This past Wednesday, Attorney General Garland made a public announcement regarding the then-coming second anniversary of the Republican Insurrection and Assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. It ended: “ We remain committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for the January 6 assault on our democracy. And we remain committed to doing everything in our power to prevent this from ever happening again.”
'Speaker McCarthy is planning a vote later today to significantly weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics, the very office that could investigate Rep. Santos.'
'This office has been instrumental in holding members of Congress on both sides of the aisle accountable for ethics violations for more than a decade!'
But today the House Republican majority will try to:
'Remove Democrats from the bipartisan board overseeing the Office of Congressional Ethics
Impose an unrealistic requirement that the office only hire staff in the first 30 days of the new Congress'
'We can’t let House Republicans gut the independent office that is supposed to hold them accountable'
Call your Representative right away and tell them: Protect the Office of Congressional Ethics:
Call (202) 224-3121 to reach the Congressional Switchboard and ask to be connected to your member of the House of Representatives.
Here’s what you could say:
"My name is _______ and I’m calling from CITY, STATE.
I’m concerned that the House is planning to vote on a proposal to significantly weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics. Everybody, including members of Congress, needs to play by the rules — please support a strong Office of Congressional Ethics and give the American people the confidence that you’re always working in our best interests.
This piece 'WHAT MAY HAPPEN LATER TODAY' provides an excellent summary of the VOTE TO ADOPT THE RULES THAT WILL CONTROL HOW THE 118th CONGRESS OPERATES. The issues are laid out and it informs us about what is at stake. Most importantly, we cannot be sure that the SEDITIONISTS will win the day. The following are excerpts from TC's immensely helpful guide to today's vote:
'Today, Monday, January 9, the full House will vote to adopt the rules that will control how the 118th Congress operates by majority vote on the Rules Resolution. If the rules are adopted.'
“If”!!!
'Most importantly, among the provisions included in the rules resolution is one sponsored by Jim Jordan, to seat a “Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Weaponization of the Federal Government” with a similar budget to the Special January 6 Committee and fully resourced and empowered to investigate the investigators. As the estimable Joyce Vance (you should read her Substack if you aren’t already) pointed out, the idea of “reviewing” criminal cases in progress is really about interfering with them and violates the separation of powers.'
‘…among other “reforms” to the House rules, the Republicans are proposing to bring back the so-called Holman rule, which allows them to use spending bills to try to slash the salary of specific federal officials or eliminate blocks of federal employees, and thus specific programs, such as the Special Prosecutor’s Office in the Department of Justice, to sabotage or investigations or prosecutions of Trump.’
‘Using this rule, attempts could be made to defund any investigations into Trump, or even defund probes and prosecutions relating to the January 6, 2021, attack. This could be accomplished without them defunding the entire FBI, which Marjorie Traitor Goon wants to do. While such acts, if passed in the House, would be blocked in the Senate, they could also be used by the Seditionists as cause to shut down the government and the threat of breaching the debt to get this.’
‘Of course, the war will involve more than this particular battle, but for both sides, this one is crucial, because it will determine if the United States remains a constitutional democratic republic or whether it is left vulnerable to more Southernist Treason.’
‘So, what happens today is Very Important.’
‘There is a question as to whether the Republicans will vote to “move the previous question” in unity.’
‘While the seditionists appear to have won the day, this is not completely certain. There are 18 Republicans who won their seats in districts that voted in majority for President Biden in 2020. As “conservative” as they are, these 18 represent what passes for the “moderate” wing of the House Republican Caucus. None of them are interested in being voted out of office in 2024, and each of them knows that Democrats will paint a bright target on their backs for every egregious act committed by the Southernist Seditionists between now and the next election. They know that if the Seditionists achieve their goal of destroying the financial position of the United States by defaulting on the public debt that they will be “toast” in the next election.’
We've got a cliffhanger to follow today. Thank you, TC, for this guide to vote, It is a determinative factor concerning the next two years of America's "Fakakte Circus'.
Your last sentence! As someone said a while back on one of these boards, "The dog has caught the car" and has no idea what to do with it. One of the healthy things about democracy is that you can rail against the other guys' position. In an election, be it local, State or Federal, if you win, then you better damn well know the rules as you go in and at least, have some idea of how you are going to govern. These people are making the rules up as they go along, it seems. I shudder to think what our country is going to have to go through for the foreseeable future. Voodoo dolls, anyone?😎
Among your best abilities TC: Cutting to the chase; adroitly showing just how you got there. But must say there’s a lot to work with. We are grateful again.
“These particular magicians have no idea where the rabbit is and they left home without the hat.” Perfect!
'Speaker McCarthy is planning a vote later today to significantly weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics, the very office that could investigate Rep. Santos.'
'This office has been instrumental in holding members of Congress on both sides of the aisle accountable for ethics violations for more than a decade!'
But today the House Republican majority will try to:
'Remove Democrats from the bipartisan board overseeing the Office of Congressional Ethics
Impose an unrealistic requirement that the office only hire staff in the first 30 days of the new Congress'
'We can’t let House Republicans gut the independent office that is supposed to hold them accountable'
Call your Representative right away and tell them: Protect the Office of Congressional Ethics:
Call (202) 224-3121 to reach the Congressional Switchboard and ask to be connected to your member of the House of Representatives.
Here’s what you could say:
"My name is _______ and I’m calling from CITY, STATE.
I’m concerned that the House is planning to vote on a proposal to significantly weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics. Everybody, including members of Congress, needs to play by the rules — please support a strong Office of Congressional Ethics and give the American people the confidence that you’re always working in our best interests.
Thank you for your time."
(From: Jonah, Public Citizen, https://www.citizen.org/ )
Thanks for the info Fern. Will do!
Thank you, Dawn. You're brilliant at exposing those magicians. 🔮🪄
❤️
Here’s to the 18 finding steel in their backbones.
Logic and conscience as well.
This piece 'WHAT MAY HAPPEN LATER TODAY' provides an excellent summary of the VOTE TO ADOPT THE RULES THAT WILL CONTROL HOW THE 118th CONGRESS OPERATES. The issues are laid out and it informs us about what is at stake. Most importantly, we cannot be sure that the SEDITIONISTS will win the day. The following are excerpts from TC's immensely helpful guide to today's vote:
'Today, Monday, January 9, the full House will vote to adopt the rules that will control how the 118th Congress operates by majority vote on the Rules Resolution. If the rules are adopted.'
“If”!!!
'Most importantly, among the provisions included in the rules resolution is one sponsored by Jim Jordan, to seat a “Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Weaponization of the Federal Government” with a similar budget to the Special January 6 Committee and fully resourced and empowered to investigate the investigators. As the estimable Joyce Vance (you should read her Substack if you aren’t already) pointed out, the idea of “reviewing” criminal cases in progress is really about interfering with them and violates the separation of powers.'
‘…among other “reforms” to the House rules, the Republicans are proposing to bring back the so-called Holman rule, which allows them to use spending bills to try to slash the salary of specific federal officials or eliminate blocks of federal employees, and thus specific programs, such as the Special Prosecutor’s Office in the Department of Justice, to sabotage or investigations or prosecutions of Trump.’
‘Using this rule, attempts could be made to defund any investigations into Trump, or even defund probes and prosecutions relating to the January 6, 2021, attack. This could be accomplished without them defunding the entire FBI, which Marjorie Traitor Goon wants to do. While such acts, if passed in the House, would be blocked in the Senate, they could also be used by the Seditionists as cause to shut down the government and the threat of breaching the debt to get this.’
‘Of course, the war will involve more than this particular battle, but for both sides, this one is crucial, because it will determine if the United States remains a constitutional democratic republic or whether it is left vulnerable to more Southernist Treason.’
‘So, what happens today is Very Important.’
‘There is a question as to whether the Republicans will vote to “move the previous question” in unity.’
‘While the seditionists appear to have won the day, this is not completely certain. There are 18 Republicans who won their seats in districts that voted in majority for President Biden in 2020. As “conservative” as they are, these 18 represent what passes for the “moderate” wing of the House Republican Caucus. None of them are interested in being voted out of office in 2024, and each of them knows that Democrats will paint a bright target on their backs for every egregious act committed by the Southernist Seditionists between now and the next election. They know that if the Seditionists achieve their goal of destroying the financial position of the United States by defaulting on the public debt that they will be “toast” in the next election.’
We've got a cliffhanger to follow today. Thank you, TC, for this guide to vote, It is a determinative factor concerning the next two years of America's "Fakakte Circus'.
Thank you TC for the explanations of the procedures. I am sure you are right about it not going the way it should!
Your last sentence! As someone said a while back on one of these boards, "The dog has caught the car" and has no idea what to do with it. One of the healthy things about democracy is that you can rail against the other guys' position. In an election, be it local, State or Federal, if you win, then you better damn well know the rules as you go in and at least, have some idea of how you are going to govern. These people are making the rules up as they go along, it seems. I shudder to think what our country is going to have to go through for the foreseeable future. Voodoo dolls, anyone?😎
“We are vastly out numbered, so by definition, we are in control; what could go wrong?”
I love how you slipped in the reference to Mark Twain's famous remark. Very clever and very smooth!
Among your best abilities TC: Cutting to the chase; adroitly showing just how you got there. But must say there’s a lot to work with. We are grateful again.
Here's a wishful question: Is it possible that the DOJ can take swift action that could derail the GQP southernists?
I'm hoping for the same Wendy.
Thank you, TC for how the House will roll over. Have a question. Some
of the rethuglicans in the House will
be up for re-election before 24. If
we're very lucky and the arc of Justice bends a bit faster, some
others may get taken off the board,
as well as Santos heading back to
Brazil. If they lose the slim majority
they have, do the Democrats take
the House again?😁