The House passed a bill providing temporary funds, but the representatives performed a farce.Congress occasionally seems to be making fun of itself.The place is coming utterly apart as lawmakers stumble towards the Thanksgiving break following some of the worst and most ineffective weeks in recent memory.
The House staged a farce on Tuesday in spite of passing a stopgap budget bill to keep the government operating past this week. The joke was on Americans who didn’t have a responsible, effective government. Remember also the people fighting existential battles for their futures in Israel and Ukraine while they wait in vain for billions of dollars in aid from the US.
The 118th Congress appeared more like a fourth grade classroom on a day that will further undermine confidence in government ahead of the elections of the next year, when it took the first move to push out financing deadlines to the winter. For some hard-right conservatives, who despise Washington and consider turmoil to be a noble objective in and of itself, that would be acceptable. However, the political shenanigans on the eve of President Joe Biden’s crucial meeting with President Xi Jinping will only serve to reinforce the belief among China and other US foes that domestic polarisation is undermining America’s influence internationally.
Smurfs, cage battles, and kidney shots
In a rather trivial incident on Tuesday, Rep. Tim Burchett, one of the GOP rebels who forced McCarthy out of office as speaker, was allegedly dealt a severe blow by Kevin McCarthy, the nation’s most powerful elected Republican until recently. “The kidneys were struck cleanly,” the Tennesseean told CNN.
The former head of the GOP refuted the allegation on multiple occasions, blaming the crash on a narrow passageway. McCarthy then declared, “If I kidney punched someone, they would be on the ground,” with a sudden burst of confidence.
In the world’s preeminent deliberative assembly, located on Capitol Hill, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, was eager to engage in a prize fight. “Stand your butt up!” he commanded Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, as he issued a challenge to a fight. Mullin took offence at previous tweets in which O’Brien seemed to refer to him as a “clown.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, looking dumbfounded, flailed his arms, pounded his gavel, and grumbled that he was meant to be in charge of a hearing, not a cage fight.
“Let’s not add to the already extreme disdain that the American people have for Congress,” Sanders cautioned, pointing out that he was a US senator.
Nothing like it had ever been witnessed in the generally sleepy quarters of the wonkish Health, Education, Labour, and Pensions Committee. However, Mullin pretended to be a folk hero from Sooner State and told reporters he was forced to answer the bell. That is not customary in Oklahoma. “You don’t talk a lot unless you plan to take the call,” the former fighter for Mixed Martial Arts stated.
Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz and House Oversight Chairman James Comer engaged in a heated argument over Comer’s investigation into the financial dealings of the Biden family. Following the Florida Democrat’s charge of hypocrisy against the Kentucky Republican, Comer responded with an odd jab that will confound historians looking through the legislative records in the future. He remarked, “You look like a smurf here.” Moskowitz wrote on X, “Gargamel was very angry today,” since he could not let it rest. Many people who weren’t fans of the animated series thought Gargamel was a wicked wizard who enjoyed hunting Smurfs.
Normally, the ringmaster of the Capitol Hill circus, GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, is eclipsed. However, Rep. Darrell Issa, a fellow Republican, questioned the maturity of the Georgia Republican after her failed attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In response, Greene posted on social media, implying that her colleague from California was deficient in a certain area. She did this by using a variety of emojis, including balls from other sports.
The intense events show a very dysfunctional and dislocated Washington, where the political system has been engulfed by personal venom and anger. In the Capitol, stunt politics a la Donald Trump have frequently taken over. Fights inside and between the parties dominate Congress. And in the upcoming election year, the feverish atmosphere is only going to get worse. Almost three years after the Capitol uprising, trust has been destroyed, and customs of decency and respect have been abandoned.
Despite the reality that such behaviour would be grounds for termination in many workplaces, congressional leaders claimed the near-fights and bad tempers were a reflection of the strain of an unusual session that saw the House convene for ten weeks in a row.
McCarthy stated, “Tenseness is high among everyone.” GOP leadership member and senator from South Dakota, John Thune, modestly said that we are living in “fairly polarised times.” “A lot is going on, not just here but all over the world,” he continued. High emotions are present.
Some may view the severity of the country’s leaders as justified by the gravity of the world’s challenges, which includes heartbreaking imagery from the Middle East after the horrific Hamas terror assaults against civilians and the bloodshed in Gaza caused by Israel’s reaction.
But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell implied that even his cunning ability to impose discipline inside his group was insufficient to police the Capitol.
“It’s really challenging to regulate everyone’s behaviour within the building. I don’t think I’m accountable for it. The Capitol Police will have to handle that, the Republican from Kentucky stated.
One catastrophe avoided, or at least delayed
By passing a plan to temporarily fund the federal machine on Tuesday, the disorganised and disorganised House of Representatives succeeded in averting a government shutdown, which was a minor miracle. The bill would merely postpone the upcoming funding deadlines until early in the new year.
However, the fact that 93 Republicans voted against the bill in the House revealed the factors that could eventually split the chamber once more. The inability of rookie Speaker Mike Johnson to add drastic budget cuts that would ensure a government shutdown that would hurt the GOP and millions of Americans—cutbacks that have no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate or Joe Biden’s White House—has conservatives fuming.Because of their resistance, Johnson had to adopt the exact same tactic that lost McCarthy his career last month in order to get it through the House: depending on Democratic votes.
As a result, the GOP majority in the House is essentially only functional if Democrats want it to be because of how divided it is.
And only in a dysfunctional Congress would a speaker attempt to block one shutdown of the government by creating the possibility of two more. This is due to Johnson’s “laddered” method, which funds two branches of government until early February and mid-January, respectively.
By voting not to remove Johnson for using the same tactic as McCarthy, the rebel group strengthened the perception that their political regicide was motivated more by personal than ideological hatred.
The acting speaker, Representative Patrick McHenry, remarked, “I mean, hypocrisy in Washington is nothing new.” Hardliners, on the other hand, claimed Johnson was only getting away with it because he was a new employee. Furthermore, seasoned GOP Rules Chairman Tom Cole hinted that nobody was prepared for another round because of the anguish caused by the loss of one speaker.
The Republican from Oklahoma said, “I think you don’t do it twice when you touch a hot stove.”
Of course, it might have just been a coincidence. However, Johnson decided to support Trump for president on CNBC on a day when he needed to recoup some of the political capital he had amassed as the most right-wing speaker in history. “I fully support President Trump.” I anticipate that he will be our nominee, that he will be elected, and that Joe Biden will serve only one term as president.
Therefore, a speaker who assisted in some of Trump’s attempts to rig the 2020 election as a backbencher joined forces once more with an ex-president whose rabble-rousing mob stormed Congress on January 6, 2021, and who now falsely asserts that his impending four criminal trials are a part of a scheme to rig the 2024 election.
Congress has nothing to thank Israel and Ukraine for.
The most obvious instance of Congress’s neglect of its responsibilities on Tuesday occurred during a pro-Israel protest on the National Mall. In a show of support for the Jewish state, Johnson went on stage alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst.
Looking out over the crowd and the waving blue and white Israeli flags, Johnson said, “There are few issues in Washington that so easily bring together leaders of both parties and both chambers, but the survival of the state of Israel and her people unites us together.” Johnson had the Capitol Dome, a citadel of democracy for generations, over his shoulder.
That used to be the case. Few measures have been less difficult to pass than those that provide Israel with arms or aid.
However, Johnson’s first action was to tack on budget cuts for the Internal Revenue Service, which are unacceptable to the Senate and the White House, to Biden’s emergency $14.3 billion request for Israel. The message is quite clear: once-sacrosanct policies that are essential to the security of the United States are now only feasible if the far-right element of the Republican majority can profit.
Deep into Russia’s brutal attempt at annexation, the people of Ukraine are still waiting on an even larger aid package than Biden had asked for. A significant portion of House Republicans wish to withdraw support for a democratic country that depends on US and European aid, as their mentor, Donald Trump, promises to finish the war in a matter of hours if elected president—likely in accordance with his pal Vladimir Putin’s wishes.
Johnson has not ruled out a new package despite his repeated votes against help for Ukraine. However, he would most likely have to rely on Democrats once more, which would further erode his power. Bipartisan talks are underway in the Senate over a measure that would cover Republicans by matching aid to Ukraine with investment in border security. Republicans blame Democrats for not being serious in the discussions, yet little progress is being made.
However, time is running out for Ukraine as tired and irate MPs return home for their Thanksgiving dinners.
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, cautioned on Monday that “Ukraine is going to have trouble getting bullets for their guns in a couple of weeks.”
