In what may well be the surest sign yet that the Biblical apocalypse isn’t far off, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) named Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) Speaker Pro Tempore.
Greene called the House of Representatives to order Wednesday morning and a clerk then read the following proclamation from McCarthy:
“I hereby appoint the Honorable Marjorie Taylor Greene to act as Speaker Pro Tempore on this day. Signed, Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
A video clip of Greene presiding over the House quickly went viral on Twitter, garnering over 1.1 million views.
“I hereby appoint the honorable Marjorie Taylor Greene to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, Kevin McCarthy” pic.twitter.com/Em5JsIH5uW
But it was reaction to Greene temporarily serving as Speaker that set off anger, disgust, and mockery on social media.
A QAnon conspiracy theorist and one of the major players who actively tried to overthrow the government appointed to act as speaker pro tempore. This is a sad reflection of how far America has fallen.
“I hereby appoint honorable Marjorie Taylor Greene to act as speaker pro tempore this day." Kevin McCarthy You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. Signpost on the 2023 U.S. House of Representatives door: The Twilight Zone!
For some unknown reason, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy agreed to be interviewed by Donald Trump Jr., son of the failed, one-term, twice-impeached ex-president, and the results were nothing short of a massive train wreck, with Junior don’t most of the talking and seeming to be on some sort of substance that has his amped up.
Newsweek reports the interview was part an episode of Triggered with Don Jr. this week.
The 46-second clip has been watched more than 160,000 times on Twitter as of early Saturday. The full hour-long episode is available on video platforms including Rumble, which is popular with conservatives.
Here’s a partial transcript from the interview:
Trump Jr: “Perhaps his (Donald Trump’s) greatest, maybe, political weakness was that he never wanted to show his empathetic side. I’m dealing with China, I’m dealing with Iran. I can’t be soft.”
McCarthy: “Yes.”
Trump Jr: “”I’m like, you don’t have to be soft with them but, like, show that side.”
McCarthy: “No.”
Trump Jr: “He still had that old-school Germanic sort of whatever it was.”
McCarthy: “Yeah, I don’t know if…”
Trump Jr: “He actually has so much more of that empathy.”
McCarthy: “I wish…”
Later in the so-called “interview,” Don Jr. also suggested that members of Congress need to learn how to “hustle” and that he once worked jobs that only paid minimum wage.
“I understand where I come from and my background—I get it. But my father made sure I worked minimum-wage jobs….I also worked for tips, which is something that’s really important that everybody should understand.”
What in the hell? Junior, we all know that you’re a trust fund baby and have never actually “worked” a day in your life. And if did happen to make minimum wage at some gig daddy set you up with, at night you went home to a mansion with servants.
Here, see for yourself. This is so cringeworthy that it’s hilarious.
This is supposed to be Junior interviewing Kevin McCarthy in his new gig as a “journalist.” McCarthy can’t get a word in. I did not edit this. pic.twitter.com/Sa2hKdkfGe
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has just put Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on notice regarding committee assignments, and if McCarthy ignores the warning it could well make his tenure as Speaker shorter than he ever imagined.
The Washington Post reports that Jeffries wrote McCarthy to let him know he was recommending Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell be reappointed to the House Intelligence Committee, which Schiff once chaired.
In a letter dated Saturday, Jeffries argued that McCarthy has no justifiable reason not to accept his appointments of Schiff, who served as chairman of the Intelligence panel until Republicans took control of the chamber, and Swalwell.
“It is my understanding that you intend to break with the longstanding House tradition of deference to the minority party Intelligence Committee recommendations and deny seats to Ranking Member Schiff and Representative Swalwell. The denial of seats to duly elected Members of the House Democratic Caucus runs counter to the serious and sober mission of the Intelligence Committee.”
McCarthy has said he will not place Schiff and Swalwell on the Intelligence Committee, seeking to exact revenge on Democrats for removing Reps. Paul Gosar (AZ) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) from committee assignments. But as Jeffries notes in his letter, both Gosar and Greene were removed by a vote of the full House.
Greene and Gosar were removed “after a bipartisan vote of the House found them unfit to serve on standing committees for directly inciting violence against their colleagues. It does not serve as precedent or justification for the removal of Representatives Schiff and Swalwell, given that they have never exhibited violent thoughts or behavior.”
Jeffries also pointed out that McCarthy had no problem appointing “serial fraudster” George Santos (R-NY) to committees despite the fact that he is facing multiple investigations, including from the House Ethics Committee and may also be subjected to criminal prosecution for lying in order to win his congressional seat.
If McCarthy insists on refusing to seat Schiff and Swalwell, Democrats could call for a motion to vacate, a procedure which would result in a formal vote to remove McCarthy from the Speaker’s chair. Considering that McCarthy only holds a slim majority in the House, such a move could further weaken him.
According to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Republicans have already achieved amazing accomplishments since taking control of the lower chamber of Congress.
McCarthy decided to toot his own horn in an op-ed he penned for the right-wing New York Post, writing:
While President Joe Biden wants to control the kind of stove Americans can cook on, House Republicans are certainly cooking with gas. It has been only one week since the 118th Congress was sworn in, and House Republicans have already shown we will keep our Commitment to America, work on behalf of the American people and deliver them a better future.
This isn’t just the start of a new Congress. This is the start of a new direction in Washington.
But as is the case with 99.9% of everything Republicans say or do, McCarthy’s bragging is complete bullshit.
Steve Benen of MSNBC decided to take a closer look at what exactly the GOP has accomplished during their first few days in power, and he laid a brutal fact-check on McCarthy.
House Republicans approved a bill to increase the deficit, help tax cheats, and target IRS agents who do not actually exist.
The new GOP majority created a dangerous new committee to investigate the “weaponization” of government, which will pursue ridiculous conspiracy theories, while clashing with law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
House Republicans opened the door to impeaching a cabinet secretary, while simultaneously opening the door to undoing at least one of Donald Trump’s impeachments.
If those are “accomplishments,” then the American people are indeed screwed for the next two years.
Kevin McCarthy is and always has been a political hack. He’s a man so spineless that he gave into the blackmail, demands, and threats of extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-UT), both of whom should be fitted with straitjackets and placed in a padded room where they can’t harm themselves or anyone else.
The only good news is that McCarthy and his Republican colleagues are about to create such a massive clusterfuck that the GOP will likely never again win a majority in either house of Congress. Until then, we’ll just have to try and hang on until 2024 rolls around.
Though he’s only been Speaker of the House for 10 days, Kevin McCarthy is already caught up in a major controversy which could result in him losing the Speaker’s chair a hell of a lot sooner than he ever expected.
One of the longest-serving members of the GOP House caucus, Rep. Vern Buchanan (FL) is reportedly furious with McCarthy for passing him over to be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and handing the post to Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), who just so happens to be a close ally of McCarthy’s but doesn’t have nearly as much seniority as Buchanan.
According to Tara Palmeri of Puck, Buchanan gave McCarthy one hell of a verbal lashing once he found out the Speaker had just stabbed him in the back.
Just how angry was he? Well, a source on the House floor during the vote told me that while McCarthy was gaveling down the votes, Buchanan walked up to McCarthy and said, “You fucked me, I know it was you, you whipped against me.” He then proceeded to chew out McCarthy’s deputy chief of staff for floor operations, John Leganski. It was shocking to see such fury from Buchanan, who’s known for being mild mannered. Indeed, I heard that the tirade was so heated that the Speaker’s security detail stepped in with a light touch. (McCarthy’s spokesperson Matt Sparks disputed this detail saying, “at no point did anyone have to step in.” A spokesperson for Buchanan declined to comment.)
Is McCarthy already attempting to solidify his position by pushing out those who haven’t shown proper loyalty to him? If so, such a move could have negative consequence for him, especially since he just barely gained the Speaker’s chair by a few votes, some of which — Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert — are said to be ready to oust him the moment they feel the least bit slighted or ignored.
Don’t be surprised if a motion to vacate is called for within the next couple of weeks, meaning McCarthy will again have to struggle to find the 218 votes he needs to remain Speaker. He certainly won’t be getting Vern Buchanan to cast a ballot for him.
Here’s more on McCarthy’s first few days as Speaker:
