Almost as soon as I published this issue, I received a Puck News newsletter[1] and found confirmation that the House of Representatives had indeed adjourned for the day.[2] Text has been updated.
Gilead
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Fig. 1. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
The 20 Republicans who had opposed [Kevin] McCarthy in the third vote Tuesday [January 3] all supported [Byron] Donalds in subsequent ballots Wednesday. That group included Donalds, who cast votes for himself three times after backing McCarthy on the first and second ballots and supporting Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on the third.
Instead of gaining ground, McCarthy fell further from his goal: His vote total declined with Donalds switching votes and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) voting present.[3]
There’s still not much sign that Tara Palmeri is right about Steve Scalise[4] but she’s now reporting some stirrings on that front.[5] I’ll be awfully surprised if she’s wrong, however, about Kevin McCarthy and he pulls this out after all.[6]
Natalie Andrews and Eliza Collins, “Kevin McCarthy Falls Short of House Speaker Win in Three Rounds of Voting,” Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-prepares-to-vote-for-speaker-as-kevin-mccarthy-tries-to-rally-support-11672750973
Aaron Blake, “McCarthy’s big concession — and how it could hamstring a GOP speaker,” Washington Post, January 3, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/03/motion-vacate-house-speaker/
John Cassidy, “Behind the Humiliation of Kevin McCarthy,” New Yorker, January 3, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/behind-the-humiliation-of-kevin-mccarthy
Clare Foran et al., “House adjourns after chaotic day without electing a speaker as McCarthy fails to lock down votes,” CNN, January 3, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/03/politics/house-speaker-vote-mccarthy/index.html
Tara Palmeri, “We Need to Talk About Kevin, ” Puck News, January 3, 2023, https://puck.news/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin/
Clare Foran et al., “House adjourns for second day without electing a speaker with McCarthy’s bid in peril,” CNN, January 4, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/04/politics/kevin-mccarthy-speaker-vote/index.html
Nolan D. McCaskill, “Deadlocked House adjourns until evening after Kevin McCarthy racks up yet another defeat,” Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-01-04/trump-mccarthy-speaker-votes
Illiberalism
Fig. 1. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.
Jeremy Sharon, “Justice minister unveils plan to shackle the High Court, overhaul Israel’s judiciary,” Times of Israel, January 4, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/justice-minister-unveils-plan-to-shackle-the-high-court-overhaul-israels-judiciary/
- [1]Julia Ioffe to The Best and The Brightest list, “The War of Boebert Aggression,” Puck News, February 4, 2023, https://puck.news↩
- [2]Clare Foran et al., “House adjourns for second day without electing a speaker with McCarthy’s bid in peril,” CNN, January 4, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/04/politics/kevin-mccarthy-speaker-vote/index.html↩
- [3]Nolan D. McCaskill, “Deadlocked House adjourns until evening after Kevin McCarthy racks up yet another defeat,” Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-01-04/trump-mccarthy-speaker-votes↩
- [4]Tara Palmeri, “We Need to Talk About Kevin, ” Puck News, January 3, 2023, https://puck.news/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin/↩
- [5]Julia Ioffe to The Best and The Brightest list, “The War of Boebert Aggression,” Puck News, February 4, 2023, https://puck.news↩
- [6]Tara Palmeri, “We Need to Talk About Kevin, ” Puck News, January 3, 2023, https://puck.news/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin/↩