If it’s strictly for the purposes of getting a vote on aid for Israel and Ukraine, sure.
But beyond that, I’m not a fan of any Democrats bailing the GOP out from a mess that they themselves created again. All it does is reinforce the GOP policy that they can continue to blame Democrats from their own problems while fully expecting those same Democrats to bail them out again when another one of their stupid ideas blows up in their face, and acting as if the sole purpose of the Democrat party is to be dusted off whenever they need to save Republicans from themselves.
In my mind, any bipartisan legislation that can command a majority of both the Republican and Democratic caucuses ought to be able to advance while SpongeBob … Er… Patrick is the temporary Speaker.
Now, is there a way to codify that in the House Rules?
Probably not.
But one thing that should be codified into House rules:
Nobody can introduce a motion to vacate without also putting forth a nominee to replace them. The house would then be voting to either keep the existing speaker or install a new one. (I would assume that members of the opposing party would just vote “present”). This way, the house is never without a speaker.
And they aren’t allowed to leave the chamber until they have a new speaker.
Also, if they don’t pass a budget on time, then enact last year’s budget plus 3%, and require that any budget changes cannot take effect until next budget.
I’d actually set this as the default.
The Budget just keeps rolling over plus an adjustment for inflation. The house only would have to vote if any changes are to be made.
It’s basically how things used to be until about the 70s. They changed it to force themselves to reconsider overspending every year. Yet our deficits have ballooned and in those roughly 50 years they have passed budgets on time a whopping 4 times.
Ah yes, the Bismarck solution.
I believe the temporary speaker can be voted as temporary speaker, which means he has much more flexibility on what can be voted on, but he is still the temporary speaker.
Yes, it is weird, but we’re in weird territory.
Looks like there’s not a lot of scandals around him and the fraud he alleged in is comparatively minor.
And yes, appearently that’s a plus now.
Well whatever, he is probably the best equipped person for job yet from what I’ve heard.
Looks like there’s not a lot of scandals around him and the fraud he alleged in is comparatively minor.
And yes, appearently that’s a plus now.
Can the GOP put forth anyone not involved in some form of corruption or illegal activity?
With that said, what little I know about him makes me not too crazy over this guy. The first thing the guy did was swing the gavel like a sledgehammer to announce his presence, then evicted two senior representatives from his office because fuck you that’s why. This guy seems to be the type who is going to let even the slightest bit of power run straight to his head.
The Tucker Carlson-esque bow tie not withstanding.
I was curious about this source, as I hadn’t heard of it before. Turns out is is brand spanking new. But they are going to put up a paywall at some point, so don’t get too cozy.
https://apnews.com/article/business-new-york-newspapers-5ee106d0e0f158e711910c71d36097d8
Seems like it’s just kicking the can.
It turns out when there are rules that force accountability, Congress will change the rules before being held accountable.
I never would have suspected it would turn out exactly the same way it always has.
With the House still paralyzed in the absence of a speaker, the idea of giving Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry more power to conduct normal business is picking up growing bipartisan support,” Semafor reports.
A number of Republicans have been pushing to let the North Carolina lawmaker bring bills to the floor in order to keep the chamber functioning while the party works through its infighting. Now at least a handful of moderate Democrats are getting behind the concept as well, especially as it becomes clear that the GOP’s latest speaker nominee, Jim Jordan, faces an uphill battle.”
