Here They Come Again

Only 13 legislative days remain before the election, but MAGA zombies in the House will be trying to make the worst of them.

“The next Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries”

(Above clip is set to start at the best part: the last half of his 8 minute speech.)

Minority Leader Jeffries Raises the Roof at DNC !

For those who know Mr. Jeffries only by his resume (SUNY, Georgetown, NYU Law, Counsel at Viacom and CBS), or his public news appearances (Meet the Press, May 2023) over the last 20 months, expectations for his speech at the Democratic National Convention were not especially high. He generally speaks in carefully modulated tones, using precisely chosen words.

And while he has an admirable affection for alliteration, few would mistake him for a Baptist preacher. But by the end of his brief remarks on Wednesday night, delegates in the hall were cheering and shouting like the congregation at a C L Franklin prayer meeting.

After “My Kevin” and “MAGA Mike”, Speaker Hakeem will be a breath of fresh air!

In January 2023, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) passed her leadership position to Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

As Minority Leader in the 118th Congress, Mr. Jeffries would have the unenviable task of navigating relations with the new Republican majority. But from the very first days, he faced challenges from all sides. Even as MAGA extremists eagerly sought to seize power over the selection process of Speaker, his first priority remained uniting the Democratic caucus behind him.

Corralling every Democrat, from the most progressive like Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (R-NY), with whom relations have sometimes been tense in the past, to the most conservative like Henry Cuellar (D-TX), would require a skillful hand and deft sensitivity. Fortunately, he had learned from the best and quickly consolidated their support. That, however, was just the beginning.

During those first days of January 2023, the extremist MAGA faction continued to extract ever more concessions from Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in exchange for their votes to make him Speaker. It soon became clear that in the 118th Congress, Minority Leader Jeffries would be confronting not just the Republican Speaker, but a newly empowered clique of far-right radicals with no taste for compromise.

Recognizing the threat to his leadership that any retreat from Democratic unity would pose, Mr. Jeffries wisely kept his caucus tightly together. Republicans, on the other hand, exposed the bitterness of their divisions, feuding among themselves and holding multiple votes over several days until MAGA extremists could think of nothing more to demand.

Again and again, every single Democrat voted for Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker, through 15 rounds of balloting over four days. And as later events would illustrate, that sense of party unity ultimately created the conditions for successfully defeating the extremists at crucial moments. Most notably, Leader Jeffries was able to provide far more Democratic votes than needed for the House to:

• prevent a default on America’s debt in May 2023 (Fiscal Responsibility Act)

• pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) preventing a government shutdown in September 2023 (HR 2860)

• remove Kevin McCarthy from the Speaker’s seat in October 2023 (HR757)

• pass a series of CR’s to continue government funding into Spring 2024

• pass final bill funding FY 2024 in March (Consolidated Appropriations Act)

• pass funding for military assistance to the governments of Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in April 2024 (HR 815)

By this time, Leader Jeffries had effectively leveraged the unity of his minority party caucus to become more powerful than the Speaker himself.

That’s not to say that Speaker Johnson is powerless, as he still controls what comes to the floor for a final vote. But it is Mr. Jeffries alone who has carefully constructed a de facto bipartisan coalition of Democrats and traditional Republicans. It is he alone who can dependably deliver enough votes to pass essential legislation that will ultimately become law, including CR’s and appropriation bills necessary to keep the U. S. Government functioning. And most significantly, in response to an effort by MAGA to remove Mr. Johnson from the Speaker’s seat following passage of the FY2024 funding bill, the Democratic Leader announced that his caucus would block any effort to do so:

“Marjorie Taylor Greene is the star of the show. The show is called ‘Republicans Gone Wild.’ House Republicans are either unwilling or unable to get [Greene] and the extreme MAGA Republicans under control, and so, it’s going to take a bipartisan coalition and partnership to accomplish that objective.”

The Speaker’s hold on his office is now firmly in the hands of Mr. Jeffries

Absent any effective House majority party leadership, Hakeem Jeffries has stepped in to fill that vacuum for the remainder of the hapless 118th Congress. And he’ll be well-prepared to preside over the 119th, implementing President Harris’ agenda.

Here’s what’s next.

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The House reconvenes next week.

What to expect (hint: more of the same).

When Members of The House of Representatives reconvene next Monday, September 9, there will be only one task that absolutely must be accomplished: funding continued operation of the U.S. Government beyond September 30.

Of course, there will be the usual grandstanding by MAGA regulars. Jim Jordan (R-OH) will be “investigating” Kamala Harris’ purported failure to stop illegal immigration along California’s border with Mexico. And James Comer (R-KY) will be “investigating” Tim Walz’s alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party. If they’re lucky, each will get a brief moment featured in one news cycle.

But the new fiscal year (FY 2025) begins on October 1. So Congress must either pass 12 Appropriation bills for FY 2025 in 3 weeks (a virtual impossibility), or pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) which authorizes current spending levels to continue for a specified period of time.

The only uncertainties at this point are:

1. Will the CR will be “clean” (free of any unrelated amendments)?

   We already know that the MAGA Freedom Caucus intends to continue passing dead-end appropriation bills in September as a way to “advance our priorities”.

   Primary among these is the SAVE Act (HR 8281), which passed in the House on July 23. The SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections, and would require voters to produce proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.

   Of course, voting by non-citizens is already prohibited for all federal elections. And there is zero evidence that it’s an actual problem. The proof-of-citizenship requirement is nothing more than one more attempt to suppress the votes of economically deprived and marginalized citizens.

   In any case, attaching the SAVE Act to a continuing CR to fund the government would be a purely performative move. The Democratic Senate and Democratic President will never agree to it. And Republicans are fully aware of that. In fact, the sheer pointlessness of this maneuver is why it may not get even enough Republican votes to pass.

   Members representing swing districts are wary of supporting very public meaningless gestures. But also some from solidly Republican districts like Indiana’s 8th have been critical. 7th term Rep. Larry Buchson (R-IN) expressed a sentiment common among traditional moderates:

   “I’m hopeful that in the first week back, we’ll get an agreement. We’ll just do a CR and then move forward. I support House Republican policy, but I think at this point, attaching it to a CR is not the right thing to do.”

   So if an amendment incorporating the SAVE Act to a CR passes, expect to see a few others introduced as well — none of which will ever become law. But if such an amendment fails, it’ll be one more indication that Leader Jeffries’ patient coalition-building has dramatically diminished MAGA’s influence in the House.

2. How long will spending at current levels be authorized to continue?

   The MAGA Freedom Caucus has staked out its position that the Continuing Resolution (CR) should not only include the SAVE Act, but also should continue funding into the next calendar year—to March, 2025.

   They argue that doing so will give Republicans an opportunity to pass appropriation bills for FY 2025 in the early days of the 119th Congress, with drastic spending cuts that would be immediately effective, rather than be bound by spending levels passed by Democrats now in control.

   Obviously this strategy is based on the fantasy that Republicans will sweep to victory in November. But while that seems ever more unlikely, the more fundamental objection is that it violates established institutional norms for fiscal policy.

   As noted above, funding the continued operation of the U.S. Government is the most essential duty of Congress. There is no valid excuse for this Congress to entirely shirk its obligation.

   Democrats and traditional Republicans favor extending the deadline only into December to assure that all funding for FY 2025 is in place before the end of the 118th Congress—and the current Presidential administration. Once again, that coalition is likely to prevail.

When this already scripted drama plays out, we can expect the media’s usual breathless speculation about a “potential government shutdown.” Since there is no appetite for a shutdown on either side of the aisle, any suggestion to the contrary would be totally irresponsible. That’s not to say it won’t happen.

To the contrary, it likely will. Media thrives on fear and perceptions of threat. And the built-in drama of deadlines and countdowns will surely prove irresistible. But it’s a distraction. They’ll be featuring just another sideshow, put on by tired MAGA character actors repeating their roles in a final performance.

Once more: After presiding over the least productive Congress in modern history, there remains just a single task that the Republican majority must absolutely accomplish before the end of the year. Authorize funding for the continued operation of the United States Government.

Speaker Johnson has this last opportunity to demonstrate mature leadership by refusing to allow the MAGA charade. He needs to be decisive, and to make a few simple but serious demands of his caucus members:

1. Republican legislators who introduce amendments not relevant to the purpose of the Continuing Resolution are not only wasting precious legislative resources, they are obstructing the timely passage of essential appropriation bills.

2. The purpose of a Continuing Resolution (CR) is to allow time for completion of relevant legislation. It is not to provide an opportunity for grand-standing or evasion of basic responsibility.

3. A CR must be passed as quickly as possible, so the House can proceed to pass appropriation bills that can realistically be reconciled with the Senate version, needing only minor revisions. The more of these that are passed in September, the fewer will need to be written and passed during the final days before adjourning in December.

Realistically, this is unlikely to happen. Mike Johnson will almost certainly conclude his brief tenure as Speaker with yet another humiliating instance of needing to be rescued by the Leader of the minority party — the next Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries.

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Attention Activists

Our Feathers of Hope network is actively supporting the candidacy of Dr. Kristin Lyerly in Wisconsin’s 8th district. Dr. Lyerly is an OB-GYN pro-choice activist running for the seat formerly held by Republican Mike Gallagher, who resigned last March.

The Republican candidate, Tony Wied, has never held public office and appears to have no relevant experience or qualifications. However, he identifies with MAGA and is endorsed by Donald Trump. That was enough for him to win the primary, but it’s no guarantee of victory in November.

The popular former Rep. Gallagher was firmly aligned with moderate traditional Republicans, and kept his distance from MAGA extremism. Yet he was easily elected four times.

The 8th district is generally rated as solidly Republican. But it includes Wisconsin’s third and sixth most populous cities: Green Bay and Appleton. Both voted 51% - 48% for progressive Janet Protasiewicz for Supreme Court last year. And the district went for Obama by 54% in 2008.

With access to abortion winning majority support even among Republicans, Dr. Lyerly could possibly flip the seat this year. Should she be elected, she would be the only pro-choice OB-GYN in the House.

It’s a rare opportunity that seems to be flying below the radar so far. We can make a real difference by calling attention to this race, and asking that more Democratic resources be directed to it.

One place to start is with Simon Rosenberg at Hopium Chronicles. Mr. Rosenberg has developed a list of districts “most likely to flip”, and has raised nearly $1 million for those candidates. Even if he doesn’t add Kristin Lyerly to his list, it’s a good way to raise her visibility among the pros who decide who’s competitive where.

Email Simon Rosenberg here: simonwdc@substack.com

You can learn more about Dr. Lyerly here: Meet the Candidate

To help support Kristin Lyerly’s campaign, visit her website: www.KristinForWisconsin.com

This is a network of ordinary citizens. In a democracy, we exercise our power by raising our voices. To be silent is to be powerless.