Hey, Who's In Charge of This Place Anyway?
Kevin McCarthy is again counting on MAGA extremists to keep him in the saddle
Note: This site can also be accessed by entering FeathersOfHope.net in your browser window.
For new readers, here are links to a few previous posts that will bring you up to date on what the Feathers of Hope network has been doing :
Wait, Exactly How Will We Do This? — (January 28)
Replacing McCarthy - A Progress Report — (February 16)
Moderate Republicans? Really? — (March 2)
Spread The Word, Write or Call Today — (April 6)
Escape From MAGA World — (May 3)
Feathers of Hope is a network of ordinary citizens committed to advocating for the removal and replacement of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, thereby diminishing the power and influence of MAGA extremists in the chamber.
We have been urging moderate Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives to form a temporary bipartisan majority voting bloc for the purpose of passing a motion to “vacate the chair” and elect a new Republican Speaker who owes nothing to the minority MAGA group.
Just days after defying MAGA extremists to pass the debt-limit bill with a bipartisan majority, Speaker McCarthy returns to appeasing them.
President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act on Saturday June 3, finally bringing the debt ceiling drama to an end. And on Monday the MAGA minority faction was reacting with their usual tactic: extortion.
Refusing to support a routine rules vote to move legislation forward, they held the floor of the House of Representatives hostage to their demand for “power sharing” with the Speaker. By Wednesday June 7, Kevin McCarthy had reverted to his usual posture: offering concessions to whomever applies the most pressure at any given moment.
"The one thing you've got to realize, whenever you put a cap, that's the ceiling,” he said. “We can always spend less. I've always advocated for spending less money."
Later, he added this: "If we can write (spending bills) to even lower levels, then we should do it in the House."
So despite weeks of negotiations to reach an agreement on spending levels, both within the Republican caucus and with President Biden’s team, Speaker McCarthy is now cavalierly inviting the extremists to stage a repeat performance.
Never mind that moderates of both parties, those Members who actually comprise a governing majority, will never support the radical spending cuts MAGA will propose. Never mind that indulging the fantasies of the least responsible elements of the Republican party will subject the House to another pointless cycle of divisiveness.
Kevin McCarthy is utterly indifferent to all of it, illustrating yet again his inability to provide the leadership necessary for a functioning legislative body.
Regular readers of Feathers Of Hope will recall that when details of the debt limit agreement were first revealed, we posted this:
“Honestly, it’s stunning that Keven McCarthy has betrayed his MAGA base. Perhaps it shouldn’t be, since the man appears to have no discernible core. But in any case, the consequences of his doing so are enormous.”
Noting that our network has been advocating the formation of a bipartisan majority as a means to diminish the power of MAGA extremists in the House of Representatives, we wondered whether our goal had been realized and, if so just what those enormous consequences would be:
“What we do next depends on how the drama of the last few weeks comes to be understood as the dust settles. There have been a number of unexpected twists along the way, and we’ll need to think carefully about how those affect our plans.”
Reflecting on the possibility that the newly formed cross-party alliance might endure, we speculated that perhaps:
“It raises the possibility of a new, more cooperative dynamic in the House. (wishful thinking?)” — May 30: President Biden Knows How To Negotiate and Win
Well yes and no. Yes it was wishful thinking. And no there is not a more cooperative dynamic in the House. But there could be. Having seen a glimpse of that possibility last month, others are beginning to take note.
A couple days ago, Steven Pearlstein, Pulitzer Prize winning professor of public affairs at George Mason University, explained in a Washington Post column "How to take Congress away from the crazies" . Professor Pearlstein outlined in detail how a bipartisan majority could implement some simple procedural changes that would allow the House to function productively. He concludes:
“These modest steps, easily within the power of moderates and pragmatists, would neutralize extremists, break through the partisan gridlock and jump-start bipartisan compromise to solve some of the big issues facing the country.”
While the professor doesn’t address the question of replacing Speaker McCarthy, he did make this observation about extremists who hijack the legislative process:
“The only reason the hijackers succeed is because party leaders and the quiescent majority of reasonable lawmakers won’t muster the courage and imagination to stop them.”
Since the Speaker of the House determines which bills are brought to the floor for debate and vote, it’s primarily the Speaker who must lead with courage and imagination. Unfortunately, both are qualities sorely lacking in the leadership of Kevin McCarthy
Our task continues to be advocating for the removal and replacement of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.
Whatever combination of circumstances initiated the emergence of a bipartisan majority to pass the debt limit bill, that moment has clearly passed. But now we know that it’s possible. A cross-party alliance can, and likely will be resurrected.
We also know that Kevin McCarthy is uniquely unfit to lead the House of Representatives as Speaker.
As if to illustrate the point, yesterday Mr. McCarthy allowed a floor vote on a motion to censure Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA). Mr. Schiff committed no offense, violated no rule of conduct, did not behave in a manner unbecoming of a House Member. What he did, was to perform his Constitutional duties with a thoroughness and integrity that exposed Donald Trump’s criminal behavior for all to see.
Adam Schiff led Mr. Trump’s first impeachment inquiry, and took a leading role in the work of the January 6 Committee. The vote to censure him yesterday was sheer retaliation, pure and simple. That Speaker McCarthy facilitated this travesty is disgraceful and by itself merits his removal.
But nothing I could say about this begins to approach the eloquence of Mr. Schiff’s statement before the vote:
“Speaker McCarthy would spend the nation’s time on petty political payback, thinking the censure or fine will force Trump's opposition into submission. But I will not yield. Not one inch. The cost of the Speaker’s delinquency is high, but the cost to Congress of this frivolous and yet dangerous resolution may be even higher as it represents another serious abuse of power.
“I say this to Speaker McCarthy and others who wish to gratify Donald Trump with this act of subservience, try as you might to expel me from Congress or silence me with a $16 million fine, you will not succeed you might as well make it $160 million. The Speaker will never deter me from doing my duty no matter how many false justifications or slanders you level against me. You indict yourselves.”
Indeed they do indict themselves. And Mr. Schiff’s words are an inspiration for us to work even harder than before, re-committing ourselves to the task we’ve chosen.
Kevin McCarthy must be removed, and replaced with a moderate Republican Speaker so as to marginalize and diminish the influence of MAGA extremists.