At first blush, it seems like the most pointless political move ever.
When Rep. Matt Gaetz (R.-Fla.) moved to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R.-Cal.) from his role as Speaker of the House, lots of eyebrows were raised, and at least one pair of lips was licked. But did it make any sense?
This has never happened before, a House Speaker ousted by his own party mid-session.
That’s not an argument against the move, though. It was Gaetz who had blocked McCarthy back in January, through more than a dozen votes, allowing the moderate Republican to serve only with explicit conditions. Gaetz now says that McCarthy has failed to meet those conditions. Arguably, that’s accountability in action. Good?
Or mere revenge? After all, McCarthy had just made a deal with a sizable number of minority Democrats to fund the government and prevent a federal shutdown — thus kicking the overspending/insolvency can down the road again. Gaetz and his closest colleagues in the House made the same deal with the opposition party, ousting McCarthy.
It’s a game of kick the can, however you look at it.
Gaetz argues that McCarthy did not do what was required to bring fiscal responsibility, such as un-package spending bills. “We told you how to use the power of the purse: individual, single-subject spending bills that would allow us to have specific review, programmatic analysis and,” explained Gaetz, “that would allow us to zero out the salaries of the bureaucrats who have broken bad, targeted President Trump or cut sweetheart deals for Hunter Biden.”
But the deed is done. McCarthy’s out. Now, who to replace him?
Funny that no one mentions the wild plan to put Trump into the job — you know, the plan first floated after Election 2020?
It was such a snickered-at notion, just a goofy way of taking 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue from Joe Biden.
Still, it was a plan. Only in the next few days and weeks will we learn if Gaetz really has one.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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