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- House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, guy who just seated George Santos on two committees
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Kevin McCarthy is…not running a tight ship in the House. I know, I know. It's hard to believe.
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The pithless House Speaker has officially denied seats on the House intelligence committee to Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA)—an act of straight-up retribution to appease Donald Trump loyalists, with no merit whatsoever. His decision set off alarm bells in Washington, as Schiff is the respected former committee chairman, and Republicans have barely even tried to conceal the fact that they’ve politicized national security oversight on behalf of a guy who tried to overthrow the U.S. government. In a letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pretending to justify his decision, McCarthy stated, hilariously, “I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee.”
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McCarthy pretending to clutch his pearls in the name of eschewing “partisan loyalty” is patently absurd considering not only the fact that he booted Schiff and Swalwell from the Intelligence committee for being too mean to Trump, but also because he oversaw the creation of a select subcommittee on the “weaponization” of the federal government to “investigate” the lawmakers and intelligence agencies who were too mean to January 6 insurrectionists. He then filled the subcommittee with GOP hard-liners and insurrectionists, signaling that it is, in fact, another extension of House Republican plans for revenge-based governance.
- To add insult to injury, McCarthy appointed the high priestess of anti-vaxx, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), to another new nonsense subcommittee that will waste government time and resources, this one investigating the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The lady who as recently as five minutes ago was calling it the “so-called pandemic,” and makes regular batshit claims that vaccines cause lifelong injuries and are a tool of liberal state control, will be “investigating” the government’s pandemic response? The same woman who compared mask requirements to “the type of abuse” suffered by Jews during the Holocaust in May 2021 on the House floor? The one who called for Dr. Anthony Fauci to be imprisoned? The one who spread so many Covid-related conspiracy theories she was banned from Twitter? Yep! That’s the one!
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So the committee assignments are a fucking mess and the subcommittees are a sham, empaneled for the solitary purpose of creating Republican propaganda, but there’s also the fact that McCarthy and his feral caucus are running must-pass legislation into the ground.
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As if we needed an even clearer sign that the debt limit needs to be abolished, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) basically admitted in a press conference today that its sole function is to be a tool of Republican obstruction and extortion. McCarthy is a weasel, which we already knew, but at least he’s also reneging on promises he made to his own members, as well. On Tuesday, he told reporters that he opposes the so-called “Fair Tax Act”—the controversial/batshit Republican bill that would abolish the IRS, abolish federal income tax, and replace it with a 30 percent sales tax. A proposal so preposterously bad, ideologically extreme, and politically indefensible that even McCarthy could not make lemonade out of it. So for now, that bill is thankfully DOA, but the rest of the GOP’s debt-limit extortion racket rages on.
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Not content to simply let Democrats do the right thing and refuse to negotiate with hostage takers, their most famous centrist, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), decided to yuk it up with McCarthy, coal-burning-fan-to-coal-burning-fan. Manchin met with McCarthy to urge the speaker to negotiate with President Biden over the debt limit, despite the fact that nearly all leading Democrats say that the party should not negotiate with terrorists Republicans over the debt limit. Manchin’s big idea seems to be to undermine their principled stance for no good reason, place the global economy under dire threat, and risk setting a precedent that Republicans should get paid ransom for their extremism.
When it took five days and 15 votes to elect McCarthy as Speaker, we knew his time with the gavel would be a shitshow, but less than one month into the new term it’s kind of staggering just how bad he is at the job and how dangerous that is for the country. And unless it results in humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat for Republicans this is going to be an extremely long couple of years.
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The Biden administration unveiled a “Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights” and an accompanying set of administrative actions today, in a significant step forward for the tenants' rights movement. The outline lays out a series of principles on which the federal government and its subsidiaries should take action, including “access to safe, quality, accessible, and affordable housing,” and “clear and fair leases.” As part of the announcement, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and federal mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (remember those guys?) said they will look into the possibility of establishing tenant protections that limit “egregious rent increases” at properties backed by certain federal mortgages. The Federal Trade Commission will look into ways to expand its authority and take action against practices that “unfairly prevent consumers from obtaining and retaining housing.” The Department of Housing and Urban Development, for its part, will move toward requiring certain rental-property owners to provide at least 30 days notice for evictions caused by nonpayment of rent, and will award $20 million to the Eviction Protection Grant Program. This could have enormous positive outcomes, as some 35 percent of Americans are renters. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who chairs the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released a statement praising the set of directives. Some good news in Under the Radar! We did it, Joe.
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Germany and the United States announced today that they will send battle tanks to Ukraine, after the two countries who showed initial hesitancy to do so made the joint decision to provide Ukraine with additional armaments.
Meta announced that it will be reinstating disgraced former president Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks after a two-year suspension following January 6, but that he will face “heightened penalties” if he breaks content rules. Oh good, that makes us feel so much better! What could go wrong?
Pope Francis said in an interview that, “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” and called on Catholic bishops to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. He criticized laws which criminalize consensual same-sex relationships as “unjust.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says prolific liaress Rep. George Santos (R-NY) will be removed from Congress if the Congressional Ethics Committee finds that he broke the law. Yeah, man, that’s called “the bare minimum.”
A company that manufactures one of two abortion pills available in the United States is arguing in a new lawsuit that it’s unconstitutional for a state to bar access to an FDA-approved medication.
Facing an already-difficult map, Senate Democrats are getting nervous about possible retirements of their colleagues like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Tester (D-MT) leaving vacancies in states Trump won in 2020. We’ve always said Joe Manchin was extremely handsome, to say nothing of Mr. Tester.
The Bank of Canada hiked its central interest rate to the highest level in 15 years today, becoming the first major central bank to say it will likely hold off on further increases.
Former White House Strategist and convicted Bad Guy™ Steve Bannon says that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) believes that she is on the short list to be named Trump’s 2024 running mate. We certainly live in a reality hellish enough for that to happen!
Twitter and YouTube censored a report critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in coordination with the right-wing Indian government. Government officials there also called for Big Tech companies to take action against a BBC documentary exploring Modi’s role in a 2002 genocide in the Indian state of Gujarat. Elon Musk: “free speech absolutist!!!” except for journalists criticizing right-wing despots.
Ye, the rapper more commonly known as Kanye West, might be denied entry to Australia because of his increasingly-regular antisemitic statements.
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Fani Willis (D-GA), the Fulton County, GA, district attorney, has promised that charging decisions are “imminent” in the special grand jury investigation of Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. She also argued Tuesday that the special grand jury’s report, which includes charging recommendations, should be withheld from public view to protect the rights of the (soon-to-be?) accused. It’s unclear as to whether Willis will file charges, as prosecutors often decline to pursue criminal cases against defendants, as Trump himself has learned over the years. However, many legal experts find it hard to imagine that the grand jury wouldn’t recommend charging Trump, based on the infamous call in which he asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” to steal Georgia’s electoral college votes from Joe Biden. Trump also made false accusations about “mishandled ballots” and led the fake electors scheme organized by his campaign, for good measure. Whatever happens, we just want to see Rudy Giuliani cry.
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Over 300 Amazon warehouse workers in the U.K. went on strike today over inadequate pay (their most recent “raise” was only an additional 50 pence per hour) and extreme monitoring, including accusations that their bathroom breaks are timed. It’s the first Amazon worker strike in Britain, and we’re right chuffed to see it.
Remember how we told you yesterday that Twitter reinstated the account of virulent White Nationalist and antisemite Nick Fuentes? Well, less than 24 hours later, he’s already been suspended again. Who would’ve guessed a Nazi would use Twitter to convene a virtual Nazi rally? Not Elon Musk, apparently ;-)!
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