Asking For A Friend

I’ve lost the plot. What do they want to investigate him for, again? https://t.co/JWZRvQy6JS

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) January 8, 2023

Shot. And chaser:

BARTIROMO: If you find there was actual evidence of wrongdoing, will you support impeaching Joe Biden?

BYRON DONALDS: Oh, that's something that will happen. pic.twitter.com/t6UkgIA8rE

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 8, 2023

When a party becomes autocratic, it needs to renew its cadres to support a culture of lawlessness. Criminals populate the party elite to set the tone. That's what happened in Italy and Germany during Fascism and that's what happening in the US today. See #Strongmen for details. https://t.co/Qegu1IIcx1

— Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@ruthbenghiat) January 8, 2023

The GOP impeached Clinton, and lost the Congress in the next election. The GOP shut down the government under Obama. That broke the Tea Party. That “culture of lawlessness”? It’s not going to get very far. And it’s going to eat itself alive trying to control McCarthy. They don’t have a majority. They only have the veto power the rest of the GOP lets them have. Which means the Speaker race was a one off. It also means they probably won’t get another shot at it.

And impeachment? It takes a simple majority.  It would just take a few Republicans to keep it from happening. Kevin can’t count. (There’s always the possibility the GOP will be suicidal, too.)

McCarthy won the gavel because he’s the only one who wanted it. If the Freedom Caucus takes him down, who will replace him? It’s a Constitutional office. They have to fill it. They may want to yank McCarthy’s chain, but if they yank too hard, then what?

And they’d need the votes to get a new Speaker elected. If they want to challenge McCarthy, does one vote remove him? Or just challenge him?

That’s if those rules pass. What if those rules don’t pass?  They aren’t the rules yet. And Kevin can’t count.

So how much power does the HFC have, really? Now, or for the next two years?