Just days to go - The Show must go on-and-on-and-on-and-on ALL OVER AGAIN!
"Nobody should be surprised at the rage House conservatives feel after
the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced their deal
to raise the debt limit.
The debt limit was always going to be a
massive hurdle for Mr McCarthy, who made a number of concessions back in
January to secure the speaker’s gavel. Any potential deal, no matter
how conservative, would inevitably anger the members of his conference
who initially opposed him.
That anger was palpable during a press
conference for the House Freedom Caucus, the group of hellraisers that
has historically poked House Republican leadership and usually succeeded
in either pummeling them into submission or outright making a House
speaker quit.
Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ), one of the initial
opponents of Mr McCarthy, told me the deal reminded him of why he
opposed Mr McCarthy as speaker in the first place.
“Historically,
when he was been in leadership for 13 years, it was not uncommon for
him to be the point man to go negotiate a spending cap deal with the
Democrats,” he said.
Representative Bob Good (R-VA), one of Mr McCarthy’s most vehement critics, called it a surrender.
“It
is a failure of leadership for us to surrender all the leverage and all
the strength that we had with the majority House,” he said.
Of
course, the negotiations during the speaker fight gave conservatives a
tool they could use if they want: the motion to vacate the chair, which
is essentially when the House can hold a “no confidence” vote in the
speaker.
In January, Mr McCarthy and House GOP leadership agreed to
allow for any single member to file a motion to vacate, a break from
past tradition.
Motions to vacate never directly lead to a
speaker being voted out of office, but most put a target on a speaker’s
back and significantly weaken them, as was the case when then Freedom
Caucus member and future Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows
filed a motion to vacate the chair and set the stage for John Boehner’s
exit.
As a result, Mr McCarthy has lived with that dagger over
his head since the moment he assumed the speakership. While he deftly
navigated the negotiations and ran circles around the Biden
administration by framing the narrative around the debt limit to the
point he essentially forced the White House to the negotiating table, he
also knew that any member, including the holdouts during the speaker
fight, could file a motion to vacate and put an end to his career.
While
many have speculated whether someone like Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) or
Lauren Boebert (R-CO) would be the one to publicly execute him, their
doing so would have little impact since most Republicans would see it as
showboating. A motion to vacate would always have to come from someone
who agreed to make Mr McCarthy speaker but felt betrayed by the deal.
But so far, despite all of the barking, as Olivia Beavers at
Politico reported,
so far only Rep Dan Bishop (R-NC) has openly floated the idea of filing
a motion to vacate in response to the debt limit deal.
It should
be noted that hardliners like Mr Bishop, who flipped his vote from
initially opposing Mr McCarthy to supporting him in January, aren’t the
only Republicans angry about the deal. Reps Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Wesley
Hunt (R-TX), both announced they opposed the deal. Both of them
supported Mr McCarthy’s bid for speaker from the beginning, with Mr Hunt
returning to Washington after his son was born prematurely to ensure Mr
McCarthy had enough votes.
But so far, even the most hardline members have not come out to support filing a motion to vacate.
“I
think this bill indicates exactly why I have concerns about him being
the speaker and so we’ll continue to focus on this bill,” Mr Biggs told
me.
✓ Similarly, Rep Scott Perry (R-PA), the chairman of the House Freedom
Caucus, dodged when he was asked at a press conference.
“I'll let each member speak for themselves. But for me, I'm focused on defeating this bill,” he said.
That
might be Mr McCarthy’s saving grace: Throughout the speaker’s fight, as
protracted as it was, his opponents never could cobble together a
feasible alternative, which meant their saber-rattling only delayed the
inevitable.
Similarly, if hardline conservatives don’t have the
guts to actually use the loaded revolver that Mr McCarthy handed them in
exchange for the speaker’s gavel, he might survive just yet.
39 minutes ago · WarRoom Battleground EP 302: Continuing The Fight On Debt Ceiling And For Your Children ... Andy Biggs: "We have to try to get as many Republicans to.
26 minutes ago · Rep Andy Biggs (R - AZ) told The Independent that Mr McCarthy's deal with the White House was a repeat of his past behaviour.
20 minutes ago · Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) and Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) announce they would oppose the deal to raise the debt limit during a news conference ...
21 minutes ago · Here are three things to know ahead of Wednesday's debt ceiling vote in the House. Biden, GOP leaders like the deal. The president was all smiles and good vibes ...
9 minutes ago · The conservative majority in the House had already passed a bill on April 26 to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for deep cuts in public spending. “ ...
19 minutes ago · Republicans are divided over the debt ceiling deal. Reps. Chip Roy and Andy
"Ahead
of an expected debt ceiling vote on Wednesday in the U.S. House of
Representatives, Arizona's members are still deciding where they stand
on the agreement.
Reps. Eli Crane R-Ariz., and Andy Biggs,
R-Ariz., have confirmed to The Arizona Republic that they will not vote
for the package negotiated by President Joe Biden and House Speaker
Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. A vote to increase the $31.4 trillion debt
ceiling ensures the U.S. pays for expenses already incurred.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., announced Tuesday evening that he would support the deal.
"I
will be a yes on this week’s debt ceiling vote. The alternatives are a
clean lift or defaulting on our obligations — two options I’m not
willing to entertain," Ciscomani said on Twitter. "I was elected to
responsibly govern, and what Republicans have negotiated is a step in
the right direction."
The deal would, among other things,
institute work requirements for certain individuals receiving benefits
from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and set a limit on
some federal expenditures through 2025. The agreement also ensures that
the debt limit would not have to be brought up for a vote until Jan. 1
of that same year and cut funding to the IRS.
Republicans are not
alone in their opposition to the bill. Rep.
Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., is
still making up his mind on how he is going to vote but is leaning
toward "no."
Reps. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., will make public
Wednesday how he will vote. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., also is still
deciding how he will vote.
Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., David
Schweikert, R-Ariz., and Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., did not respond to The
Republic's requests for comments."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Biggs, Crane to vote no on debt ceiling pact; other lawmakers deciding
Duration: 47:30
Posted: 15 hours ago
17 hours ago · Andy Biggs helped plan the January 6th insurrection. He should be charged with treason and handled accordingly.
17 hours ago · Debt ceiling deal clears House Rules Committee ... The House Rules Committee voted 7-6 to advance the debt ceiling bill to the floor ... Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) ...
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