Speaker search starts over as Scalise drops out

GOP House has now gone 10 days without a leader

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 13, 2023:

• Republicans to meet again today on Speaker search.

• Sen. Menendez hit with new criminal charge.

• Too many Americans aren’t paying their taxes.

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HOUSE GOP. Republicans in Congress are ending the week the way they started it - still searching for a Speaker of the House, ten days after a group of eight rebels joined with Democrats to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy. GOP lawmakers will gather again this morning to discuss the way forward; it’s not clear if the House will vote today - or if this struggle will continue into the weekend, or even next week.

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SPEAKER. A day after winning his party's nomination to be Speaker of the House, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) dropped his bid for the post last night, unable to muster enough GOP votes to win a majority on the House floor. It again plunged House Republicans into turmoil in their search for a Speaker, renewing questions about the willingness of the GOP to rally around a new leader.

• SCALISE. Obviously short on votes, Scalise went to the second closed door meeting of the day for Republicans and told his colleagues he was withdrawing. "This country is counting on us to come back together," Scalise told reporters, as he took a jab at fellow Republicans who would not support his election. "We need to open up the House again."

• SHOCKED. GOP lawmakers were stunned by the turn of events. "I'm thoroughly disappointed in the process," said Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO). "For some reason, there seems to be a small group that doesn't want to work with the team," said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY). "He doesn't deserve to be treated this way," Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) said of Scalise.

WHAT'S NEXT? Some Republicans immediately turned to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) - who lost to Scalise on Wednesday. "Jim should be given the opportunity to get to 217 votes," said Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY). But that might not work. "We're gonna have the same problem with Jordan we had with Scalise," said Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA). "I think it's a math problem, frankly."

• JORDAN. And even before Jordan could start making calls for support, there were red flags raised by other Republicans about him. Think of it this way - Jordan probably is not going to be running against anyone else today for Speaker, and yet he is unlikely to reach 217 votes among Republicans.

• MCCARTHY. Still mad about how ex-Speaker McCarthy was booted out earlier this month, some of his backers are trying to drum up support to restore him to the post. "Let's start acting like a majority again," Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) wrote in a letter asking to have a new GOP vote on McCarthy.

• OTHERS. I could see two others getting into the race for Speaker - House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK). Whether they can win is another discussion.

• POWERBALL. Another Republican suggested drawing straws. "We should just have a lottery," said Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA). "If you lose, you have to be Speaker."

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CHAOS. Democrats said the inability of Republicans to elect a Speaker was an absolute embarrassment. "Congress is in total crisis because Republicans can't even pick a leader let alone govern," said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ). "Their disorder and indecision," said Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), "imperils the national security of our nation."

• BIPARTISAN. "The House does not need to be a chamber of chaos," the Blue Dog Coalition said in a statement, as Democrats appealed to Republicans to work across the aisle on a coalition Speaker. I still say this option is very unlikely to happen - but the longer Republicans fail, the more it gets talked about.

• GRIDDLE. "I think in the end, a bipartisan way may be the only answer, because we have eight to ten people who do not want to be part of the governing majority," said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE). "That makes us a minority."

• 117TH CONGRESS. Again, Democrats had the exact same slim majority as the GOP in the last Congress, but Democrats passed major bills without any hints of an internal rebellion. "What do we get with Republicans in control?" said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). "Chaos. Dysfunction. Extremism."

• GOP. I'll say this again - very little of what you have watched from House Republicans in the past few weeks - really, for most of this year - is normal.

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COALITION. As the GOP stumbled again, Democrats turned up the public heat on Republicans - pressing them to actually join a bipartisan governing coalition in the House. They know full well that's an unlikely choice for moderate Republicans - but it's an easy shot to take across the aisle.

• DEMS. "To the so-called 'Moderate Republicans' who love to talk about bipartisanship, here is your chance," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA). "Moderates in Name Only," said Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), "aren't interested in governing." "There is no governing majority in the House GOP," added Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL).

• WORKING MAJORITY. If you think about it, there have been two big laws passed out of Congress this year: the debt limit / budget deal, and the temporary funding plan to keep the government running. House Republicans needed Democratic votes to make sure both of those were approved.

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HALLWAYS. As I stood in the basement of the Capitol yesterday watching GOP lawmakers get mobbed as they walked into yet another closed door meeting, I was thinking - how best can I explain this scene? Mainly, it just seems hard to believe that Republicans can't pick someone to be the new boss. How hard can this really be?

• MAJORITY. But the more we talk to GOP lawmakers, and the more stories we hear about what was going on behind the scenes - the more it seems that House Republicans are not ready for prime time. In a sense, they are better at being in the minority - then actually being in charge.

• THE BIG LEAGUES. The GOP troubles in the House come at a time when playoff baseball is upon us. That made me think of an old line from Casey Stengel - which applies to the GOP. "Can't anybody here play this game?" That's my column this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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REGULAR ORDER. It has been a wild last few weeks - and if you’re not getting this each day, you are missing some real gems from Capitol Hill. “Your newsletter is worth every penny,” one reader wrote this week. Since I can’t go on TV or radio to publicize my newsletter, you can help me out by signing up, giving someone a gift subscription, or you can always just buy me a drink.

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MENENDEZ. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) isn't the only lawmaker who was hit with a new criminal indictment this week by the Justice Department - as the feds dropped one yesterday on embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ). The court filing added new criminal charges against the New Jersey Democrat for failing to register as a foreign agent on behalf of the government of Egypt.

• SENATE. Basically, the feds are saying that the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was on the take for the Egyptians. "As a public official, ROBERT MENENDEZ, the defendant, was prohibited from serving as a foreign agent," the updated indictment read.

• IRONY ALERT. The feds cited two letters that Menendez wrote in 2020 and 2022 to ask for a probe of a former member of Congress 'for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent.' That involved actions by ex-Rep. David Rivera (R-FL), amid questions about his ties to the government of Venezuela.

• CREATIVE. While there were no new tales of gold bars, or cash stuffed in jacket pockets, the details once again about Menendez - and his wife Nadine - were head-shaking. "Nadine Menendez forms an LLC to receive bribe payments.” Their trial is currently slated to start on May 6, 2024.

• EXPEL. Like Santos, there are some who want to expel Menendez - especially since this is his second brush with a federal indictment. "We cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate," said Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who said Menendez should be expelled. "This is not a close call."

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TRUMP. In the aftermath of the Hamas attacks on Israel this week, I would not have anticipated that former President Donald Trump would be attacking Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. But Trump used a speech in Florida on Wednesday night to do exactly that, once again stirring the waters as only Trump can do.

• IRAN. Trump brought up the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian military general in early 2020. For whatever reasons, Netanyahu did not want to be involved. Trump was still peeved about it. "I'll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down," Trump said. "That was a very terrible thing."

• SMART. In his remarks, Trump called the Hezbollah terror group, 'very smart.' He also referred to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as 'a very tough, smart guy.' And he called President Xi of China 'a very smart man.'

• TEDDY. In the same speech, Trump also mentioned former Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). "I did him a big favor," Trump said. "He was a smart guy, by the way, Ted Kennedy, very smart, great politician."

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TAX GAP. The estimated budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2023 is around $1.7 trillion, which is a completely ridiculous amount of red ink. But what if I told you that we could reduce that deficit by over $600 billion - more than one-third - just by one simple thing? What is that one thing? It is people paying their taxes.

• REPORT. The latest IRS report on the tax gap - which is the amount of taxes that people legitimately owe to Uncle Sam, but do not pay - shows Americans did not pay about $625 billion in taxes in 2021.

• NUMBER. Of the $625 billion that people don't pay in federal taxes that they owe, $77 billion is chalked up to people who just don't file tax returns. The biggest part - $542 billion - is from people who don't report all of their income on their federal tax returns.

• BUSINESS. It’s not really a big surprise where the tax gap is mainly focused - about half is due to unreported income by small businesses and the self-employed. Unpaid corporate taxes total an estimated $40 billion. Much more in this handy graphic from the IRS.

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RAP SHEET. A former President of college Republicans at Binghamton University will find out his sentence today for his actions on Jan. 6. Jon Lizak was part of a group of five men who entered the Capitol, and pushed their way into the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Lizak stood by as one person in his group assaulted a police officer.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.   October 13, 1942.  In the midst of World War II on this date, the House voted 254-84 for a bill to outlaw poll taxes - which was brought up by a discharge petition.  Southerners were furious.  "I consider this the most vicious piece of legislation that has ever been before the National Congress," said Rep. John Gibson of Georgia, who said northerners were trying to 'set up a dictatorship.'  "If the Negro of the country is expected to defend his countrymen," said Rep. Michael Kennedy of New York, "how can anyone say that he is not entitled to participate in the government of that country?"

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House could vote on a new Speaker.

The Senate next has votes on Monday.

Check President Biden’s schedule.

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Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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