fix this country'.

Instead we have 220 right wing extremists willing to destroy our country over nothing.

name_unknown posted...

. If one a****** senator can shutdown Defense promotions for 6 months

Isn't this because they're not actually bringing it to a "real" vote though?

I wish politicians were willing to fight over more important things, like our fundamental freedoms and rights.

mercurydude posted...

People shouldn't be allowed to shut down the government on a whim, and those who try should not only be removed from power, but arrested and thrown in prison... throw away the fucking key. I'm tired of proud fucking traitors being tolerated.

They'll never be stopped at this rate.

darkace77450 posted...

They promised pay new jobs and pay raises. They delivered stock buybacks and executive bonuses.

don't worry the republican diarrhea will trickle down eventually

they probably cut the plumbing budget though

Sowell / Jesus is the schism republicans need.
The "Jesus" republicans are all about Paul anyway.

the_rowan posted...

It really speaks volumes that even someone like McCarthy wants to scream over how fucking hopeless trying to serve a nation with MTG and Trumpism infecting it actually is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IhGCbzaLxQ

I knew the shitshow that was the Speaker election was just a preview of how dysfunctional House Republicans were going to be this term. It's probably just going to get worse the closer we get to the 2024 election.

GOP sold what little soul it had left to the Devil, and I think the time to collect is fast approaching.

The GOP is too shook by the midterms. Realistically they already screwed their own public reputation, and their only real card left is to screw up Biden's presidency with stuff like shutdowns. But McCarthy thinks he still has a good name to salvage.

If the government shuts down he can't impeach Biden!

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

GOP sold what little soul it had left to the Devil, and I think the time to collect is fast approaching.

As probably the last CE chud still standing, the republicans have gone so far off the rails that they're in space now, except maybe Haley.

Inohira posted...

The GOP is too shook by the midterms. Realistically they already screwed their own public reputation, and their only real card left is to screw up Biden's presidency with stuff like shutdowns. But McCarthy thinks he still has a good name to salvage.

The part of the GOP that wants to screw Biden with stuff like shutdowns is the part that's too stupid to realize they screwed the pooch in '22. The sane Republicans, what few remain, know bullshit like obstructionism and culture war issues is what cost them their red tsunami, and they're trying to warn the lunatics within their own party that impeaching Biden and shutting the government down is only going to hurt them further.

Republicans in disarray.

He wanted to be speaker of the house, even if he had to give up all the power that came with the title.

Kradek posted...

Republicans in disarray.

Not that the mainstream media will ever report it that way.

darkace77450 posted...

The part of the GOP that wants to screw Biden with stuff like shutdowns is the part that's too stupid to realize they screwed the pooch in '22.

Yes, that's part of the problem. They blew up the election with terrible party nominees and abortion trolling and now nobody wants to listen to them on anything else.

Every wing of the GOP is guilty of misplays that make the other wings not trust their input on other matters. Take McCarthy trying to appear reasonable on funding the government, but simultaneously opening up an impeachment inquiry on Biden based on largely nonsensical garbage. This strategy is incoherent and endears him to neither radicals nor moderates. Nobody takes the guy seriously, he can't commit to a plan and is clearly just making whatever moves he thinks will help preserve his own power on any given day.

McConnell was the last competent GOP mastermind and he's not doing too well right now.

darkace77450 posted...

The sane Republicans, what few remain, know bullshit like obstructionism and culture war issues is what cost them their red tsunami, and they're trying to warn the lunatics within their own party that impeaching Biden and shutting the government down is only going to hurt them further.

Strategically there's a time and place for obstructionism. The aforementioned McConnell knew when it was. But alt-right bridge trolls like MTG don't know much of anything. The GOP's playbook was running fine until they let the inmates run the asylum.

EPR-radar posted...

Not that the mainstream media will ever report it that way.

Yep, mostly why I said it. They couldn't shut up with that shit during 2022 about Dems and then never owned up to show shitty & asinine their behavior was. I've concluded that our mainstream media is very pro-fascist, not sure why since fascist societies aren't very friendly to free media, but damn there's just too many examples.

I mean, the new host for NBC's Meet The Press is having Donald Fucking Trump as her very first guest. They seem even more desperately trying to justify him than in 2016, even with all the shit that's happened.

darkace77450 posted...

and they're trying to warn the lunatics within their own party that impeaching Biden and shutting the government down is only going to hurt them further.

The party of Lincoln, Teddy, Eienhower, and arguably also Reagan, is long gone.
The last remnants are huddling around Schwarzenegger, who cannot be president.

Inohira posted...

The GOP's playbook was running fine until they let the inmates run the asylum.

Yep. If demagogues pander to zealots long enough, they'll eventually be replaced by true believers.

Kradek posted...

Yep, mostly why I said it. They couldn't shut up with that shit during 2022 about Dems and then never owned up to show shitty & asinine their behavior was. I've concluded that our mainstream media is very pro-fascist, not sure why since fascist societies aren't very friendly to free media, but damn there's just too many examples.

I mean, the new host for NBC's Meet The Press is having Donald Fucking Trump as her very first guest. They seem even more desperately trying to justify him than in 2016, even with all the shit that's happened.

I think the reason US political media is pro-fascist is that this is what the owners of said media want. They let Murdoch and Faux News/the Wall Street Journal be the blatant GOP propaganda machine, and content themselves with an incessant drumbeat of only accepting "free market solutions", selective skepticism for any Democrat, and drooling credulity for any Republican.

Kradek posted...

I've concluded that our mainstream media is very pro-fascist, not sure why since fascist societies aren't very friendly to free media, but damn there's just too many examples.

They're not pro-fascist, they're pro-profits. Unfortunately the fascists are the ones bringing in ratings, and thus profits. They know the harm they're inflicting upon everyone, themselves included, but like the fossil fuel industries, they figure they'll be cashed out and long gone by the time the shit hits the fan.

darkace77450 posted...

They're not pro-fascist, they're pro-profits. Unfortunately the fascists are the ones bringing in ratings, and thus profits. They know the harm they're inflicting upon everyone, themselves included, but like the fossil fuel industries, they figure they'll be cashed out and long gone by the time the shit hits the fan.

Pro-profit always ends up being pro-fascist.

darkace77450 posted...

Yep. If demagogues pander to zealots long enough, they'll eventually be replaced by true believers.

Worst part is the Supreme Court, a lot of GOP politicians probably didn't think the justices they voted for would actually strike down Roe v. Wade. But they did and the backlash has been heavy.

Roe was always shaky, and congress had fifty years to burn it in, but never did.