The House has lacked a speaker since Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted on Oct. 3 for the first time in the chamber's history — with no plan to elect a person to replace him.
At this point it's beyond embarrassing. It's like watching a gaggle of adolescent boys squabble about who's gonna be president of the treehouse — Jimmy, Petey, or Mooch. And as The Hill reported, it's irrational to their Republican colleagues in the upper chamber.
"I think Republican senators are horrified with what's going on in the House because the House leadership fight has ground all work to a halt," said Brian Darling, a GOP strategist and former Senate aide.
"It's not good. It's not helpful," a GOP Senate aide told The Hill. "Now, more than ever, we all need to be strong and put on a united front for Israel and to protect our allies. The sooner the House can handle its business, the better for everybody."
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, demonstrated that GOP votes against the conference nominee, were in fact votes for the conference's opponents.
"These are the only people still opposing Jim Jordan's bid to become Speaker of the House," the Utah Republican tweeted, and then listed them as follows:
1. AOC
2. Charles Manson
3. George Soros
4. Voldemort
5. Nickelback
6. Klaus Schwab
7. Hunter Biden
8. Kim Jong Un
9. The bankers featured in Mary Poppins
10. Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
House business has ground to a halt at possibly the most critical time imaginable. We have a budget to set, at a time when overspending and money-printing have created runaway inflation. We also have two wars raging: One in Ukraine, the other in Israel.
Add to that some 5.7 million illegal aliens have poured across the southern border since President Joe Biden took office, not including an estimated 1.7 million "gotaways" — those who have evaded capture.
This at a time when war is raging in the Middle East, the administration has reduced the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) down to mere a 17-day supply, some of it going to Communist China with no plans to refill it.
We also have legislation pending.
For example, House Republicans Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, and Andy Ogles of Tennessee are set to introduce the "Guaranteeing Aggressors Zero Admission Act," or the GAZA Act, to prevent the administration from admitting any Palestinians into the country.
On the Senate side, Rand Paul, R-Ky., referred to a news item Monday reporting that since Biden handed Afghanistan to the Taliban, the United States has sent them some $2 billion in aid.
"I have introduced legislation to stop all funds from going to Taliban controlled Afghanistan, the Kentucky Republican said. "And will do so again this week!"
The House's failure Tuesday to elect a speaker was the result of GOP moderates' anger over the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, and Republicans' lack of support for Steve Scalise, R-La., after the conference voted for him.
The previous failure was the result of GOP conservatives' anger that the conference chose Scalise, who they believed was too establishment, over Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus.
In short, they all got their feelings hurt and their noses bent out of shape because the conference didn't nominate "their" preferred candidate for the job.
The holdouts on both sides could take a lesson from the nominees.
Jordan threw his support behind Scalise when the conference nominated him last week, telling reporters, "We need to come together and support Steve." Likewise, Scalise threw his support behind Jordan after his nomination.
The holdouts should also learn to work together as a team like Democrats.
For all their faults, when the going gets tough, Democrats tend to circle the wagons. Republicans form a circular firing squad, which is what we're witnessing now.
The conference should make it a rule that all members will vote on the floor for the person nominated in conference — no exceptions.
They should also end the ability of giving a single House member the power to propose a motion to "vacate the chair" — to call for a floor vote of no confidence in the current speaker.
But most of all, they need to stop their in-fighting, put their big-boy pants on, and do the work their constituents sent them to Washington to do.
A second floor vote is scheduled Wednesday. Let's see if they get it right.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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