Same sort of new speaker.
New Year, new Congress, same old problems
January 3, 2024
Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) is resigning from Congress effective January 21. This leaves the balance in the House at 219 Republicans to 213 Democrats, with three seats still vacant.
The GOP can only afford to have two members break ranks before it cannot pass legislation.
Bill Johnson is resigning in order to become President of Youngstown State University.
January 8, 2024
Congressional leaders have reached a spending limits agreement that may, perhaps, help avoid more government shutdown brinksmanship this month.
January 12, 2024
Re the January 8 item, not all are happy in the GOP ranks. Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio:“I’m not going to sit there and listen to that drivel, because he has no plans to do anything but surrender"
Johnson could be in trouble.
January 14, 2024
Congress reached a budget deal, featuring of course a continuing resolution that kicks the can into March.
January 21, 2024
Marjorie Taylor Greene has been booted out of the House Freedom Caucus for attacking other GOP members in the House, most particularly, apparently, Lauren Boebert.
Green appears to be the one single person in the House absolutely nobody can stand.
January 25, 2024
January 26, 2024
I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is … really appalling.
But the reality is that, that we have a crisis at the border, the American people are suffering as a result of what’s happening at the border. And someone running for president not to try and get the problem solved. as opposed to saying, ‘hey, save that problem. Don’t solve it. Let me take credit for solving it later.’
Mitt Romney
January 27, 2024
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson declared that a budget measure that the Senate did pass providing aid to Ukraine and addressing the US/Mexico border may be dead on arrival at the House.
Trump appears to wish to preserve the border issues, and a second of today's GOP opposes aid to Ukraine. An unresolved weirdness of populist and Putin, acquired from Trump, remains unresolved.
January 29, 2024
A House committee has released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding failing to enforce immigration laws and control the border, which is ironic given that the House has made it plain that it won't take up an immigration bill from the Senate which addresses the crisis at the border.
The house will approve impeaching Mayorkas and this will go for a trial in the Senate, which would have to vote 2/3s to remove him from office. That's not going to occur, and the bigger question is whether and in what form the Senate takes this up at all.
One more example of how the American government is not working right now. Something like less than 30 bills have passed the 119th which instead is engaging in political theater like this, particularly in the House.
Only once before in US history has a Cabinet member been in impeached. That was in 1876 for taking kickbacks. As a high crime or misdemeanor is required, this is really absurd. It's risky as well at this point, as it points out that this is being done as the GOP in the House is upset with Biden's failure to defend the border, and thinks that's an impeachable offense, whereas most of them didn't think that sparking an insurrection and acting in a seditious manner was an impeachable offense. Reductio ad absurdum.
January 31, 2024
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