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Gaetz was my favorite Congressman for the last several years, and I’ve never ever supported McCarthy on much of anything. But Gaetz is actually the one being counter-productive, this time.

No one is talking about it, but Republicans have succeeded for the first time anyone has in about a decade, to get rid of the Omnibus bills, and separate the individual spending bills out by department.

They needed a little more time to get it done, so a temporary CR was brought up last week that included some pretty major cuts to the overall budget, in exchange for the needed delay on the new process.

Rather than be happy about those cuts, and the forthcoming death of the Omnibus and individual spending bills, Gaetz instead decided he would upend the whole process, and steal defeat from the jaws of victory.

So what we got was a CR with ZERO spending cuts, instead. And, the possibility that this stunt of his will result in people wanting to just go back to the Omnibuses again, because they are quicker and simpler to get done, at the cost of any fiscal responsibility.

I think there's a lot of truth to what you posted. If I recall correctly, Gaetz is upset that McCarthy didn't adhere to the agreement to give members a 72-hour notice to review bills before voting.

My questions are:

Are there supportable reasons for neglecting the 72-hour notice? Was this a crisis of their own making that squeezed the timeline past the 72-hour window to shut down the government?
Would adhering to the 72-hour rule and let the government shut down for a single day or two be so bad in the short run if it gives House members the time to review what they're voting on?

This sends the message either that they won't let games of crisis chicken sway them, or on the other hand that they are willing to fold and let McCarthy pass bills negotiated with the Democrats and call for Pelosi-style votes where Republicans have to vote for it to find out what's in it. If it's the latter, then that will quickly become the norm again. Everything will become a crisis to create the urgency to pass something immediately.

-PJ

get rid of the Omnibus bills, and separate the individual spending bills out by department.

Ok….so they take apart the omnibus bill, separate each spending request, vote on them as single issue bills, PASS each of those bills and the spending just rolls right along, only it’s not called an Omnibus package anymore.

So, same spending, just repackaged under a different name….and that’s a win?

I appreciate your well written and factual response devoid of the usual ranting and personal attacks that are so common on this forum.

My problem with McCarthy is that he is supposed to be a leader yet he drags his feet on everything. While getting rid of the Omnibus bills is a good thing, why did he not act to get this process underway and the work done a lot sooner?

In a similar vein, McCarthy hasn’t supported the issuance of subpoenas either and delayed the impeachment inquiry. He talks tough but is very passive.

McCarthy is a terrible and duplicitous Speaker and I suspect that however the spending is eventually resolved any “cuts” will, in the end, basically be inconsequential.

Gaetz in trying to stop a run away train and is getting little help from the weak and feckless McCarthy. Its fair to criticize some of Gaetz’s tactics and theatrics, but he’s leading the battle against dangerously irresponsible spending and for that he deserves our gratitude and encouragement. Someone has to lead after all.