Fogbow

Kevin McCarthy’s blame game sweeps Capitol Hill
As debt limit pressure mounts, it’s GOP leadership — not just the rank-and-file — that’s in disarray.
By RACHAEL BADE 04/07/2023 08:09 AM EDT

Soon after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy cliched the speakership, some of his allies began to fret: How the hell was he going to live up to all the promises he’d made to conservatives to win their support? How, in particular, would the California Republican pass a budget that would balance within 10 years — a tricky feat even before he took cuts to Social Security and Medicare off the table? Now, McCarthy’s chickens are coming home to roost. Under pressure from President Joe Biden and a rapidly approaching debt limit deadline, Republicans are struggling to unite behind a fiscal blueprint. Some worry they may not release any budget — let alone one that balances in a decade, let alone one that can pass.

Instead of owning up to failure, McCarthy appears to be looking for a scapegoat. Behind the scenes, he’s been trash-talking his own GOP colleagues, according to a blockbuster New York Times story Thursday by Jonathan Swan and Annie Karni. Among its revelations: McCarthy has “no confidence” in House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), whom he regards as “incompetent” and considers House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) “ineffective, checked out and reluctant to take a position on anything.”

Conversations with more than a half-dozen senior Republican lawmakers and aides revealed some additional context on the “Mean Girls” drama playing out in McCarthy’s leadership circle: There’s a reason McCarthy is singling out Arrington and Scalise, and it’s about more than just disagreements over policy or strategy. People close to McCarthy tell us that he perceives both men as disloyal — and he’s known to hold a grudge. McCarthy never forgave Scalise for an incident years ago when the Louisiana Republican refused to rule out challenging McCarthy for GOP leader, and he feels that Scalise didn’t do enough to help him win the gavel this year. As for Arrington, the Texas Republican privately floated Scalise for speaker when McCarthy was unable to lock down the votes for himself in January. McCarthy’s issues with Arrington have been apparent for a while. Several weeks ago, when Arrington suggested Republicans wouldn’t introduce a budget until May, McCarthy pushed back and said they’d do so in April — leaving Arrington’s staff scrambling to clean up the mess. Something similar happened when Arrington told reporters that Republicans were finalizing a debt ceiling offer of sorts, what he dubbed a “deal sheet,” for Biden. “I don’t know what he’s talking about,” McCarthy shot back when asked about Arrington’s comments. That jab caught several senior Republicans off guard, not just because McCarthy was publicly rebuking one of his own chairs but because the speaker was, in fact, already crafting an opening offer of sorts to Biden that was soon publicly released.

McCarthy’s defenders say that Arrington, a fiscal conservative with a reputation for wanting to move quickly, is stirring up trouble in the conference. They argue that McCarthy has to protect his frontliners and that Arrington hasn’t been sensitive enough to their political needs. They also note that some in the GOP leadership have been unimpressed with Arrington’s private budget presentations. But Arrington’s defenders say it’s unfair for McCarthy to blame him. They note that it’s odd for the speaker to call him “incompetent” despite repeatedly asking him to give presentations on fiscal matters to Republicans at both the House GOP leadership retreat earlier this year and the full GOP conference retreat in Orlando a few days ago. (At the latter, there was little pushback on a menu of options Arrington presented, and some members even stood to praise his proposals.) Another Arrington defender noted that GOP leadership is typically involved in drafting the budget given how difficult it can be to muster support on the chamber floor — especially with a slim, five-seat majority like the Republicans currently have. And yet McCarthy has given little guidance to Arrington, according to a senior GOP aide. “Jodey has been working in good faith, and has largely been hamstrung by Kevin,” the aide said. “They need someone else to blame.”

Republicans we spoke to found McCarthy’s lack of pushback on the Times story to be quite conspicuous. McCarthy, they note, rarely speaks ill of his members in meetings, and if he does, it rarely leaks. His paltry response did not go unnoticed. “He made a bunch of promises during the speaker race that were always untenable, but he made them anyway,” one senior Republican said. “At a certain point, a lot of that stuff is going to collide, and he’s getting nervous and looking for others to blame.” Senior Republicans always knew that passing a budget with a slim majority was going to be difficult. But the interesting part of all this palace intrigue is that it’s not factions inside the rank-and-file causing the problems; it’s McCarthy’s own leadership team that’s in disarray. That doesn’t bode well for House Republicans’ budget efforts — or their bid to extract concessions from Biden on the debt ceiling. And without a unified GOP front, Democrats won’t take Republican demands for spending cuts seriously. “Allies of @SpeakerMcCarthy trying to cast blame on others — before there is any actual blame to cast — doesn’t instill confidence House Rs are ready for primetime,” the Washington Post’s Paul Kane tweeted Thursday.

Updated 3 hours ago - Politics & Policy
McCarthy faces GOP blowback after N.Y. Times leak
Juliegrace Brufke

Some angry GOP lawmakers warn that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's position could be on rocky ground after a report he blamed members of his leadership team for Republicans' chaos over the budget.

Why it matters: Multiple House Republicans argued McCarthy’s criticism of Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) undermines their messaging and opens the floodgates for public infighting earlier than necessary. McCarthy told colleagues he lacks confidence that Arrington can deliver a budget proposal, according to an explosive New York Times article published Thursday. The California Republican also reportedly told allies he views Scalise as “ineffective” and unwilling to take hard positions. McCarthy didn’t deny conversations with allies disparaging two of his top deputies, but said he rejects the idea of splits existing among leadership.

Between the lines: House conservatives say they aren’t ready to pull the trigger on a motion to vacate that could oust McCarthy as speaker. But this has ramped up the level of conversations.

What they’re saying: A GOP lawmaker accused McCarthy of using Scalise and Arrington as scapegoats before budget and debt ceiling negotiations have fully imploded.“The members I've spoken with are just stunned by his rebuking of his budget chair, and certainly of our leadership,” another House Republican told Axios.“I can't imagine [he will last an entire term].” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) – one of McCarthy’s 20 defectors who sits on the Budget Committee — blasted the infighting and called for McCarthy to take a larger role. “The agreements made by Speaker McCarthy, among other things, is to begin the ten year balanced budget NOW and with his initiatives & directives, it’s HIS responsibility to get the 218 votes to ensure our nation’s financial security JUST AS HE DID IN SECURING THE 218 votes for speaker.”

Behind the scenes: The report has reopened old wounds between McCarthy and Scalise — who was previously seen as a rival and potential speaker contender if the California Republican failed to obtain the gavel. Others complained that the attacks undermine their messaging on their legislative accomplishments as the party looks to demonstrate they have governed in a narrow majority.

The bottom line: Arrington and Scalise opted against publicly criticizing the California Republican, with Arrington telling Axios in an exclusive statement: “Our nation is staring down the barrel of a debt crisis and my budget committee colleagues and I are focused on one thing: passing a budget that will stop this reckless spending and restore fiscal sanity in Washington before it’s too late."

Volkonski wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 11:53 am Gee, you might think that Jim Jordan would be afraid to go to Manhattan with all the crime there.

April 13: Trump sits for deposition in NYAG fraud case

April 13: Dominion/ Fox trial begins

April 25: E Jean Carrol case begins

Ask yourself why Jim Jordan is taking a field trip to New York on April 17th for his farcical “hearing”

Volkonski wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 11:53 am Gee, you might think that Jim Jordan would be afraid to go to Manhattan with all the crime there.

Gregg wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:43 pm

Volkonski wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 11:53 am Gee, you might think that Jim Jordan would be afraid to go to Manhattan with all the crime there.

NYC is fine, it's Cleveland he needs to be careful of.

W. Kevin Vicklund wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:34 pm

Gregg wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:43 pm

Volkonski wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 11:53 am Gee, you might think that Jim Jordan would be afraid to go to Manhattan with all the crime there.

NYC is fine, it's Cleveland he needs to be careful of.

Wait! I'm presenting a paper at a conference in Cleveland at the end of the month! Is there something I should know?!

W. Kevin Vicklund wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:34 pm

Gregg wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:43 pm
NYC is fine, it's Cleveland he needs to be careful of.

Wait! I'm presenting a paper at a conference in Cleveland at the end of the month! Is there something I should know?!

W. Kevin Vicklund wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:34 pm

Gregg wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:43 pm

Volkonski wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 11:53 am Gee, you might think that Jim Jordan would be afraid to go to Manhattan with all the crime there.

NYC is fine, it's Cleveland he needs to be careful of.

Wait! I'm presenting a paper at a conference in Cleveland at the end of the month! Is there something I should know?!

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:37 pm

W. Kevin Vicklund wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:34 pm

Gregg wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:43 pm

NYC is fine, it's Cleveland he needs to be careful of.

Wait! I'm presenting a paper at a conference in Cleveland at the end of the month! Is there something I should know?!

Cleveland is in the top ten most dangerous large cities in the US. NYC is far from the top of the list.

keith wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:57 pm

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:37 pm

W. Kevin Vicklund wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:34 pm

Wait! I'm presenting a paper at a conference in Cleveland at the end of the month! Is there something I should know?!

Cleveland is in the top ten most dangerous large cities in the US. NYC is far from the top of the list.

Istanbul's not Constantinople, now it's Istanbul not Constantinople anymore.

Um, I mean

Guardian's not Indians, now it's Guardians not Indians anymore

News organizations sue to retrieve Jan. 6 footage released to Tucker Carlson

Zach Schonfeld
Wed, April 12, 2023 at 5:07 PM GMT+2

A coalition of news organizations filed a lawsuit on Wednesday demanding access to surveillance footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack released exclusively to Fox News.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) earlier this year provided about 44,000 hours of the surveillance footage to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who aired portions of it on his show as he questioned the significance of the attack and described the attack as “mostly peaceful chaos.”

The media organizations attempted to also receive the footage from McCarthy, and they further demanded the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys’ administrative office produce the footage through expedited Freedom of Information Act requests.

“Plaintiffs have continued to press the Speaker’s Office for access to the videos as quickly as possible and on equal terms with other media requestors, only to be told that the Speaker’s Office will not even provide a timeline for when such access might begin,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit claims the federal agencies have not produced the requested footage, asking a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to compel them to comply with the request, which spans all closed-circuit surveillance camera footage at the Capitol from Jan. 6.

“That denial of access is a stark change of pace for these Plaintiffs, as over the past two years they have diligently, cooperatively, and successfully pursued and obtained access to thousands of videos of the Capitol riot that have been used as evidence or otherwise become judicial records in more than a hundred cases in this District against those charged with organizing or participating in the riot,” the lawsuit states.

McCarthy’s decision to release the footage to Fox led to outrage from Democrats, who raised security concerns. U.S. Capitol Police said they reviewed just one clip that Carlson aired on his March 6 show.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/news-organiz ... 38373.html

This is his big blockbuster reveal to stop Bragg? A DOA bill that to take away federal funds from his office? What a clown show this is. All hollow gestures, no substance. Nothing that can pass the Senate. Next.

I am defunding his Manhattan Office and requiring it to repay us.

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 12:41 pm

I am defunding his Manhattan Office and requiring it to repay us.

Yeah, good luck with that.