Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida made the point.\u00a0\u00a0He said that the Speaker of the House, his fellow Republican was; \u201cOut of compliance\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Gaetz then went farther and said that if Speaker McCarthy didn\u2019t get \u201cinto compliance\u201d, he would cease to be the Speaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what is this \u201cnon-compliance\u201d that the youngish Congressman from Pensacola proclaimed? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are actually two answers to that question. But before we get to those answers, we need to understand how a junior member of the GOP would feel empowered to threaten the Speaker, and get away with it. Kevin McCarthy went through an excruciating exercise to achieve his life dream of becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives. Republicans have a narrow majority in the House, five votes more than the Democrats under the new leadership of Hakeem Jefferies. But a \u201crump caucus\u201d of extreme Republicans refused to vote for McCarthy, dragging the process of electing the Speaker on for five days and a full fifteen roll call votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The few, the proud, the wacked-out extremists of the Republican caucus exacted every concession they could gain from McCarthy.\u00a0\u00a0Tempers flared as the last needed vote, Matt Gaetz,\u00a0\u00a0scaled up his demands.\u00a0\u00a0One of McCarthy\u2019s allies had to be restrained from doing what a vast bipartisan majority of Congressmen\u00a0\u00a0wanted to do \u2013 smack Gaetz in the mouth.\u00a0\u00a0And it was all on live TV, in front of the whole Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy ultimately gave it all up, doling his powers away, in order to gain the title of Speaker.\u00a0\u00a0Clearly the title was more important to him than the ability to act as Speaker.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And he also gave away his ultimate \u201cfail safe\u201d protection.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of requiring five or even ten members to agree to call for a new Speaker election, McCarthy allowed that any, single member of the majority Party could trigger a new Speaker vote.\u00a0\u00a0Kevin\u2019s life-dream hung on razor\u2019s edge every day, depending only on the whim of Gaetz or Boebert, or one of the other \u201crumpsters\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He’s survived\u00a0\u00a0for nine months.\u00a0\u00a0But now Gaetz is calling his IOU, and demanding that the Speaker, the leader of his Party in the House, third in line for the Presidency, get \u201cin compliance\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0And Gaetz isn\u2019t bluffing; McCarthy already gave him the power to declare the Speakership up for grabs again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s \u201cthe deal\u201d? The extremists demand the impeachment of President Joe Biden, before any incriminating facts are confirmed or even gathered, or charges levied. The want Biden tried, not because he might have done anything wrong, but as retribution for the impeachments of Donald Trump. Over the past several months, the Congressional Republicans have assiduously searched for evidence of \u201cthe Biden Crime Family\u201d. They failed miserably, with their lead witness turning out to be a Chinese spy and \u201con the lam\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0\u00a0A deal is a deal, as Matt Gaetz so rudely stated: \u201cGet in compliance or get gone\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And so the Speaker announced yesterday that there would be an \u201cImpeachment Inquiry\u201d \u2013 not quite an impeachment, not even a hearing by the Judiciary Committee to determine impeachment, not even a vote by the House to begin the inquiry.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s to be more Hunter bashing and ash stirring, looking for some ember to coax to a Biden consuming flame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy itself said it best, in an accidental moment of honesty back in September of 2015. The House put together a Benghazi committee, that spent millions of dollars in seven different investigations. McCarthy told Sean Hannity on Fox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>\u201c\u2026everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi Special Committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal of the impeachment \u201cinquiry\u201d is not to remove Joe Biden. The goal is to so tarnish Biden that he seems equal to the twice impeached, four-time indicted former President who is likely to lead the Republican ticket in 2024. If you can\u2019t raise Trump up, you can drag Biden down, just like they did to Hillary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And all of this is on top of a second \u201cGaetz and Company\u201d demand:\u00a0\u00a0that the Congressional budget be radically slashed.\u00a0\u00a0The clock is ticking:\u00a0\u00a0the budget resolution expires on September 30th<\/sup>.\u00a0\u00a0Without some joint House\/Senate action, the government will shut down.\u00a0\u00a0The Senate is well on the way to assuring continuity, with twelve budget resolutions out of Committee and on the way to a full vote.\u00a0\u00a0But the House has passed only two.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n So not only does McCarthy have to begin impeachment inquiries, he also has to find a way to mollify his \u201ccrazies\u201d and keep the Government going. It\u2019s not likely to happen, at least without some tacit support of House Democrats. But if the Speaker goes to Democrats for support, he absolutely, positively would be \u201cout of compliance\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And \u201cout of compliance\u201d might well mean a return to Kevin \u201cjust\u201d being the member from Bakersfield. A shut down of the United States Government looms ahead, and there’s no reasonable solution in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which, of course, begs the question:\u00a0\u00a0if Gaetz, Boebert et al. pull\u00a0\u00a0McCarthy down, who becomes the next Speaker?\u00a0\u00a0Who is willing to give away the \u201cfarm\u201d for the title? And who will reopen the government, if there’s no one in charge?<\/p>\n\n\n\nShut It Down<\/h3>\n\n\n\n