McCarthy's Going To Allow His Far Right Fringe To Shut Down The Government So They Don't Oust Him

"Church of the Redacted Truth" by Nancy Ohanian

Far right Republicans are quietly salivating at the prospect of shutting down the government in two weeks. And in deep red districts, their constituents are just fine with that. The problem is for more mainstream conservative incumbents in swing districts where they need moderates and independents to get reelected. Republican Members of Congress like Maria Salazar (FL), Zach Nunn (IA), Brandon Williams (NY), Young Kim (CA), Nick LaLota (NY), John James (MI), Michelle Steel (CA), Mike Lawler (NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), David Valadao (CA), Tom Kean (NJ), Marriannette Miller-Meeks (IA), Juan Ciscomani (AZ), John Duarte (CA), Rob Wittman (VA), Lori Chavez DeRemer (OR), Marc Molinaro (NY), Ann Wagner (MO), Mike Garcia (CA), Don Bacon (NE), Aaron Bean (FL), Derrick Van Orden (WI), Bill Huizenga (MI), Monica De La Cruz (RX), Mike Turner (OH), Andrew Garbarino (NY), Bryan Steil (WI), Laurel Lee (FL), Jeff Van Drew (NJ), Ken Calvert (CA), Jen Kiggans (VA), David Schweikert (AZ), Tony Gonzales (TX), Anthony D’Esposito (NY), Nancy Mace (SC), Kevin Kiley (CA), Carlos Giménez (FL), Ashley Hinson (IA)… are sweating at the prospect of their colleagues like Matt Gaetz, Dan Bishop and Ralph Norman— respectively from R+19, R+20 and R+12 districts— shutting down the government because the speaker is too weak to keep them in line.

New polling released yesterday by Data for Progress, shows that while Democrats (73%) and Independents (50%) want the House to follow the Senate’s lead and pass bipartisan spending bills, just 30% of Republicans agree. Instead, 53% of Republicans say that McCarthy should demand right-wing priorities (like defunding the Department of Justice and the various Trump prosecutions, cutting funding to Ukraine, while also spending $2 billion more building Trump’s wall at the Mexican border and ending “woke” policies in the military) even if that risks shutting down the government. Just 15% of Democrats and 29% of Independents see it that way.

The pollsters also asked participants if they are concerned at all about the potential negative implications of a government shutdown on various federal programs, workers, and contractors. Across the board, a majority of voters are “somewhat concerned” or “very concerned,” although Republicans are less concerned than normal people.

When asked who they will blame for a shutdown, more voters blame Republicans than Democrats . Among Independents blame looks like this:

• Both parties equally- 53%

• Republican Party- 24%

• Democratic Party- 16%

• Neither Party- 2%

Meanwhile, McCarthy spent yesterday fighting with his own members in a special closed-door conference that was meant to go into the Biden impeachment inquiry. Politico’s Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney reported that “It instead turned into a profanity-laced venting session about the party's right flank. The House speaker used the first half of the Thursday morning gathering to voice frustrations about hardliner resistance to his fervent attempts to stave off a government shutdown before a Sept. 30 deadline— and conservative threats to boot him from the speakership if he relies on Democratic help to do so. The typically affable McCarthy was clearly incensed, cursing in front of his members. ‘If you think you scare me because you want to file a motion to vacate, move the fucking motion,’ McCarthy said at the top of the meeting, according to three Republicans in the room, referring to the technical name of a vote that would oust him from leadership. It's a sign of the broader frustration building among the majority of House Republicans, many of whom were receptive to McCarthy's blow up. Some have advocated for increased pressure on [fascist] members, who have shrugged at the idea of a shutdown and continued pushing spending priorities that would be rejected by the Democratic Senate and White House.”

The neo-Nazi wing of the GOP conference don’t care what McCarthy says and say he doesn’t intimidate them. “Adding to the speaker's long list of problems: His members, including some of his allies, have starting privately complaining that their leader is not leading.”

Herb Jones, is running in Virginia’s first congressional district, 18 counties, including large numbers of people in Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover. No one has heard a peep about the impending shutdown from the non-leader he’s running to replace, Rob Whittman. Last night Jones told me that “Wittman has shown us who he is, a spineless doormat Republican who will do whatever the MAGA leadership tells him to do. He voted to overturn the 2020 election results and supported the attempted overthrow of our government. He is a traitor. He doesn’t believe in our Constitution. Now, he will go along with shutting down the government.”

The Punchbowl crew reported that despite howls of protest from the far right, “McCarthy’s plan to avert a looming government shutdown is to begin passing individual appropriations bills next week and then go to conference with the Senate. When the House returns Monday, there will be just 12 days left until the federal government shuts down. McCarthy has passed one spending bill and has pulled the plug on two others already. The idea that he’s going to pass another 10— or even five measures— and then go into negotiations with a Senate that could clear all of its bills with huge bipartisan majorities is a bit fantastical.”

And speaking of fantastical, in the hopes of bolstering his own moribund presidential campaign, Ron DeSantis weighed in against McCarthy, encouraging his tiny handful of congressional allies— extremists Chip Roy (R-TX), Bob Good (R-VA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY)— to embrace a shutdown if they don’t get the impossible demands they want.