House GOP cannot shoot straight; Kevin McCarthy cannot count straight

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi can count votes. She rarely if ever lost an important House vote as she and her team knew where her troops stood.

In his first (and perhaps last) year as Speaker, Kevin McCarthy has experienced failure after failure, expecting victory that was not realized.

Twice he attempted to bring the Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Appropriations Bill to the House floor, only to be blocked by just a few of his hard right Maga conservatives who have many grievances.

So Maladroit McCarthy devised a new strategy. He would bring to the House floor four appropriations bills to demonstrate that Republicans were able to legislate regular appropriations bill as a prelude to bringing up a Continuing Resolution – a bill to keep the government running at the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1.

On September 27 and 28, McCarthy put on the floor the defense appropriations bill, the State Department appropriations and two other bills. And he permitted a wide variety of crazy and extreme amendments to be offered by his troops no matter how outrageous and harmful.

One successful amendment GOP amendment would cut Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s annual salary to $1.00. Another amendment slashed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s salary to the same level. Some half dozen Biden officials received the same treatment.

Other successful amendments would prevent funds to carry out the Administration’s climate change policies, eliminate funding for the Pentagon’s offices of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, prohibit the provision of gender transition procedures, and block requiring soldiers to receive a vaccination against COVID-19 or enforcing any COVID-19 mask mandates.

There were many other amendments offered, some unsuccessfully, but which enabled Maga Republicans to go after any and all “woke” policies they objected to.

Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern responded to these amendments: “Senate Republicans and Democrats are working together to keep the government open—but House Republicans can’t stop fighting with themselves. It’s pathetic.”

After all these bills were considered, McCarthy calculated that his Republican colleagues would vote for a measure to keep the government open for 31 days into the new fiscal year. To help ensure its passage, McCarthy proposed as part of the new bill 30% cuts to most federal agencies and added new asylum and immigration restrictions. He also eliminated aid to Ukraine as part of this bill. While there are clear House and Senate majorities to continue aid to Ukraine, Ukraine aid would have led the hardest right GOP to vote against the measure.

Despite all those stratagems, McCarthy still lost the vote 198-132.

McCarthy could still save face by putting on the House floor a bipartisan Senate Continuing Resolution. But with virtually all Democrats joining many Republicans in favor, some Members like Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) or Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) would offer a privileged motion to fire McCarthy as Speaker. It can’t come too soon.

What happens next: almost surely a government shutdown Sunday of uncertain duration.