Power-drunk Wisconsin Republicans, relying on maps they rigged themselves, just secured another ill-gotten weapon in the November midterms—the ability to impeach and remove government officials without a single Democratic vote. And they intend to use it: Right after the election, the Republican speaker of the state Assembly warned that his party’s new two-thirds supermajority in the Senate means the GOP “can take out people who aren't doing their job,” adding that it’s “a new power that we did not have a week ago.”
The good news is, we can take it right back. A longtime Republican senator recently resigned from the legislature, prompting a special election in a challenging but winnable district in the Milwaukee suburbs. If Democrats can win that race on April 4, then poof—the GOP’s Senate supermajority vanishes, and with it, the threat to oust Democrats like Gov. Tony Evers simply for being Democrats.
That’s why Daily Kos is endorsing attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin in this critical race.
Habush Sinykin is exactly the sort of progressive we need. She’s an environmental lawyer with deep roots in her community who helped enact the historic Great Lakes Compact to safeguard at-risk waters and worked to pass legislation to regulate cruel puppy mills. She will fight to lower healthcare costs, invest in education, and above all, protect abortion rights. Believe it or not, abortion is now illegal in Wisconsin thanks to a ban that dates all the way back to 1849—a time when slavery was still lawful in this country. Habush Sinykin will be both a voice and a vote against that ban.
Fortunately, Habush Sinykin has the field to herself, since she’s the only Democrat in the race. Republicans, however, have three candidates running, each worse than the last, and they are in for a messy, messy primary on Feb. 21.
But whichever Republican emerges from this dogpile will still have a built-in advantage, because the GOP gerrymandered the 8th District to insulate itself from voters: While the previous version of this seat was almost evenly divided between support for Biden and Trump, the redrawn district would have backed Trump by a 52-47 margin. But Republicans are in a race against time, because this well-educated, affluent area has moved sharply away from the GOP during the Trump era and continues to do so. That alone gives us a fighting chance.
But Republicans know the stakes just as well as we do. They don’t want to relinquish their supermajority status because they want to be able to terrorize Democrats who might dare cross them. And while they fell just short in 2022, two years from now, they’ll try once more to seize a two-thirds majority in the Assembly, too, which would allow them to override any vetoes by Evers.
We can smash a hole in all of those plans by winning this special election in April, but Wisconsin Democrats need our help right away, because there’s going to be a torrent of dark money flooding into this race just as quickly as you can say “Koch brothers.”
Representative Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican, has filed articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Fallon had promised to move on impeachment once the 118th Congress was sworn in.
“Secretary Mayorkas’s willful actions have eroded our immigration system, undermined border patrol morale, and jeopardized American national security,” he tweeted. “He has violated the law and it is time for him to go.”
The resolution accuses the DHS Secretary of having “engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his duties.”
Keeping the homeland secure does seem to be one aspect in which the chief of Homeland Security has failed – and failed miserably.
In a statement to Fox News, Fallon cited Mayorkas’ lies to Congress that he had operational control of the border and his effort to smear Border Patrol agents with false allegations of ‘whipping’ illegal immigrants as reasons he has been derelict in his duties.
I have officially filed Articles of Impeachment on Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The articles of impeachment accuse Alejandro Mayorkas of “high crimes and misdemeanors” and have been officially filed and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, during a visit to the border back in November, called for the DHS Secretary to resign or face an impeachment inquiry.
“If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action and every failure and will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry,” he told reporters.
This should give conservatives a glimpse of the kind of Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be and why I’m supporting him.
He’s demanding Mayorkas resign or face investigations leading to impeachment bc the cartels run our border
House Republicans have been warning for over a year that the border crisis was one aspect they would be investigating thoroughly when they take back control of the chamber.
“He clearly knew the truth and willfully misled Congress and then by extension, the American people.”@RepPatFallon has filed Articles of Impeachment against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for misleading Congress.@JohnFBachman@BiancaDLGarza
A recent MSNBC report documented numerous illegal aliens who said they “haven’t had any interaction with U.S. immigration authorities” and “they just walked right in.”
That seems less a product of a broken system and more the incompetence of the head of DHS.
Deportations in 2021 were the lowest on record. In 2022, ICE deported 61% fewer illegal aliens than in 2020, including 66% fewer criminals, even though border crossings increased by 419%.
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump weighed in on the border crisis.
Fmr Pres. Trump releases a statement about the border and how people are talking about it now since it’s a problem and it wasn’t under his administration. He adds, “Biden has allowed the cartels to destroy the border, and I’ll destroy the cartels!” pic.twitter.com/qAPxGJspbj
After suggesting nobody could talk about a border situation he “fixed” during his presidency, Trump declared it one of the biggest problems facing our nation today.
“It’s amazing what has happened in two years, because now the Border is probably our biggest bone of contention,” he said in a statement.
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Republican leaders in the House unveiled their picks for who will head committees in the chamber, handing out key assignments that will control important legislative vessels over the next two years.
Democrats also named lawmakers who will serve as ranking members of the committees. Here is the landscape of the 118th Congress.
House Committee on Agriculture Chair: Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.)
Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) (AP Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) who previously served as chair.
The Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over federal agricultural policies and retains oversight duty of a number of federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture. Thompson, who has been in office since 2009, previously served as the ranking member on the committee in the last Congress.
House Committee on Appropriations Chair: Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas)
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) (AP Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)
One of the most powerful panels in Congress, the Appropriations Committee allocates federal funds to government agencies and regulated federal expenditures. Longtime lawmaker Granger, who has been in the House since 1997, was the first Republican woman to sit on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations. She is a fiscal conservative who was previously the committee’s ranking member.
House Armed Services Committee Chair: Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) (Greg Nash)
Ranking Member: Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.)
The Armed Services Committee oversees and funds the Department of Defense and U.S. Armed Forces. It is annually responsible for the National Defense Authorization Act, which lays out the budget for Defense. Rogers made news last week for supposedly lunging at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) during a rift over the Speaker's vote. The incident was captured by CSPAN cameras.
House Budget Committee Chair: Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)
Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.)
The Budget Committee has oversight over the federal budget process. Its most important act each year is the drafting of the budget resolution that sets the level of revenue and spending that is expected in a fiscal year. Arrington has made clear his wishes to address the national debt during his Congressional tenure. Republicans reached a deal during the Speaker election to set government discretionary spending levels for fiscal year 2024 to 2022 levels.
House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chair: Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.)
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Bobby Scott (R-Va.)
The Education and the Workforce Committee (formerly the Education and Labor Committee before a Republican rebrand this year) oversees federal education and workforce programs in the U.S. Foxx has already served as chair of the committee for three terms, but was granted a waiver by Republican leadership to lead it again. House GOP rules allow members to serve only three consecutive terms as the head of a panel.
House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.)
The Energy and Commerce Committee has oversight of a broad swath of issues, including telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health, energy supply and delivery and foreign and domestic commerce. McMorris Rodgers, who has been in Congress since 2005, is the former chair of the House Republican Conference. McMorris Rodgers has long been a proponent of domestic energy production.
House Financial Services Committee Chair: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Maxine Water (D-Calif.)
The Financial Services Committee is tasked with the oversight of the financial services industry, including the Federal Reserve, the Department of Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission. McHenry was the committee’s ranking member in the last Congress and supported a Trump-era policy that stated payday lenders would not have to check whether borrowers could afford to repay high-interest loans.
House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas)
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.)
The Foreign Affairs Committee has broad jurisdiction to oversee legislation and investigations that concern U.S. foreign policy. It also oversees the Department of State. McCaul has been a strong proponent of American support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. He was previously the ranking member on the committee.
House Committee on Homeland Security Chair: Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.)
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) (AP Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)
The Homeland Security Committee has jurisdiction over legislation related to the security of the U.S. and oversees the Department of Homeland Security. The committee is slated to play an aggressive role in addressing the migration surge at the southern border, and there are plans to bring Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in to testify. Mayorkas has already had articles of impeachment filed against him in the 118th Congress. Green is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline conservatives.
House Committee on the Judiciary Chair: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Jerry Nadler (R-N.Y.)
The Judiciary Committee oversees federal courts and issues of justice within federal agencies and law enforcement. Jordan is also a Freedom Caucus and is a fiery conservative who has made headlines in his questioning of witnesses on various Congressional committees. He is a close ally and supporter of former President Trump.
House Committee on Natural Resources Chair: Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.)
Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.)
The Natural Resources Committee considers legislation related to energy production, mining, fisheries, wildlife, public lands and Native Americans. Wetserman, in Congress since 2015, holds a master’s degree in forestry from Yale.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chair: Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.)
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)
The Oversight and Accountability Committee is the main investigative body in the House. As chair, Comer will be able to unilaterally issue subpoenas. Republicans have promised aggressive oversight of the Biden administration, inducing federal agencies.
House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Chair: Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Ok.)
Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Ok.) (Anna Rose Layden Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.)
The Science, Space and Technology Committee has jurisdiction over federal scientific research and development that does not include defense. It includes oversight of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Lucas was previously the ranking member of the committee. He has said he wants to fortify American leadership in space exploration and turning back threats from China.
House Committee on Small Business Chair: Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas)
Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) (AP Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.)
The Small Business Committee oversees the Small Business Administration and its programs and provides assistance to small businesses. Williams, who has been in Congress since 2013, was a car dealer before moving to politics.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair: Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.)
Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wa.)
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation in the U.S., including roads, highways, dams, skies and railroads. Graves is a pilot and is known as a strong proponent of private pilots.
House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chair: Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.)
Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.)
The Veterans’ Affairs Committee oversees the Department of Veterans Affairs and reviews legislation concerning military veterans. Bost is a Marine veteran and a former firefighter. He was previously the ranking member of the committee and has said he wants to ensure that veterans get access to the care and services they need in a timely manner.
House Committee on Ways and Means Chair: Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.)
Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) (Julia Nikhinson Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.)
The Ways and Means Committee is one of the most powerful in Congress, as it is the chief tax-writing panel. It has jurisdiction over all taxation matters and programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Smith is a close ally of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and had a role in writing the Trump-era overhaul of the federal tax code.
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chair: Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio)
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) (Greg Nash Photo)
Ranking Member: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)
The Intelligence Committee is a permanent select committee that is charged with oversight of the U.S. intelligence community, including the Central Intelligence Agency. Turned is expected to be the next chair of the committee. He was involved in the 2019 investigation that looked into whether former President Trump improperly withheld aid to Ukraine.
A Texas Republican has filed articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, wasting little time in the new Congress to act on a GOP priority leadership has said would come after thorough investigation.
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) filed the paperwork for the resolution on Jan. 3, the first day of the 118th Congress, though with delays in securing a House Speaker, the document was officially filed late Monday.
The resolution claims Mayorkas “engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his duties,” complaining that he has failed to maintain operational control over the border.
The resolution comes amid a busy week in the Biden administration. President Biden visited the border over the weekend for the first time since taking office, pledging to deliver more resources to the officers who patrol the region.
And Mayorkas is in Mexico this week, meeting with officials there on a variety of issues, including the shared migration agreement rolled out by the Biden administration last week.
Mayorkas is also due to discuss coordination on transnational crime with Mexican authorities.
Fallon’s resolution won’t move without further action from GOP leadership, but it would otherwise jump-start a process House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has treaded carefully on.
“House Republicans will investigate every order, every action and every failure will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy said at a press conference in El Paso, Texas, in November.
Still, impeachment charges against Mayorkas were all but certain under Republican control of the House, as the DHS secretary has been a constant foil for the party during the Biden administration.
Republicans claim that under Biden, the DHS has dismantled the border security apparatus built under former President Trump, leading to border chaos.
The primary basis for the articles of impeachment is the claim that Mayorkas lied to Congress — a case they back by pointing to two instances in which the secretary told lawmakers he believed the Southern border was under control.
“His willful actions erode our immigration system, undermine border patrol morale, and imperil American national security. He must be removed from office,” Fallon said in a release.
DHS said Tuesday that Mayorkas has no plans to resign and argued that the grounds for impeachment pointed to by the GOP were both inaccurate and failed to meet the standards to qualify as high crimes and misdemeanors.
“Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the noble mission of this Department, support its extraordinary workforce, and serve the American people. The Department will continue our work to enforce our laws and secure our border, while building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Marsha Espinosa said in a statement.
“Members of Congress can do better than point the finger at someone else; they should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which they have not updated in over 40 years.”
Most border and immigration analysts agree that increased migration due to security, economic and governance conditions in the Western Hemisphere is the primary reason for the high number of migrants encountered at the border.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, left, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speak before a meeting with President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
And Mayorkas has taken flak both from the right and the left, as the DHS has maintained many of the Trump administration's border policies, which immigrant advocates say violate human rights.
Still, Republicans see the border as a winning issue for them, and Mayorkas is the Biden administration's face on that issue.
Mayorkas, the first Latino to ever hold that post, has often butted heads with congressional Republicans at oversight hearings.
In April, Mayorkas clashed with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, including a notable exchange with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) over the agency's record on deportations from the interior of the country.
That combative exchange could set the tone for impeachment proceedings.
The potential for a political circus is concerning for Republicans fresh off a nationally televised Speaker's race that highlighted divisions in the party.
Some Republicans have expressed reservations about going after Mayorkas without careful study.
“You’ve got to build a case. You need the facts, evidence before you indict,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
“Has he been derelict in his responsibilities? I think so,” he added.
Former President Trump responded Monday to the breaking news that the Justice Department is reviewing classified documents from President Biden’s tenure as vice president that were found last fall in a private office Biden had previously used.
“When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified,” Trump said on his Truth Social account, sharing an article on the document discovery from CBS News.
The Obama-Biden era documents were found by the president’s attorneys while clearing out an office he used when he served as an honorary professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, according to Biden’s special counsel Richard Sauber.
Biden’s legal team notified the National Archives, which took possession of the materials, Sauber said. The documents are now reportedly being looked at by the U.S. attorney general for Chicago, with cooperation from the White House.
Trump was referring to the FBI’s execution of a search warrant last summer at his Mar-a-Lago residence, where investigators found more than a hundred classified documents kept past his time in the White House.
Trump is now under investigation for his handling of the classified materials.
“We were told for months that this was treasonous… grounds for impeachment... & meriting the death penalty, yet I have a feeling nothing will happen!?” wrote Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter, retweeting the CBS article.
Notably, Biden’s team notified the Archives and turned over the documents upon discovery, while Trump apparently kept classified materials even after requests from the Archives to return them.
The Presidential Records Act requires that presidential and vice presidential records be turned over to the National Archives at the end of a given administration for preservation and to protect classified material.
Ahead of President Biden’s first trip to the southern border on Sunday in El Paso, Texas, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas again said the U.S. southern border is closed.
His comments came despite thousands of illegal border crossers pouring into the city, filling the airport, sidewalks, homeless shelters. Over the past few days, many were bused out of town and otherwise cleared out ahead of the president’s visit.
On Jan. 5, after the president announced his expanded immigration plan, Mayorkas announced the Department of Homeland Security was preparing for the end of the public health authority Title 42 after its challenges in court end.
Mayorkas said, “Title 42 or not, the border is not open. We will continue to fully enforce our immigration laws in a safe, orderly and humane manner. Individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States will be subject to expulsion under Title 42 or removal under Title 8.”
Mayorkas also said the crisis at the southern border was “because our immigration system is broken, outdated, and in desperate need of reform. The laws we enforce have not been updated for decades. It takes four or more years to conclude the average asylum case, immigration judges have a backlog of more than 1.7 million cases, and we have more than 11 undocumented people in our country, many of whom work in the shadows …”
He mentioned that there are 2.5 million Venezuelans living in Columbia and 1.5 million living in Peru. Over 350,000 Haitians are living in Brazil and Chile and the number of Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica has more than doubled over the past year.
He made the remarks as the number of apprehensions of illegal entries by Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians have surged in the U.S. in the past few months and after more than 5 million foreign nationals were apprehended or evaded capture from law enforcement. This includes over 3.3 million in fiscal 2022, of which nearly 1.8 million occurred in Texas alone.
The El Paso Sector, which includes two west Texas counties and all of New Mexico, has experienced a surge in the last two months, breaking all-time records.
In December, agents apprehended over 55,700 people and reported nearly 33,000 gotaways, according to preliminary CBP data obtained by The Center Square.
In November, they apprehended more than 53,000 illegal foreign nationals in the sector and reported over 24,000 gotaways.
The number of people crossing the board every month are greater than the individual populations of all but four cities and all but five of counties in New Mexico, according to 2022 Census data analyzed by The Center Square.
The record numbers increased after Mayorkas reversed several policies, including releasing illegal foreign nationals into the U.S. and limiting ICE enforcement of detention and deportation policies. Nineteen attorneys general filed a brief with the Supreme Court over them; Florida heads to trial Monday in another lawsuit in which the plaintiffs argue the administration is continuing to violate federal law.
Multiple members of Congress have called for Mayorkas to be impeached; multiple attorneys general, led by Florida, have called for him to resign.
Last November, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., now Speaker of the House, said “if Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action, and every failure will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry.”
On Sunday morning, when asked to respond, Mayorkas told ABC News This Week he was joining the president in El Paso and at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City on Monday, where world leaders will discuss “the security of the homeland.” When asked if he planned to resign he said: “I do not. I’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’re going to do it,” according to Fox News.
On Saturday, Mayorkas reiterated his “secure border” language in an interview with CNN anchor Poppy Harlow. She asked him, “Border officials have been consistently telling” a CNN correspondent “they feel abandoned by this administration, by the federal government. So why has it taken two years for President Biden to go to the southern border?”
Mayorkas replied, “We have been dedicating our efforts to the situation at the border since day one. We are incredibly proud of our frontline personnel who are tirelessly and selflessly dedicated to the mission. The president knows the border very well. … He is going to see the border not for the first time in his public service career this Sunday.”
The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing BP agents, has argued the Biden administration, which defunded CBP enforcement mechanisms while sending $45 billion more to Ukraine, said the administration “doesn’t want more money for DHS to enforce laws and deport people. They only want more money to process more people so they can release more people. Don’t be fooled by their propaganda.”
The union also said, “No administration in modern history of this country has done more damage, killed the morale of Border Patrol agents and unleashed death, destruction, rapes, murders and mayhem at our border like the Biden administration.”
In a statement it issued on Saturday, it said, “As Biden and Harris sit around DC patting themselves on the back and lying about the border, things in the real world continue to deteriorate at record-setting levels. Rampant lawlessness, dead bodies piling up and human suffering are not part of the gated fantasyland they live in.”
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected Speaker of the House early Saturday morning, after weeks of haggling and a historic 15 roll call votes on the floor.
The lengthy Speakership fight — the first in a century to go past one ballot — played out largely in front of the public, as members repeatedly voted and sometimes negotiated on the floor of the House before C-SPAN’s cameras.
The battle for Speaker, particularly its culmination on Friday night and Saturday morning, produced a number of memorable moments. Here are five of the most dramatic and colorful:
Republicans rush back to Washington
Two Republican congressmen — Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) — rushed back to the Capitol on Friday to vote for McCarthy.
Buck had said he would return for Friday evening votes after being gone during the day for a “non-emergency medical procedure” he had to undergo back in his home state.
But Hunt had to change his plans. He returned home to Texas Friday morning to spend time with his wife and newborn son, who was born prematurely on Monday and spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“Willie needs his father and Emily needs her husband,” Hunt said in a tweet. “Today, I’ll be returning home to hold my son and be at my wife’s side. It’s my intention to get back into the fight as soon as possible.”
Both were McCarthy supporters and McCarthy's Speaker math meant he needed both of their votes to prevail.
Hunt flew back to Washington later Friday and was in the chamber in time to vote the first time his name was called, while Buck arrived in time to vote when they circled back to his name.
Both received a round of applause from their Republican colleagues.
Lawmaker physically restrained by colleague
Perhaps the more tense — and chaotic — moment of the night came after McCarthy lost his 14th Speakership vote, one Republicans were confident would be their last.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was among the last lawmakers to vote and because only one of the other five holdout Republicans — Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) — had changed their vote to "present," a "present" vote from Gaetz wouldn't be enough to put McCarthy over the finish. McCarthy needed an affirmative vote from the Florida Republican.
Gaetz voted "present."
With tensions rising, a heated argument broke out between Gaetz and several McCarthy backers and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) appeared to take a step toward Gaetz before he was physically pulled back by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), eliciting gasps in the chamber.
Greene gets Trump on the line
As chaos ensued between then 14th and 15th votes, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) had President Trump on the phone in an effort to whip the final votes for McCarthy.
A widely-circulated photo from Friday night showed Greene holding up her phone to Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), one the last six Republican holdouts. Rosendale appeared to refuse the phone call, whose caller ID read “DT.”
Greene later confirmed to The Hill that the phone call was in fact from Trump.
“It was the perfect phone call,” she added in a post on Twitter, a reference to Trump's comment about the phone call at the center of his first impeachment.
Trump also reportedly called other Republican holdouts on behalf of McCarthy and McCarthy credited Trump for helping him win the 15th ballot.
Republicans rush to stay in session after McCarthy apparently locks down votes
With Republicans seemingly at an impasse after a 14th failed vote, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) moved to adjourn the House until Monday.
The motion seemed to have enough GOP support to pass, but then McCarthy and other Republicans rushed to the dais to their change votes and stay in session.
McCarthy had seemingly locked down the votes he needed.
Several Republican lawmakers chanted “one more time” in anticipation of what would be the 15th and final ballot. With all six Republican holdouts changing their vote to "present," McCarthy was able to secure the Speakership with 216 votes just after midnight on Saturday.
Democrats troll their Republican colleagues
As Republican infighting continued throughout the week, Democrats watched with a level of amusement, frequently mocking their GOP counterparts.
Several Democratic members brought out buckets of popcorn amid the drawn-out process.
"We are breaking the popcorn out in the Dem Caucus till the Republicans get their act together," Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said in a Twitter post on Tuesday, accompanied by a picture of large bucket of popcorn.
Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) was seen during Friday's votes sitting and reading “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F---” by Mark Manson.
After McCarthy clinched the Speakership on Saturday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also appeared to take a jab at the Republican conference, calling it an honor to “finally” welcome members to the 118th Congress.
This past week Americans experienced something that has not happened for 100 years: The House of Representatives took more than a couple of days—and no fewer than 14 votes—to agree upon a speaker. It has been something of a fiasco for the Republican Party because there is no ideological division here. It is simply a power play by the most outspoken oligarchs in the party to force its establishment dinosaurs to concede an extraordinary amount of control to a very small group of fascists.
Something else historic has also happened this week: Americans have had a chance to watch and see so much more of the in-chamber processes that go on when voting gets messy in the modern American legislative branch. The old Saturday Night Live joke in the 1980s was that whenever you had to watch something political on C-SPAN the coverage came through the single camera the network owned. Not this week. This week, C-SPAN has been freed up to give new angles throughout the proceedings of the House voting process.
This has made the entire process so much more interesting to watch and follow than it might normally be.
Of course, the only reason this has been happening is that there is no official majority party making rules for Congress this session. Usually, the party in control creates specific views of what C-SPAN cameras can cover and broadcast and what they cannot. C-SPAN is operating under the rules established by Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the opening day of the 118th Congress in 2022. Of course, back then, Speaker Pelosi was able to get the confidence vote of her political party without days of theatrics. It has been a game changer in loosening up some of the stodginess of the political process.
Showing the entire chamber and the many interactions that go on or do not go on is an evolution of what the media gets to see. As CNN reports, when cameras were first allowed onto legislative branch floors, in the 1980s and 1990s, folks like Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia used the limited visibility they offered to pretend to be big men when, in fact, they were simply pretenders.
When cameras were first allowed, they became a potent political weapon. In the 1980s and early 1990s, congressmen such as Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia – later the House speaker – would give speeches criticizing Democrats meant only for the TV cameras. There would be few people in the chamber, and since lawmakers could speak on any subject, it seemed as if there were no answers from the other side.
There have been all kinds of moments showing the various group-ups different sets of representatives had during the many failed votes. Many of those meet-ups included political theater major Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
There was this moment between Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Paul Gosar where AOC showed her patience with a man very few people can stand to be around for more than a minute or two. Reportedly the two discussed the possibilities of a deal where Democratic representatives might throw enough votes McCarthy’s way to give him the Speaker position.
Then there was the tragically comedic moment where the incompetent and lying Republican from New York, George Santos, wasn’t even able to do the single job he had.
All good things must come to an end and at some point, I’m sure the Republican Party will make sure that the cameras in the House stick tightly to a very narrow view. It isn’t that the conservatives in the party do not want Americans to see how they actually act on the floor of the House; it is that they don’t want the American people to become at all interested in what they actually do on the floor of the House.
The House of Representatives still does not have a speaker. The 20 or so Freedom Caucus members holding up the proceedings realize that they, like the Republican Party itself, don’t believe in majority rule. The fact that the Republican establishment has kowtowed to them for the past decade or more has only emboldened their position.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the craven establishment leaders don’t want to remain in power—or at least seem to remain in power. On Friday, Florida man Rep. Matt Gaetz stood up to nominate—wait for it … wait for it—well, before he named his nominee for the speakership, Gaetz made a long speech attacking Kevin McCarthy, calling him the “LeBron James of special interest fundraising in this town.”
It’s Jim Jordan! Sorry, I couldn’t wait. He named the guy who stayed silent while young man after young man allegedly told him they were being sexual assaulted and abused by a wrestling team doctor. That Jim Jordan. However, at least half of the people on Gaetz’s side of the aisle were not simply unhappy about the nomination but clearly could not stand to sit through the more-than-five-minute cringeworthy speech Gaetz subjected everyone to—and they left!
After saying Jordan’s name, Gaetz decided to attack reports that his crew of freedomers were too obstinate to make any deal with the 200 or so McCarthy backers. “Let's start with purity. Many of you have seen the reports that there are negotiations to determine whether or not on this side of the aisle there can be a deal, a meeting of the minds, a grand bargain that would allow us to proceed with the speakership. And I want all of my colleagues to know, regardless of your perspective on me, how impure some of those negotiations have gone.”
“Impure!” Matt Gaetz! Somewhere just shy of the four-minute mark where Gaetz began airing out his point of view on the dirty laundry exchanges behind closed doors, Republican members of the House began standing up, looking at their phones and walking out of the chambers.
What a way to start the new year! On the first episode of season two of The Downballot, we're talking with Sara Garcia, the strategy and outreach manager at Crooked Media—home of Pod Save America—about everything her organization does to mobilize progressives and kick GOP ass. Sara tells us how Crooked arose to fill a void in the media landscape, how it not only informs listeners but also gives them tools to take action, and some of her favorite shows that she loves to recommend to folks.
Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard also discuss the Republican shitshow currently unfolding in Congress—and starkly different outcomes in two state legislatures that just elected new House speakers via bipartisan coalitions; the landslide win for the good guys in a special election primary in Virginia; why George Santos faces serious legal trouble that will very likely end with his resignation; and the massive pushback from progressive groups and labor unions against Kathy Hochul's conservative pick to be New York's top judge.
(@RepMTG) 
