Top Items:
John F. Harris / Politico:
After Another Failed Vote, McCarthy's Speaker Bid Is Starting to Look Pathetic — Just two months ago, when Republicans underperformed historical trends in the midterm elections and a bunch of extremist candidates lost winnable races, the consensus view among many commentators …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Daily News, RedState, New York Magazine, Mediaite and Fox News
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Speaker Fight Reveals a Divided and Disoriented House Majority — In failing to coalesce around Kevin McCarthy for speaker, Republicans showcased divisions that portend real difficulties in governing. — WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Tuesday began their new majority rule with a chaotic …
Punchbowl News:
1/4/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — The House in crisis January 4, 2023 BY PUNCHBOWL NEWS STAFF THE TOP Happy Wednesday morning. The House begins today in a state of crisis. A small but growing faction of House Republicans - 10% of the Republican conference …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Matt Bai / Washington Post:
McCarthy is the last of three little pigs. He'd best start packing. — A decade ago, when John Boehner was speaker of the House, the knock on him among leading Republicans was that he didn't know how to corral votes. Boehner had taken an unconventional route to the speakership …
Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Trump Begs House Republicans to Back Kevin McCarthy's Speakership Bid — ‘CLOSE THE DEAL’ — With House Republicans divided on their choice of a new speaker, Donald Trump has issued a trademark upper-case screed calling for them to rally behind Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who failed to secure the gavel after three ballots on Tuesday.
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NBC News, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Raw Story, PJ Media, Washington Times and The Daily Caller
Tara Palmeri / Puck:
We Need to Talk About Kevin — News and notes on the local political tragedy under the dome. — Yes, it was supposed to be bad for Kevin McCarthy, but not this bad. — As anyone who has been reading my dispatches since September well knows, McCarthy's speakership only ever seemed fully …
Discussion:
Morning Shots, Washington Examiner, USA Today, National Review, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, New Republic, Fox News, Semafor and CNN
Brady Knox / Washington Examiner:
Karl Rove: House speaker saga is an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Republicans — Former White House adviser Karl Rove predicted that the inability of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to secure the speakership is likely just the beginning of the chaos. — McCarthy's worst fears came true Tuesday …
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: How long can McCarthy hang on? — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — So how does this end? And how long will it take to end it? — Those are the questions towering over the new House Republican majority …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, NBC News, Breitbart, Los Angeles Times, Semafor, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and The Guardian
Jim Geraghty / National Review:
What the Speaker Fight Says about the Republican Party — On the menu today: The fight over whether Kevin McCarthy becomes the next speaker of the House continues, and after three failed votes yesterday, his prospects don't look great. The notion that 19 or 20 Republicans could force …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Washington Examiner and Washington Post
Erin Doherty / Axios:
What happens if there's no House speaker
What happens if there's no House speaker
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post, Insider, Associated Press, CBS News, Snapshot, Washington Times, Alabama Political Reporter, IJR, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA, Just The News, PIX11, Roll Call, New York Daily News, Forbes, Michigan Advance, The Daily Caller, CNN, Bloomberg and Today's Edition Newsletter
Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
All but two McCarthy defectors in House are election deniers
All but two McCarthy defectors in House are election deniers
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Examiner, FiveThirtyEight, New Republic, Mediaite, Washington Times and Vox Dextra
Jared Gans / The Hill:
Ocasio-Cortez on conversations with Gosar, Gaetz: ‘In chaos, anything is possible’
Ocasio-Cortez on conversations with Gosar, Gaetz: ‘In chaos, anything is possible’
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, IJR, Fox News, The Independent, Mediaite and New York Post
Politico:
Biden world both humored and terrified by McCarthy meltdown
Biden world both humored and terrified by McCarthy meltdown
Discussion:
New York Post, Mediaite, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Washington Times, Political Wire and Common Dreams
New York Times:
How Far Right Are the 20 Republicans Who Voted Against McCarthy
How Far Right Are the 20 Republicans Who Voted Against McCarthy
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Guardian, The Texan, Washington Times, Fox News and Just The News
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Whoever the next GOP speaker is, the job will be a living hell
Whoever the next GOP speaker is, the job will be a living hell
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Political Wire, CBS News and Las Vegas Review-Journal
Alex Wagner Tonight / MSNBC:
AOC: Up to McCarthy whether he wants to approach Democrats to save his speakership
AOC: Up to McCarthy whether he wants to approach Democrats to save his speakership
Discussion:
Fox News, The Daily Caller, Mike the Mad Biologist, PoliticusUSA and Political Wire
NBC News:
McCarthy's GOP support splinters as House adjourns without speaker
McCarthy's GOP support splinters as House adjourns without speaker
Discussion:
Politico, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Axios, Forbes, The Federalist, VTDigger, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, New York Post, 77 WABC, BRIGHT, The Floridian, Washington Post, The Hill, Newsbusters, Semafor, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Insider, RedState, PIX11, CBS News, CNBC, Metro.co.uk, UPI, TheBlaze and ABC7
Ryan Grim / The Intercept:
What Matt Gaetz and AOC Talked About During Kevin McCarthy's Speaker Vote
What Matt Gaetz and AOC Talked About During Kevin McCarthy's Speaker Vote
Discussion:
Mediaite, TheBlaze, Insider, The Daily Caller, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Fox News, The Guardian, Super-Probably Relevant …, RedState, The Floridian, IJR, Ryan Grim, Conservative Brief, PoliticusUSA, The Hill, NOQ Report, Breitbart, National Review, Washington Post, Sacramento Bee, Washington Examiner, Washington Free Beacon, Al Jazeera, Florida Politics, KTLA, Political Wire, Vanity Fair, Associated Press, CNN, Digby's Hullabaloo and Washington Times
Tim Miller / The Bulwark:
Never Trumpers Understood Kevin McCarthy's Conference Better Than He Did
Never Trumpers Understood Kevin McCarthy's Conference Better Than He Did
Discussion:
Overtime, The Independent, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Raw Story
Washington Post:
As McCarthy struggles in House, McConnell to appear with Biden in Ky.
As McCarthy struggles in House, McConnell to appear with Biden in Ky.
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, USA Today, New York Times, Bloomberg, HuffPost and Mayer's Morning Rundown
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Kevin McCarthy wasn't ‘the one’ 7 years ago. He wasn't on Tuesday, either.
Kevin McCarthy wasn't ‘the one’ 7 years ago. He wasn't on Tuesday, either.
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HuffPost, Deadline, New York Times, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Just The News, Politico and Raw Story
Washington Post:
George Santos had an awkward first day at the office — The New York Republican, accused of fabricating details of his biography, got a taste of scrutiny that comes with his new job — On Tuesday, looking very much like a freshman at a prep school in hell, congressman-elect George Santos wore …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Forbes and New York Daily News
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Michelangelo Signorile / The Signorile Report:
How we dodged a bullet with the exposé of George Santos
How we dodged a bullet with the exposé of George Santos
Discussion:
The Guardian, Slate and Rolling Stone
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Trump's offensive against Ruby Freeman reaches an ugly new level — As Donald Trump renews his offensive against an innocent election worker in Georgia, remember that his own team told him these claims weren't true. — Around midnight last night, for reasons that aren't yet clear …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:
New Congresswoman Fights Rival Over Witchcraft Accusation — Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is demanding a retraction and apology for claims aired on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show. … Rep. Anna Paulina Luna came to Congress on her first day in office ready to do battle—not just with Democrats …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
No, Congress Doesn't Need More ‘Independents’ Like Sinema — Kyrsten Sinema believes that private-equity billionaires should pay a smaller income-tax rate than public-school teachers, that Medicare should not have broad authority to negotiate lower drug prices, and that America's corporations …
Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:
Mississippi Health Care Faces ‘Looming Disaster,’ Medical Group Warns Lawmakers — Mississippi's healthcare crisis is worsening and an overhaul of the state's “current system of care is unmistakably essential,” a leading medical group warned hours before the State Legislature was set to begin its 2023 session at noon Monday.
Discussion:
Mississippi Today
Lee Drutman / Undercurrent Events:
GOP learns the hard way: Turning the base up too high blows out your Speaker — Plus, my take on Independent Sinema, and: why do we all feel like political losers these days? — Hello, and Happy New Year. It's 2023, and the Republican Party is in disarray.
Sanjana Friedman / Pirate Wires:
Transmaxxing: the Incel-To-Transwoman Pipeline — why a community of depressed young men with nothing to lose is convinced the only way out of their misery is gender transition … Imagine you're a depressed young man in a developed country. Maybe you work long hours for low pay, maybe you're unemployed.
Discussion:
Sensible Medicine