Matt Gaetz is not in the House today, that's why we have 434 not 435. He resigned after winning re-election.
That vote could have come in real handy right about now, but no, FL-1 had to have a prima donna in the House.
Others not voting for Mike Johnson:
Keith Self (TX-3)
Ralph Norman (SC-5)
Thomas Massie (KY-4).
Elon Musk has had 12 children with three women, six of whom were with a Canadian.
The House Ethics Committee gathered evidence that former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida paid multiple women for sex, including a 17-year-old high school junior, used illegal drugs like cocaine and ecstasy and obstructed efforts by Congress to investigate his conduct, according to a draft of its findings obtained by Just the News.
“The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress," stated the draft of the report slated to be released this week.
The draft report also said it did not find evidence that Gaetz had
engaged in sex trafficking as some had alleged, concluding that all the
women who traveled with Gaetz out of their home states did so
voluntarily even if they accepted payments for sex. ...
More.
"Tens of thousands of dollars" were involved 2017-2020.
Republican House Majority in Peril
The Republican wafer-thin majority in the House of Representatives is facing growing uncertainty as GOP members of Congress line up for Donald Trump's Cabinet. ...
[Victoria] Spartz's move [not to caucus with the Republicans] could throw the slim Republican majority in the House into peril amid other GOP members of the House being tapped to serve in Trump's Cabinet. ...
Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon has also been nominated to serve as labor secretary. ...
Waltz has already submitted his resignation and, combined with Gaetz's resignation and the possibility of Spartz refusing to caucus with Republicans, as well as Stefanik and Chavez-DeRemer being confirmed to Cabinet positions, the Republican majority could collapse, jeopardizing their ability to advance Trump's agenda.
Waltz counts, Gaetz counts, and Stefanik counts, taking the 220 win down to 217 temporarily. Spartz not caucusing with the GOP creates a 216-215 GOP majority, not a 215-215 tie as Newsweek shows. Spartz remains a Republican, however, and presumably will vote with the Republicans.
The uninformed Newsweek writer is from . . . the UK lol.
And, of course, Drudge just repeats the stupidity:
Republican House Majority in Peril...
Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general on Thursday, said Friday he will not be returning to Congress next year.
“I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” he told Charlie Kirk in an interview.
More.
CNN here:
The woman who says she had sex when she was a minor with then-Rep. Matt Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee she had two sexual encounters with him at one party in 2017, sources familiar with her testimony tell CNN.
The woman, who was 17 years old at the time, testified that the second sexual encounter, which has not previously been reported, included another adult woman. She also testified to both sexual encounters in a civil deposition as part of a related lawsuit, sources said.
After being asked for comment for this story, Gaetz announced he was backing out as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee. ...
Members of the Republican-led House Ethics panel voted along party lines on Wednesday not to release the results of their investigation and instead decided to meet again on December 5 to vote on the final report.
And The Hill here:
Typically, the committee ends its investigations and does not release its findings on members who have departed the House.
Johnson has argued releasing the report would “open a Pandora’s box” and break a long-standing “rule” of the panel to not publish information on former members of Congress.
But there are some previous examples of Ethics investigators releasing information on former members.
In 1987, the panel released its report into former Rep. William Boner (D-Tenn.) after he resigned from the House. And in 2011, the Senate Ethics Committee released its preliminary report into former Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) after he departed the upper chamber.
“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General,” he said.
More.
GOP control of the US House at 218 would be secure, if it weren't for Trump poaching from this field to populate his government.
Not. Very. Bright.
It also tells you that the poached aren't very bright either: Stefanik, Waltz, Gaetz, and Rubio from the US Senate also.
Special elections are required for the House district vacancies. The governor of Florida can appoint Rubio's replacement, but that is only temporary.
Democrats said electing Trump would be a return to chaos.
They were correct about that.
Here.
Levin argues the Senators owe their elections to Trump's coattails, and therefore their unqualified support.
Of fifteen Republicans elected to the US Senate in 2024, that might be true of eleven.
But in four cases it's not: Wicker in Mississippi, Curtis in Utah, Barrasso in Wyoming, and Ricketts in Nebraska were all more popular than Donald Trump, each garnering more votes than Trump did in their states.
Levin often talks about "constitutionalism" on his show, you know, like the separation of powers, where the Congress isn't simply the president's rubber stamp machine.
You might say Levin runs his mouth about it.
Some US Senators actually doing their jobs and voting not to confirm the worst of Trump's appointments is a good thing.
On Thursday, an attorney for the woman who alleges she had a sexual relationship with Gaetz when she was a minor said the Ethics panel should release the report.
“Mr. Gaetz’s likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events. We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report,” John Clune, a partner at Hutchinson Black and Cook, wrote on X.
“She was a high school student and there were witnesses,” the lawyer added.
Trump picks vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary
Kennedy, in a post on X, thanked Trump and wrote, “I’m committed to advancing your vision to Make America Healthy Again.” ...
Andrea Ducas, vice president of health policy for the advocacy group Center for American Progress, in a statement called Trump’s choice of Kennedy “nothing short of disastrous for the country.”
“His track record and open skepticism of longstanding medical science could jeopardize the incredible public health gains we’ve accomplished as a nation – including the gains we’ve made in combatting infectious disease through childhood vaccination programs and in making our food supply safer through pasteurization,” Ducas said.
Sure, sure it is.
Except Matt Gaetz is in that 219 and he has just resigned tonight. So 218.
Stefanik is in that 218 and she is taking the UN Ambassador job. When matters. A lot.
Waltz is in that 218 and he is going to be National Security Adviser. When matters. A lot.
The GOP really needs all three seats below just to get back to 221 now, not 222 as before, just one seat better than the current majority. And CA-45 looks more and more iffy to me as the count continues.
Trump is crazy playing chicken with the House majority in this way, and even crazier appointing Gaetz to Attorney General.
Gaetz will not be confirmed.
Trump's disrespect for the House outcome is a terrible beginning to his second term.
House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed at a news conference Wednesday evening that Gaetz had submitted his resignation from Congress. The resignation will not take effect until it is announced on the House floor. ...
Gaetz has been the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct or illicit drug use. ...
Punchbowl News reported Wednesday that his resignation came just two days before the panel was set to vote on releasing a report on its probe. ...
Asked by a HuffPost reporter whether Gaetz has the character to be attorney general, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, replied, “Are you s------- me?”
-- CNBC, here
This is some crazy shit.
Poaching another one, but he's a complete lunatic who will command ZERO respect.
I guess that gets a problem child out of the House, but Attorney General of the United States?
I feel like I must be on acid or something.
House GOP torpedoes Speaker Johnson’s funding bill :
A diverse group of House Republicans torpedoed Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) proposal to fund the government on Wednesday, dealing an embarrassing blow to the GOP leader and derailing his strategy to avoid a shutdown at the end of the month.
Fourteen Republicans joined virtually every Democrat in voting
against the spending plan — which paired a six-month stopgap bill with a
measure that would require proof of citizenship to vote — bringing the
final tally to 202-220, with two voting present. Three Democrats crossed
the aisle to back the measure. [Davis of North Carolina, Golden of Maine, and Perez of Washington State]
The Speaker faced a troika of GOP opposition, with hard-line conservatives criticizing the use of a continuing resolution; defense hawks voicing concern about the impact the long-term funding bill would have at the Pentagon; and moderates expressing worries about having a shutdown threat so close to the election.
The roll call vote is here. 5 Republicans didn't bother to vote, mostly liberals from New York. Libertarian fool Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Gazpacho Greene voted present. The 14 Nay Republicans included cranks Biggs, Boebert, and Burchett, as well as grandstander Matt Gaetz and Nancy Look At My Big Tits Mace.
Don't blame Donald Trump or Speaker Johnson, or the 199 Republicans who supported them.
Brilliant, just brilliant.
McCarthy removed as speaker 216-210.
The roll call vote is here.
Eight Republicans joined 208 Democrats to depose McCarthy as Speaker.
 |
| the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy as Speaker included that slut Nancy Mace |
 |
| not even that Scrooge Thomas Massie voted to depose McCarthy |
 |
| Nancy Pelosi had just enough class not to vote at all |
CNN -- The House has voted with a slim bipartisan majority to federally decriminalize marijuana.
