Crunch time arrives for McCarthy in bid for Speaker
Democrats to release more details of Trump's taxes
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for December 30, 2022:
New depositions released by Jan. 6 panel.
The Omnibus gets a plane ride.
GOP leaders still silent about Santos.
MCCARTHY. Instead of enjoying a coronation, GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is still working to get enough votes to be elected the next Speaker of the House. More moderate allies spoke out in favor of McCarthy on Thursday - but the California Republican does not have a deal yet with conservatives who have pressed for a series of rules changes. The vote for Speaker is on Tuesday.
BACKERS. "There is no other conservative candidate that can garner the support of 218 Republicans for Speaker - period," a group of 13 Republicans wrote in a letter to GOP colleagues yesterday. They said they are not open to any GOP candidate for Speaker - other than McCarthy.
LETTER. "Let us be clear: we are not only supporting Kevin McCarthy for Speaker, but are not open to any so-called shadow 'consensus candidate' - regardless of how many votes it takes," the group added. No race for Speaker has gone to a second ballot since 1923.
RULES. The biggest hurdle continues to be rules and procedural changes for the new Congress. McCarthy critics want the right to offer more amendments to bills on the floor - and they want to be able to force a vote to get rid of the Speaker at any time, what’s known as the ‘motion to vacate the chair.’
BIGGS. With McCarthy working behind the scenes, and doing no press interviews - that's left the field clear for House rebels to get their message out in more conservative media. "I don’t see any scenario where I’d support Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker," Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) told Fox News.
GUTS. If members of the Freedom Caucus want to derail McCarthy, they can easily do that on Tuesday. My experience with them is that they talk a big game - but rarely follow through. If they do - they still haven’t identified who they want instead of McCarthy, and why it would be better.
THE LETTER C. When the roll is called in alphabetical order on Tuesday, there are two key votes in the C's - Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) and Rep.-Elect Eli Crane (R-AZ). They both signed a letter pressing for the motion to vacate change and more. Their votes on Tuesday could tell us where this is going.
NERD NOTE. And yes, I am nerdy enough to have a spreadsheet going with the names of all 222 Republicans and whether they’ve taken a public stance on McCarthy as Speaker.
AGENDA. No matter who becomes the next Speaker of the House, look for Republicans to focus on illegal immigration and spending - but the GOP agenda has been badly overshadowed in recent weeks by the race for Speaker. That’s my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
TRUMP TAXES. The House Ways and Means Committee has released documents and details about six years of tax returns filed by former President Donald Trump, between 2015 and 2020. "Friday's release of Donald Trump's tax returns has been a long time coming," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). You can download the .zip file at this link.
DETAILS. Should we expect bombshells today from the Trump documents? I'm still skeptical of that - but we'll see. We already know the toplines of how much in net federal taxes Trump paid in those six years:
2015 - $641,931
2016 - $750
2017 - $750
2018 - $999,466
2019 - $133,445
2020 - $0
BIDEN. I'm sure I'll get messages today from someone demanding that President Biden be forced to release his taxes, too. Remember - that's happened on a regular basis when Biden was Vice President, and now President.
IRS. No matter what the details show from these tax returns, Democrats have already shed light on how the IRS failed to audit Trump. That is supposed to happen every year for the President, but somehow did not for Trump. Four years in office, four tax returns not audited.
OMNIBUS. President Biden signed the giant Omnibus government funding bill into law on Thursday - capping what he described as a 'year of historic progress.' "It'll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, VAWA funding – and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine," Biden said.
SEPTEMBER 30. Don't forget - this Omnibus doesn't last that long. In nine months, we could be back at another government shutdown deadline, at the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2023. My early bet is that there will be a shutdown. If you’re a federal worker - save your money now.
PLANE RIDE. The Omnibus was not formally enrolled in Congress until after Biden had left the White House for his holiday break - so, the bill had to be flown down to St. Croix. It evidently hitched a ride on a commercial jet.
EARMARKS. It took a while to get a clean copy of the earmarks in this bill, but you can now find it at this link. It’s 702 pages in all, starting with $117,000 for work on a wastewater treatment plant in Arkansas, and ending with $531,000 for a food bank in Wyoming.
REGULAR ORDER. What a crazy time it’s going to be on Capitol Hill next week - and for at least the next few months - as Congress moves back to divided government. Give your friends the gift of straight news, or sign up for your own subscription - and hire me as your personal Capitol Hill correspondent.
SOUTHWEST. With Southwest Airlines finally ready to get back to a normal flight schedule, the slings and arrows have not stopped from the Congress. "Displaced passengers and baggage must be accounted for and reimbursed promptly," said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who spoke with airline executives on Thursday.
I FLY SWA. It became even more apparent yesterday that other airlines were fine - and Southwest was not. "As a former active Southwest pilot, words cannot describe my disappointment," said Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-TX). "Stranding so many during the holidays is completely unacceptable," added Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX).
GOP. Some Republicans continued to try to blame the Transportation Secretary for Southwest's own failings. "Is there a single transportation sector that hasn’t faced a crisis under Pete Buttigieg?" said Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
MAYOR PETE. Buttigieg meanwhile urged travelers who had their flights canceled to tell the feds all the details. "If your Southwest flight was delayed or canceled, and you are denied compensation for flights not taken or expenses like meals, hotels, and ground transport, please submit a complaint to DOT."
JANUARY 6. As the special committee investigating the Capitol Attack officially withdrew its subpoena for former President Donald Trump, the panel released more deposition transcripts on Thursday, just a few days before the panel will cease to exist.
EPPS. Many Republicans have accused Ray Epps of being a fed, and instigating violence on Jan. 6. Epps testified the 'crazies started coming out of the woodwork' after Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) claimed Epps was an undercover agent. "I'm being used to further their agenda," Epps said.
MASTRIANO. Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano - who was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 - tried to call Vice President Pence on the phone during the attack. The committee tried to ask Mastriano - who lost a bid for Governor this year - about that day, but his lawyer cut off the video feed for the deposition.
POLICE CHIEF. Stephen Sund, who headed the Capitol Police, was asked what should have been done differently. Sund said the House and Senate chambers should have been evacuated much more quickly - before there were rioters just outside the doors. Sund said one of the first calls he got was from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who said, "I told you this was going to happen."
WHITE HOUSE. Trump's Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah Griffin said after the 2020 election was a strange time. At one meeting, Dr. Deborah Birx asked Jared Kushner if they should start briefing the Biden team about the COVID outbreak. "Absolutely not," Kushner said.
VIVA DE LA SANTOS. Thursday was another day of bad press for Rep.-Elect George Santos (R-NY), as more examples came to light of the New York Republican saying things which were totally false. Meanwhile, House GOP leaders again maintained radio silence about whether he should still show up for the new Congress on Tuesday.
PANTS ON FIRE. Outside the Nassau County Courthouse on Long Island, Democrats blasted Santos. "George Santos must be investigated by all appropriate authorities, particularly surrounding his shady business dealings and mystery millions," said New York state Sen. Anna Kaplan (D).
SWEARING-IN. CNN obtained an invitation where the Santos campaign was hawking donations in exchange for activities on Capitol Hill, including tours on Jan. 3. "I can’t imagine it’s ethical to use tours of the Capitol to raise money," said Rep.-Elect Greg Landsman (D-OH).
MORE FIBS. Santos has already given conflicting details about the death of his mother. Santos said she was in the World Trade Center on 9/11, but there's no evidence of that. Meanwhile, going back into the old tweets from Santos has also been an interesting trip.
SEAT. Remember - on Jan. 3, any member could ask that Santos not be sworn into office. The last time that happened was in 2021, when Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) asked that the delegations from Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin not be seated.
GOP INVESTIGATIONS. House Republicans hit the roof on Thursday after the White House leaked out its response to GOP demands for information related to new investigations in the 118th Congress. "Big Media and Big Government are already working together to block legitimate congressional oversight," said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
INFO. Jordan was upset because the White House told Republicans that no official response will be made to letters asking for information - until the GOP is actually in charge of the House. "They can delay, but Republicans are committed to giving the American people accountability," said Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL).
LEAK. I had to chuckle about the complaints from Republicans, who have regularly leaked stories to conservative media. This will be one of the big flashpoints between the GOP and the Biden White House - as Republicans are expected to send a flurry of requests for documents and other information.
MUSE OF HISTORY. December 30, 1842. On this date, President John Tyler told Congress that the United States would defend the independence of the Hawaiian Islands - basically extending the Monroe Doctrine to that region of the world - what's often referred to as the 'Tyler Doctrine.' Tyler recommended that Congress should approve money to send a consul to the island to represent American interests - a few weeks later, the House considered exactly that. The U.S. formally annexed Hawaii in 1898.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House will next hold votes on January 3.
The Senate will convene for the 118th Congress on January 3.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
The vote for Speaker is done by alphabetical roll call. It is conceivable that the House could change its rules for this one time - but unlikely.
The fact that you regularly embrace your ‘nerdiness ’ and provide us readers with a fairly succinct and understandable translation of obscure and little known (outside the Beltway) procedural and political maneuvering is alone, worth the price of admission. Hopefully you take a full vacation sometime in 2023 - you could aggregate and republish an entire Regular Order on past ‘Nerd Notes’ on it’s own. Sort of a ‘best of’ as you well know broadcaster’s often do.
And I feel good going into January knowing that you’re diligently maintaining that ‘McCarthy votes’ spreadsheet. 😎
It’s been a great 2022 and I excitedly await my forthcoming emails from you. Happy New Year, to the gentleman from Regular Order’