For the first time in precisely 100 years, the vote for Speaker of the House has gone to a second vote after a majority of the whole was not established on the first ballot. And then it went to a third. And now, a fourth.
Tomorrow at 12pm est, the House will reconvene and attempt a fourth vote. The last time the Speaker took more than one vote was in 1923, when it took nine attempts in total and required a concession of House rules to elect Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts to the position. Check out the Progressive Party’s 1924 platform (don’t let the term “progressive” discourage you):
The great issue before the American people today is the control of government and industry by private monopoly.
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For a generation the people have struggled patiently, in the face of repeated betrayals by successive administrations, to free themselves from this intolerable power which has been undermining representative government.
Through control of government, monopoly has steadily extended its absolute dominion to every basic industry.
TRENDING: Ugh… Trump Tells Conservative Lawmakers to Stick with Kevin McCarthy
Sound familiar? Twitter/social media censorship and election/COVID meddling? The bureaucracy’s intermingling with pharmaceutical companies and tech oligarchs to exert tyrannical overreach on the sovereign citizen? Congress’s incessant spending on defense contracts for a non NATO, non allied country that is riddled with corruption tying back directly to the current administration in the White House?
Matt Gaetz summed it up:
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Today I’m nominating JIM JORDAN for Speaker of the House! pic.twitter.com/XErQ33qyxB
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) January 3, 2023
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” -Mark Twain
As we embark on a historic 2nd day of voting in Washington DC, Badlands Media will cover it again tomorrow with live commentary before and in between voting sessions if more than one is required.
The first vote went 202 for Republican Kevin McCarthy, 211 to Demcorat Hakeem Jeffries, the new Democrat minority leader, 10 for Andy Biggs of Arizona and then 6 for Jim Jordan, 1 for Byron Donalds, 1 for Jim Banks and 1 for Lee Zeldin, notably without any objection as he is no longer a member of Congress. This has raised some discussions about the potential of a Donald Trump nomination in the coming votes (yes, it seems the Never Kevin crowd will have enough votes to thwart a majority of the whole, thus “votes” plural).
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Some viewers and comments from yesterday suggest growing concern that a Democrat could possibly take the position away despite being the minority party. Because you need a majority of the whole and not just “more than your opponent”, it is unlikely the Democrats would be able to pull that off without convincing a number of Republicans to jump ship, no matter how much they try to disenfranchise the GOP with cries of “unity”. It’s easy to be unified when your position is moot.
The Democrats could, however, vote “present” or abstain entirely from voting and bring the quorum down to a manageable number that would ensure McCarthy retains the office he’s already moved himself into. According to Matt Gaetz, this is against House procedure as McCarthy continues to lose votes.
The Speaker of the House Office in the Capitol is currently being occupied by Kevin McCarthy.
Kevin McCarthy is not the Speaker of the House. He lost 3 consecutive votes today.
I’m demanding answers from the Architect of the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/AIZ8bFks6W
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) January 4, 2023
Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Bob Good, Ralph Norman, and Matt Rosendale seem to remain steadfast as “Never Kevin” votes, while Chip Roy today rose to nominate Jim Jordan in the third vote.
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Jim Jordan was the exclusive “third vote getter” in the second vote, garnering 19 votes. On the 3rd vote, he picked up Byron Donalds as the 20th vote, increasing his total. Jordan has openly supported Kevin McCarthy on the Floor, nominating him personally in the second vote.
Day 2 of this historic event will be live streamed on Badlands Media here.
Who do you support for Speaker of The House?
— John Rich?? (@johnrich) January 3, 2023
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Source material can be found at this site.
