Tyranny of the Wackadoodle Caucus
If they are not stopped now, they will bring down the Institution
What an utter disgrace America and the world witnessed today when Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate the Speaker’s Chair, raising money off of it in the process.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) with a razor thin margin has accomplished much, including, just last week, a continuing resolution that would have kept the government open for 45 more days that was strong on the border and another step in the right direction on spending, as our congressional leaders continued to work through the very difficult issues of spending and governance.
But, 21 Republican House members withheld their support because it did not go far enough. Gaetz, the preening prima donna, demanding 12 single subject appropriation bills, said no dice. So, on Saturday, September 30, with the government poised to shut down, Speaker McCarthy joined with Democrats to keep it open for 45 more days with a less satisfactory bill.
In retaliation, eight of the 21 Republicans voted today to oust a House Speaker — the first time in American history — the final vote, 216-210, with the eight Republicans joining all of the Democrats to vote to remove McCarthy.
What complete, total and utter insanity.
Speaker McCarthy, putting country first, said tonight in his remarks after being ousted, that he will not put his name in nomination.
But, if he wants to put country first, he must allow his name to be put in nomination.
Republicans were on the verge of accomplishing so much, notably, getting to the bottom of historic official corruption with the start of the Comer inquiry last Thursday.
And, now we have this circus, including Speaker McCarthy moving out of his office in the midst of so much important work that needs to get done.
Is Gaetz nuts?
Or, is he secretly a part of the swamp, a very smart Wellesley friend called and asked me tonight.
A good question.
For, whether or not he knows it, Gaetz is the swamp’s best weapon in defeating the Republican agenda.
As Donald Trump wisely asked on Truth Social just before 2 p.m. in the lead up to the vote: “Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country?”
That’s the key question.
Now, it’s time for the Kamikazi conservatives, as Mark Levin calls these disrupters, to get out of the way so the real work can get done.
We can not run the House if eight Republicans can join with the Democrat minority to stop anything they don’t agree with.
That’s not democracy.
That’s the tyranny of a tiny minority.
Call it the wackadoodle caucus.
Mary Claire Kendall is author of Oasis: Conversion Stories of Hollywood Legends, published in Madrid under the title También Dios pasa por Hollywood. She has completed a biography about Betty Hutton, as well Oasis II, featuring six more legends of Hollywood, and is currently writing a book about the life of Ernest Hemingway viewed through the prism of faith due to be published in late 2024.