It's quite obvious that Rep. Steve Scalise doesn't have the votes for Speaker, and he's turning to House GOP Armed Services committee chair Rep. Mike Rogers to make an overture to House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to play Let's Make A Deal! again.
“They put us in this ditch along with eight traitors,” Rogers said, referring to hardline GOP dissidents who toppled Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week. “We’re still the majority party, we’re willing to work with them, but they gotta tell us what they need.”
Rogers said the Republicans’ speaker nominee, Steve Scalise, is in the same situation McCarthy was in struggling to get the 217 votes needed for election. A lot of Republicans, Rogers said, would never vote for conservative firebrand Jim Jordan, who narrowly lost to Scalise on a secret ballot vote Wednesday.
“To limit ourselves to just getting 217 out of our conference I think is not a wise path forward,” Rogers said.
Rogers said the disarray in the House is endangering US national security and preventing approval for aid to Israel in its war with Hamas.
“It is perilous what’s happening in Israel right now. It could get much worse,” Rogers said. “And we’re paralyzed right now.”
Jeffries has Scalise, Rogers, and the GOP Clown Show over a barrel, and it's the worst-kept secret in Washington. The October 7th attack by Hamas has suddenly made it very necessary for the Speaker fight to be ended.
Democrats are ready to form a bipartisan coalition to lead the House, Jeffries said.
“The House of Representatives has been broken by chaos, dysfunction and extremism,” Jeffries said. “The only way out is to enter into an enlightened bipartisan coalition of the willing in order to get things back on track.”
The leadership vacuum in the US House has rendered Congress unable to act on legislation.
Another Republican, David Joyce of Ohio, told reporters he’s contacted Democrats about expanding the authority of acting Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry of North Carolina so that the House can act on legislation. Joyce said he has proposed granting McHenry such powers for a limited period of time — perhaps 30 or 60 days — and Democrats have been amenable to that approach to act on issues like Israel.
Steve Womack, a senior Republican appropriator, supports that idea. The “only other option,” he said, is for Democrats to enable election of a Republican speaker nominee by voting “present,” lowering the threshold needed for victory.
Jeffries has offered discussions on a bipartisan path forward. But Rogers said Democrats should make a specific offer that could provide a basis for opening negotiations.
“They haven’t offered jack,” Rogers said.
It's not on Hakeem Jeffries or the Democrats to offer the Clown Show anything. You'd think someone would tell Rogers his negotiation position is the equivalent of a man standing on a burning bridge. Besides, McCarthy made it clear he wouldn't negotiate in good faith, and it looks like Rogers is going down this same path.
We'll see what backchannel offers can be brought up, but my guess is that Jeffries has had plenty of time to name his price to help Scalise, and who knows if the Clown Show will agree to anything.
[UPDATE] No, they won't. Scalise has withdrawn his name from the race for Speaker.
The Clown Show rolls on.
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