- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
The House GOP picked Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest speaker nominee Tuesday evening, though the Louisiana Republican so far lacks the 217 votes needed to win the gavel – the latest sign that Republicans are still no closer to electing a new speaker three weeks after Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster.
The vote for Johnson came at the end of a tumultuous day that began when Republicans voted to elect Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer as speaker nominee only for Emmer drop out just hours later amid stiff resistance from the right flank of the conference and a major rebuke from former President Donald Trump.
In the final round of secret-ballot voting, Johnson was elected speaker nominee with 128 votes. McCarthy received 43 votes, the next highest tally, and some House Republicans are blaming the California Republican for undercutting Johnson’s ascent. Ahead of Tuesday night’s votes, some members raised the idea of a McCarthy tag team with Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan to solve the speakership stalemate – with McCarthy returning as speaker and then making Jordan his “assistant speaker,” sources told CNN.
That might be valid if we were still dealing with the politics of yesteryear where the assumption was that politicians would compromise and vote for their constituents best interests and not simply their political party no matter what.
The fatal flaw of the founding fathers was that they assumed men would continue to have a conscience and morality. They felt that perhaps one or two bad apples might find their way into political positions, but couldn’t fathom an entire party of them.
When you have a party of traitors working to undermine democracy, you no longer are able to function as intended.