Sunday, October 1, 2023

Does Rep. Gaetz have a plan?

Update:

It should be noted that substantial support is in the GOP caucus for funding Ukraine, and therefore Ukraine will get the funding anyway.

end update

After the latest CR, the onus is now on Rep. Gaetz to make good on the threat to remove McCarthy as Speaker.

The tweet below shows that McCarthy cannot advance a Ukraine funding bill without violating GOP conference rules. It seems that McCarthy may have already violated conference rules in order to advance the CR bill though.

Could Gaetz use that and other tactics to show that McCarthy should be ousted? If the CR violated Republican conference rules, then the complaint about Gaetz using Democrats to oust McCarthy will not hold water. There are those who complain that for Gaetz to appeal to Dems to oust McCarthy is dividing the Republican conference. Gaetz can ask the pertinent question---What is more divisive than to go over the heads of the conference, and to appeal to Democrats to pass a CR that may not have passed through the conference either?

If Gaetz appeals to Democrats to oust McCarthy, they'll cry hypocrisy. But they are already hypocrites themselves. Actually, it would be poetic justice if McCarthy goes down this way.

This is a big test for Gaetz. If he succeeds, his stature will increase.

I'd be more worried about McCarthy. Surely he knows this, so he may have his own plan.







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