Archives for September 20, 2023 at 11:14 pm EDT

Donald Trump called on House Republicans to “defund all aspects of Crooked Joe Biden’s weaponized Government that refuses to close the Border, and treats half the Country as Enemies of the State.”

He added: “They failed on the debt limit, but they must not fail now. Use the power of the purse and defend the Country!”

“House Democrats have begun internal discussions about how to deal with the prospects of a chaotic situation: The possibility that Speaker Kevin McCarthy could lose his job in an unprecedented vote on the floor,” CNN reports.

“While no decisions have been made, some of the party’s moderates are privately signaling they’d be willing to cut a deal to help McCarthy stave off a right-wing revolt – as long as the speaker meets their own demands.”

Said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI): “If somehow Democrats are asked to be helpful, it’s not just going to have to be out of the kindness of our hearts. If Kevin can’t govern with just his part – which clearly he can’t – and he wants to have a conversation with us about how to do that, we are going to have a policy conversation.”

Punchbowl News: “McCarthy used a closed party meeting this evening to say that he wanted to pass a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open for 30 days at a $1.47 trillion spending level.”

“In addition, McCarthy wants to attach the House Republicans’ H.R. 2 border security bill and create a bipartisan commission to tackle the federal debt and deficit…. Simultaneously, House Republicans would move individual FY2024 spending bills at a discretionary spending level of $1.52 trillion…”

“McCarthy’s plan is mostly fantasy, since the Senate likely won’t accept this spending level on a stopgap, and they certainly won’t accept $1.52 trillion for a full year of funding.”

“But it may allow McCarthy and the House Republican leadership to resume passing spending legislation on the House floor. This is a key political moment for McCarthy as he tries to to reassert control over the direction of the House.”

“The long-shot idea that Democrats could bail out the beleaguered Speaker Kevin McCarthy is suddenly getting real,” Politico reports.

“Small groups of centrist Democrats are holding secret talks with several of McCarthy’s close GOP allies about a last-ditch deal to fund the government… The McCarthy allies engaging in those conversations are doing so out of serious concern that their party can’t stop an impending shutdown on its own, given the intransigence of a handful of conservatives.”

“Many Republicans involved are incredibly worried about revealing their backup plan, wanting to wait until every other tool in McCarthy’s arsenal has failed.”

“This is not conservative Republicanism. This is stupidity. The idea that we’re going to shut the government down when we don’t control the Senate, we don’t control the White House. These people can’t define a win. They don’t know how to take yes for an answer. It’s a clown show. You keep running lunatics. You’re going to be in this position.”

— Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), on CNN.

“As Kevin McCarthy navigates a spending fight with his speakership on the line, some of his critics are privately mulling who they could back if the California Republican loses his gavel,” Politico reports.

“Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), a member of the Freedom Caucus, told Politico he had a name in mind — which he declined to disclose — though he argued the conference’s immediate focus should be on the spending fight, where conservatives are pushing for steeper spending cuts.”

“Bishop said he had ‘muttered’ the name he has in mind to a couple of other people and ‘have found surprisingly that they have been thinking very much the same thing.'”