Here is part of what I wrote last night after the fourteenth ballot for Speaker of the House: Before the end of the vote, McCarthy had to walk up the aisle to talk to Matt Gaetz to try to get...
Congress
On January 6, 2021 there was violence on the House floor. Violence almost broke again on January 6, 2023
As I started this post at 11:14pm on Friday night there were still six people standing in the way of Kevin McCarthy’s speakership. They were Andy Biggs (AZ), Lauren Boebert (CO), Eli Crane (AZ), Matt Gaetz (FL), Bob Good (VA),...
Blogging the 12th vote for Speaker of the House
A lot happened in this vote. McCarthy picked-up fourteen votes. There are now seven who oppose him. He needs three of these votes to become Speaker of the House. 12:20pm: I find it shocking that Mike Garcia (R-CA), while nominating...
Matt Gaetz: “If Democrats join up to elect a moderate Republican, I will resign from the House of Representatives”
Up until this point in the GOP battle for the Speaker of the House, compromised Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has been treating the whole affair as if he is a high school kid playing some kind of game, perhaps the...
How will the GOP investigate Hunter’s laptop if they can’t even pick a Speaker of the House?
If you haven’t followed this today, get up to speed here. If the GOP members of the House can’t pick a Speaker, how will they advance their agenda? How will they investigate Hunter Biden’s laptop? How will they impeach Joe...
Yesterday’s passing of a climate change bill is a step in the right direction
Good news for those of us who care about the planet. Here is Robinson Meyer’s piece at The Atlantic: Climate change was born as a modern political issue in the United States Senate. On a hot June day in 1988,...
Which lawmakers get the most contributions from gun rights groups?
From Axios: Sen. Ted Cruz (TX): $442,000 Rep. Steve Scalise (LA): $396,000 Sen. John Cornyn (TX): $340,000 Sen. Lindsey Grahan (SC): $284,000 Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY): $247,000 Rep. Devin Nunes (CA): $228, 000 Sen. Ron Johnson (WI): 223,000 Rep. Kevin...
Sixteen GOP House members vote against the Japanese American World War II History Network Act
Here is some of the text of the Japanese American World War II History Act: Establishment: The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the “Secretary”) shall establish, within the National Park Service, a program to be known as...
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to Congress
Watch:...
A database of the 1,715 members of Congress who owned slaves
The Washington Post has published a database of American enslavers. It includes some familiar names: Thomas Hart Benton, John C. Breckinridge, Preston Brooks, Aaron Burr, Pierce Butler, John C. Calhoun, Charles Carroll, Henry Clay, De Witt Clinton, Davy Crockett, Jefferson...
How members of Congress used violence to silence their political adversaries
Joan E. Greve of The Guardian interviews Yale historian Joanne Freeman about violence in Congress. If any of my U.S. history survey students are reading this post, this is what we talked about in class yesterday. Here is a taste...
Chait: “Imagine a 9/11 commission if the hijackers had allies in Congress”
Here is Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine: In the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, when both parties agreed on the need for an investigation into the attack, the shorthand that entered the lexicon was 9/11-style commission. When, on January...
The Democrats announce a $3.5 trillion “go-it-alone” infrastructure plan to supplement the bipartisan deal
While Joe Biden waits for his bipartisan infrastructure plan to get through Congress, Senate Democrats have announced another infrastructure plan that will provide funds for everything that did not make it into the bipartisan plan. This would include funding for...
House of Representatives votes to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol
For some historical context on Confederate monuments check out our interview with Karen L. Cox in the latest episode of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. The vote was 285 to 120. This means that 120 Republicans wanted to...
The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act passes House, Senate.
When Biden signs the bill June 19th, the day celebrating the emancipation of enslaved Americans, will become a federal holiday. On Tuesday, the Senate endorsed the bill unanimously. Yesterday, the House passed the bill by a vote of 415-14. Here...
A 107-year-old survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre testified before Congress
Here is NPR’s “All Things Considered”: The day that a white mob came to Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Okla., Viola Fletcher was just 7 years old. During emotional testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Fletcher, who is now 107, recalled...
Who was Margaret Chase Smith?
Several commentators are comparing Liz Cheney’s speech tonight to Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith‘s 1950 speech, “A Declaration of Conscience.” Both were anti-McCarthy (Andrew for Cheney and Joseph for Smith) speeches. No historical analogy is perfect, but this one is...
Is Florida congressman Matt Gaetz going to Newsmax?
I’ve always thought he was more suited to be an opinion host on right-wing cable than a congressman. Here is Axios: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has privately told confidants he’s seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early...
U.S. Congresswoman: Cancel culture began when “Cain cancelled Abel.” (“They” also “tried to cancel Jesus”)
Dennis Anderson, the publisher of the Delta County (CO) Independent, didn’t know if he was watching a political rally or a revival meeting. Lauren Boebert is a guns-rights activist and the owner of Shooters Grill, a restaurant in Rifle, Colorado...
Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representative: “Forgive them, all of them”
Kudos to Rear Admiral Margaret Grun Kibben, the chaplain of the U.S. House of Representative. Here is Jack Jenkins at Religion News Service: The chaplain to the U.S. House of Representatives chastised lawmakers during a prayer on Wednesday (March 10),...