Oh…be careful!
You might just get what you’re looking for.
cool babies.
strange. But I’m no stranger.
I’m a normal guy.
Burn down the house. –Talking Heads. “Burning down the house” 1983
The hypnotic octave plunge between David Byrne’s lyrics “watch” and “out” is a sonic cautionary tale.
Speaker Lobby: Wants, Needs, and the Impending Impeachment Trial of Border Secretary Biden
These are the first lines of Talking Heads’ 80s anthem “Burning Down the House.” Listeners have been forewarned. An eventful musical adventure awaits. The pending script is horribly gibberish. It’s a fitting word, but it has no meaning. Almost an homage to the Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus.”
Much like Byrne’s lyrics, what’s been going on in the U.S. House of Representatives lately doesn’t make much sense.
be careful. The House of Commons appears to be out of control right now. A political arsonist is lighting a match and spraying gasoline everywhere.
Republicans have a majority. But they are burning down their houses.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) criticized the Senate’s bipartisan $118 billion border security and foreign aid package after the deal was released. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“Things just aren’t working right, and that needs to change,” implored Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.).
Chaos grips House.
That’s saying something considering this is a facility that has virtually overcome its dysfunction.
“We can’t get anything done,” Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley lamented.
Lawmakers are furious.
“Our Republican friends are just barely hanging on to this majority,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.
my house…
It’s not normal.
That is correct.
I don’t want to hurt anyone.
The Senate has voted in favor of a $95 billion international spending bill, but another bill could be introduced soon.
House Republicans have blocked their own bills, which they wrote with the blessing of Republican leaders, from being introduced in the House a whopping six times in the past eight months. The House typically requires members to approve “rules” that allocate time for deliberation and decide whether or not to approve amendments. Only then can the bill be debated.
Typically, a majority votes in favor, greenlighting the discussion. Minorities habitually oppose that rule. But Republicans broke their own rules six times. That’s an amazing number. In the past 23 years, he has broken only two rules that the previous majority had broken.
Republicans have struggled to maintain a narrow majority for the past 13 months. It started with a 15-round chair race held last January. This race had not been run since 1858.
“There was only a two-vote difference at the end (of the majority),” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
But Pelosi could empathize with the modern-day struggles of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
House Speaker Mike Johnson led Republican leaders in issuing a statement opposing the border deal. (Getty Images)
“I don’t think people understand how difficult it is,” Pelosi said. “Respect members on both sides of the aisle, build consensus, prioritize issues. Don’t push people over the edge with things that don’t matter.” ” he said. ”
“April is the cruellest month,” wrote TS Eliot in his seminal poem “The Waste Land.”
Back at the Capitol, Johnson may argue with Elliot about April’s brutality.
February was an unmitigated disaster for House Republicans. There are more things that went wrong for the Republican Party than scoring in the NBA All-Star Game.
In other words:
Republicans have brought their own two “rules” under fire. They failed in their first attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, but impeached him with just a lone vote after Republicans took a mulligan. Johnson even introduced a bill to support Israel, but it was quickly defeated. It was an unforced error. Conventional wisdom holds that Mr Johnson should not have pushed for the Israel Bill, especially since it was defeated so soon after the failed impeachment vote. And Republicans saw their slim majority dwindle even further.
Former Congressman Tom Suozzi, DN.Y., won a special election in New York to succeed ousted Congressman George Santos (RN.Y.). When the House takes Suozzi’s oath of office on Wednesday, the Republican majority will shrink from 219 Republicans to 213 Democrats. That means Mr. Johnson could pass the bill without Democratic support, meaning he could only lose two votes in the roll call.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (Candice Ward/Getty Images)
The morning after Mr. Suozzi’s victory, Fox News Radio’s Ryan Schmeltz asked Mr. Johnson, “How do you deal with a narrow majority?”
“Like we do every day. We just have a lot of discussion among our members,” Johnson responded.
It’s about mathematics. But how they did things “every day” did not bring victory.
That’s why some Republicans are targeting Mr. Johnson. They regret the House’s decision to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). That’s why Mr. McCarthy’s supporters are particularly furious about the recent poor state of affairs in the House.
“Whatever the cards are for McCarthy, they’re the same cards that were dealt to Speaker Johnson,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.). He said: “I just made things worse by pointing him with a crowbar.”
Some Republicans criticized leadership for indecisiveness and slow play-calling.
“They have to start thinking strategically for the long term, not just what’s in front of them,” said Rep. Byron Donald, R-Florida.
It is true that some members of Congress are making long-term strategic decisions. they go out.
So far, Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-Texas), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), and China Select Committee Member Mike Gallagher. (R-Wis.), and five financial services chairmen have announced their resignations. Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, RN.C. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn.
Greene said she would not seek reelection immediately after the House impeached Mayorkas. Greene will serve as the lead impeachment manager (or prosecutor) when the House presents the impeachment charges to the Senate. Green saw it as an opportunity to come out on top.
“What I’m saying is, go win, right? And I accomplished what I wanted to do,” Green said.
A recent poll by Monmouth University found that only 17 percent of those surveyed supported Congress’ efforts. But not everyone believes political paralysis is to blame.
“Let me tell you a little bit about the people I represent,” Republican Rep. Chip Roy said. “They don’t want this agency to keep passing more laws and spending more money on it.”
This is the “House of Commons arson” issue that worries members of Congress. Especially with two government funding deadlines looming.
I talked about February and April earlier. Expect March to start like a lion.
As David Byrne sang, some conservatives are “fighting fire with fire.” And they aren’t getting what they want either.
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So it’s not just about burning down the house. But perhaps the government will also shut down.
