Scalise, Jordan Emphasize Republican Unity in Speaker’s Race

Plus: In New Hampshire, Chris Christie teases good fundraising numbers and discusses being an underdog.

By , and
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Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan. (Photo of Scalise by John Lamparski/Getty Images. Photo of Jordan by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images.)

Happy Friday! Don’t let Mike Lindell’s lawyers’ kids go hungry—buy a MyPillow today!

Up to Speed

  • As he struggles to regain momentum in the polls, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has begun laying into frontrunner Donald Trump in his most direct terms yet. “I don’t think anybody voted for Biden,” he said at a Thursday event in Tampa, Florida. “They were voting against Trump! That was why they did it. … You could have John Kennedy walk through the door right now and he wouldn’t energize Democrats as much as Donald Trump does.”
  • The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced it would allow new border wall construction in a “high illegal entry” area of Starr County, Texas, waiving a number of federal laws regulating new construction to do so expeditiously. “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the notice.
  • The notice came as a surprise thanks to the Biden administration’s previous longtime dismissal of the importance of a physical border at the barrier. On Thursday, President Joe Biden said again that he thinks walls don’t work, but insisted that his hands were tied: Congress had appropriated the money for the construction in 2019. In a statement of his own, Mayorkas wrote that “the language in the Federal Register notice is being taken out of context” and that it “does not signify any change in policy whatsoever.”
  • Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty this week to three federal gun charges stemming from false statements he made while filling out an application to buy a gun in late 2018. On the application, Biden testified he was not a drug user; in fact, as he has publicly acknowledged, he was addicted to crack cocaine and alcohol at the time.

Speaker Race Shaping Up as Scalise vs. Jordan

The ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker brought the work of the House of Representatives screeching to a halt, and Republicans are wasting no time looking for a new one. Ahead of a conference candidate forum scheduled for Monday, two frontrunners for the job have emerged: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio.

As the highest-ranking House Republican since McCarthy’s ouster, Scalise makes for an obvious potential replacement. He officially threw his hat in the ring Wednesday with a public letter to his colleagues spotlighting his “proven track record of bringing together the diverse array of viewpoints within our Conference to build consensus where others thought it impossible.”

Jordan, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus and ferocious ally of former President Donald Trump, announced his own intentions with a Wednesday letter of his own: “We can focus on the changes that improve the country and unite us in offering real solutions. But no matter what we do, we must do it together as a conference.”

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  1. Trichwages

    What exactly do they mean by “unity?” Support anyone the extremists support? That’s working out real well for them, isn’t it?

    I posted this on a different TD column but I think it’s worth repeating here:

    It’s become a habit for the long knives to come out when the GOP holds the House majority. They’ll be coming for whomever takes Kevin’s place, too.

    “Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, or whoever manages to seize the crown will not enjoy Trump’s invulnerability. Some group of insurgents will demand they take radical steps, and when the new Speaker either refuses or, more likely, those steps fail to work, the insurgency will start up again.

    The House Republican caucus has been so thoroughly radicalized that it is almost impossible to discern any coherent ideological fault line separating the insurgents from the leadership. They are fighting over points of legislative doctrine so inscrutable that outsiders can barely understand them.”

    https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/kevin-mccarthy-house-republican-boehner-ryan-scalise-jordan-conservatives-history.html

    p.s. ignore some of the rhetorical flourishes in a few sentences; I shared because it outlines the history pretty succinctly.

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  2. Ejtarbox

    I agree with what Jonah Goldberg wrote a short time ago. I think the members of the caucus will be able to more freely debate without televising it. There are enough clowns that we know like to play to the camera.

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      PJ

      I am anxious to see it republicans can get the job done without a circus.

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    David Burke

    Every time desantis opens his mouth he further solidifies the fact that he is an absolute putz.

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    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    I think the remaining question is: How many cents on the dollar will MyPillow's and Lindell's creditors eventually collect after their inevitable corporate and personal bankruptcies?

    I'm guessing less than $0.15 — but then again, if his future tort judgment creditors get the size judgments they deserve (which is going to dilute the other general unsecured creditors' share pretty hard), it's more likely to be $0.02.

    Regardless: It's going to be all that Lindell has that isn't protected by homestead or pension exemptions from execution and sale. He's looking at joint and several personal liability right along with his company's corporate liability.

    As for the company, I think it's looking at a Chapter 7 liquidation rather than a Chapter 11 reorganization: Nothing it owns, or does, is unique; there are no significant barriers to entry in its markets; the fair market value of its main IP asset, the tradename My Pillow, is now probably a negative number (with all except the most loyal Trumpkins, who already have Their My Pillows); and its physical plant and assets are likely to fetch more at auction in a liquidation than could be got for the whole company as a going enterprise, such as it is.

    We may have a situation where the second-place finisher in the race for the biggest court judgment against My Pillow and Lindell turns out to get five My Pillows; and the first-place finisher (likely to be Dominion ) gets fourteen My Pillows.

    I'd also take an even-money bet that the big lying mouth Lindell has under that sweaty nasty moustache may end up getting him a stay in jail for at least a few nights. He will not go quietly, but he will go comically.

    For Lindell's lawyers, I have two observations: (1) You make money sometimes, net and in the long run (based on opportunity costs), off the bad clients you turn down; this is Lawyer Economics 101. And: (2) If you're going to take a disgusting and dishonorable client like this one without getting fully paid in advance, with a six-figure monthly-refreshable fee deposit sitting in your firm's trust account to bill against so as to always maintain a zero balance owed by your client, then YOU ARE THE STUPID ONE. Ditto by the way for the lawyers now suing Rudy G for their fees. The bigger the receivable, the stupider the lawyer suing for it.

    (Like any lawyer, I've been stiffed by clients, almost always due to inability to pay rather than unwillingness. But over the last 43 years I've never gotten into a situation where I couldn't stand to grin and bear a small loss; and I've never had a loss so large that I felt impelled to sue the former client for it. And I am, at best, an average business manager, and only slightly better than average at vetting potential clients.)

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      Retired Prosecutor

      As a law student, I worked for a criminal defense attorney who of course always got his fees "up front." And when he was asked to represent a particularly disgusting defendant, I noticed that he quoted a very high fee. When I asked, he explained: "I'm not sticking my hand into a pile of ___ (choose your word for human excrement) unless I can pull it out filled with dollars."

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      Retired Prosecutor

      Ah yes, the virtues of being a prosecutor. I had the same client throughout my career and he never once stiffed me. Of course he didn't pay that well, but it was my free choice.

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    3. John

      Thank you Beldar. An encouraging piece that I look forward to following. This guy fits right into the nut followers of trump I actually bought a couple my pillows. They were garbage. Like someone picked up old overused pillows from motels and resold them. Anyway your comments are encouraging

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      PJ

      Thank you for the lawyer take on the situation. It boggles my mind that anyone at this point could believe The Biggest Loser could do anything for them other than bring pain and misery. Or a stint in prison.

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      This comment has been deleted

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        Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

        Thank you. I was also proud of "Their My Pillows."

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          This comment has been deleted

  5. Stormer93

    I suppose one could argue that Scalise would be a better Speaker than McCarthy was... he hasn't twisted himself into a pretzel to get the job- yet. But if anyone is expecting something radically better from what McCarthy gave us, then they're not living in the real world. Whomever gets the job in the end is going to have to
    A) Placate Trump, who rules the Republican party and
    B) Pass a budget that at least a few Democrats can stomach.
    Was there ever a statesman or stateswoman in history who could swing these assignments and maintain integrity? I can't think of one. As much of a pill as McCarthy was, I suspect his replacement will be just as bad, if not worse.

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    Earl King

    DeSantis made a mistake and spoke the truth. So did Tom Davis.

    This brings me to the Speakers Race. My personal feeling is that the MTV (motion to vacate has to be repealed). two reasons, us sane types know at times you have to compromise. It is inevitable due to the truth of a moment. A Speaker shouldn’t be tossed by 8 people to throw Congress in chaos. The second issue is the “sane” GOP Representatives are pissed that 8 control the fates of the 213. They want retribution and they want to get out from under the 8. By making a condition to a vote for Speaker they get both. The crazy 8 lose power and they are back to a majority controlling their fate.

    I do have a what I think is a legitimate question if you care to take a stab at it.

    Williamson and I have avery small disagreement of whether it matters, perception or reality. I contend in the world of politics perception is everything.. Observationally and statistically Democrats don’t get much of the white male vote. Democrats by pandering to minorities of all sorts with programs or laws to tip the scales in their favor perhaps alienated white males believing that the Democrat Party is an against white males. This of course most obviously shows up because much of the language and dialogue has been around white supremacy. Fathers with daughters are deeply offended at this effort. Having them forced to compete and undress in front of biological men is highly offending. Dads care about daughters sports as much as if I had a boy.

    Anyway, I think this is a problem they need to address. To brings some sanity to the world. They’ve made white men angry at Democrats because the message that is being heard is that you’re a problem, not a force for good. You’re racists, bigoted and not needed. Is this perception a reasons for all the hatred and anger?

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    1. BPhillips

      Any one who has trans issues in their top 10 concerns (unless they are actually concerned about trans people) have succumbed to some right wing brainwashing. If this is the issue that tips which way you vote you belong with the MAGAs.

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        Earl King

        You obviously have not had a daughter on a sports team. You would be horrified if you had.

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        1. BPhillips

          I have - she's a college sophomore this year. And she'd be horrified if I shared your fear of trans kids. My neck of the woods just passed an anti trans bill you'd be proud of (3 tries before they could override the governor's veto). At the time the bill was passed, there were a total of 3 trans athletes that competed in the entire state at the 7th-12th grade level. None of them were what you'd call elite athletes - just kids that wanted to play sports with their friends. I can see why the state would be horrified of those 3 kids. Disgusting, fear based on ignorance.

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            Earl King

            But that is not what fathers are objecting too. They are objecting to biological
            males who are beating the shit out girls because a year ago they were dudes. This a BS argument and I sorry I don’t know girl who thinks they want to compete against guys.

            in fact I fully support your daughters view on this, just I support anybody to have the view that have. I do not however have to ascribe to that view. Women are being marginalized. That guy in the pool is not a women. I support his lifestyle chose to act and look like a women but when he is in the pool he is guy. When he is undressing in the women’s locker room he is guy. he does not have to right to make others uncomfortable just like I don’t have the right to force him to be uncomfortable. It’s called common curtesy.

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      PJ

      "Having them forced to compete and undress in front of biological men is highly offending."

      Maybe white males should quit breeding transgender children, then we would not have this issue. Just like the gay "issue", this locker room "issue" will go away when enough people understand what is happening. Or maybe Jesus will quit creating transgender children.

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        Earl King

        Thank you for a perfectly asinine response....Made my day! Jesus doesn’t make babies....Storks do. Geez dude

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          PJ

          So it is a government conspiracy, since the storks are now government drones! Birds aren't real! https://youtu.be/l30_APBNPXg?si=zxjLCkv_5emHhjMf

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            Earl King

            Now you get it.

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  7. Emma

    The speaker does not have to be a member of congress. Why do we always nominate lawmakers?

    If it were me, I would nominate a single mother of three. A waitress or a bartender. She will have no time for games and understands how to budget and live within it. Plus she understands customer service and how to multi-task.

    Picking another legislator is just the same old nonsense.

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    John N.

    "...Republicans are wasting no time looking for a new one (Speaker)."

    Well, unless you count the eight days between the removal and the vote to elect a new one.

    🙄

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    2sequoia

    How depressing.

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    JohnM.

    " Don’t let Mike Lindell’s lawyers’ kids go hungry—buy a MyPillow today!"

    I have no sympathy for Lindell given how many lies he spread, but it's amazing how many lives Trump has wrecked because of his refusal to accept reality.

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      PJ

      This one I thank The Biggest Loser for. Expecting MyPillow commercials to go the way of the dodo bird.

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