The (Very Recent) Past is Prologue

House Republicans find themselves in familiar territory.

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Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Thursday to implement daily four-hour “pauses” in fighting in parts of northern Gaza to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and civilians to evacuate. The agreement came after several days of pressure from the White House, with President Joe Biden expressing frustration that it’d “taken a little longer than [he had] hoped” for Netanyahu to implement the plan—though National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said these “pauses” were just the “first step” in wider humanitarian accommodations. Meanwhile, the heads of U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies—the CIA and Mossad—met with the Qatari prime minister in Doha on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a deal with Hamas to free 12 hostages, including six Americans, in exchange for a three- or four-day ceasefire and some limited fuel shipments. 
  • Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced on Thursday that he would dissolve the nation’s parliament in December and schedule elections for March 2024, after the sudden and unexpected resignation of Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa earlier this week. De Sousa said he will only dissolve parliament after the final vote on the country’s budget in late November, and that Costa—who resigned amidst an investigation over allegations of corruption—will remain as a “caretaker” prime minister until a new leader is elected. 
  • A former conservative politician in Spain, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, was shot in the face on Thursday afternoon outside his home in Madrid before the masked assailants reportedly drove away on a black motorbike. The bullet passed through his jaw and the wound is not life-threatening, the hospital treating Vidal-Quadras said Thursday. The motive for the attack is not yet clear, and the attempted assassins have not yet been found. 
  • Detroit police announced on Wednesday that they have a suspect in custody connected to the murder of Samatha Woll—president of her Detroit synagogue and a former staffer for Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan—who was found stabbed multiple times outside her home last month. Local police have not released the identity of the suspect nor have they indicated whether Woll’s killing was a hate crime—so far, police have not suggested any possible motives for the murder.
  • The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal properties, selected Greenbelt, Maryland—northeast of Washington, D.C.—as the site of the new FBI national headquarters to replace the crumbling J. Edgar Hoover building in downtown D.C. The long-awaited decision was met with uncharacteristically blunt criticism from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who said his agency had concerns about the “fairness and transparency” of the selection process and suggested a top GSA decision-maker had a conflict of interest. GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan pushed back on Wray’s criticism. “GSA and FBI teams have spent countless hours working closely together over many months,” she said. “So we’re disappointed that the FBI Director is now making inaccurate claims directed at our agency, our employees, and our site selection plan and process.”
  • Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced on Thursday he would not run for re-election in 2024, a blow to Democrats’ chances of holding onto his Senate seat in ruby-red West Virginia. In his announcement, the moderate Democrat laid out his future plans, stoking political speculation. “What I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” he tweeted. Manchin has been floated as a potential third-party presidential candidate. 
  • NewsNation will host the fourth GOP presidential primary debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on December 6, the network announced Thursday. Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly will moderate the event alongside NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon. The Republican National Committee has increased the threshold for participation in this debate, requiring candidates to be polling at 6 percent—up from 4 percent in the third debate—in at least two national polls or at that same threshold in one national poll and two polls in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina. They must also have 80,000 unique donors, with at least 200 donors in each of 20 or more states. 

House GOP’s Groundhog Day 

House Speaker Mike Johnson during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on November 2, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The government will run out of money in seven days. House leadership tried and failed this week to pass individual appropriations bills and is struggling to unite the Republican conference around a short-term spending measure to avert a government shutdown. Meanwhile, the Senate is preparing a stopgap of its own, and the speaker of the House faces the prospect of relying on Democratic votes to fund the government. 

Sound familiar?

Speaker Mike Johnson, barely two weeks into his new gig, finds himself in much the same position as his predecessor Kevin McCarthy was back in September. Sure, Johnson has made fewer enemies on Capitol Hill than McCarthy (so far) and there don’t appear to be any hardline GOP members threatening his speakership (yet), but the new speaker is facing the same challenge of uniting a disparate conference around a spending plan with only days to spare. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Abridge683

    LUK: the question is an insult to cats everywhere.

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  2. JKK

    The GOP continues to prove that it cannot govern and yet wonders why (along with their absence of a definable & palatable abortion position and the Trump factor) they cannot win elections. Show competence in SOMETHING, for God's sake!

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  3. Emma

    What is the point of them wanting control if they refuse to do the job? This party is incapable of doing anything

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    1. Hikingguy

      This party is doing the best it can to crash the Republic. It's very good at spraying liquid manure around. It is superlatively good at hoaxing the gullible. And it favors religious head cases-including our new Speaker-who think the USA is a Christian Nation and want the laws to enforce their religion. They can kiss my grass.

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  4. Avatar photo
    Dave Conant - MO

    LUK: If I were in Mikey's shoes, I'd change my shoes. The answer, to anyone interested, in actually governing, is simple. Put forth a bill consistent with the agreement McCarthy negotiated and which was passed into law, and take such consequences as may occur. It would require courage and vision, qualities not notable for being found in the halls of Congress, but it's the only real life way out of this situation.

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  5. BEE

    LUK: If I was Mike Johnson, I would be reading my bible and praying every hour that he can whip the votes together. Like Nehls said, this group seems like it is simply uncontrollable. Very unwilling to negotiate. I think this will come down to the buzzer again. The tiered system / splitting it up sounds like an interesting idea to me. In an ideal world where both parties wanted to effectively govern, he would be working with democrats to pass a deal and ignoring the House Freedom drama queens. Unfortunately, we do not live in that world.

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  6. BEE

    I sincerely hope that Manchin is somewhere on the ticket. I would like to send a message to both parties that most of us are in the middle and we do not genuinely hate our neighbors. Manchin is probably one of the smartest men in the beltway. Excited to get to work with him and No Labels.

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  7. Whiskeyman

    If I was in Johnson’s shoes I would take them off and rethink my life

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  8. Avatar photo
    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    From an attachment to the above-linked written statement from FBI Director Wray, regarding conflicts of interest: "Lastly, the FBI raised a serious concern about the appearance of a lack of impartiality by the GSA senior executive [in charge of recommending a new site,] given the executive’s previous professional affiliation with the owner of the selected site. The Greenbelt parcel of land is owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which was the senior official’s immediate prior employer."

    Of course, this wouldn't surprise the Founders of our country and Framers of our Constitution:

    ===begin quote===
    In the “Dinner Table Bargain,” Madison agreed that when the issue of assumption [by the federal government of the several states' respective debts from the Revolutionary War] was brought before Congress again, he would remain passive rather than actively opposing it, and would convince some of his fellow southern congressmen to support it. Hamilton, in turn, agreed that he would garner northern support for the Potomac River capital location and lower the rate at which Virginia would be taxed by $1.5 million under the assumption plan. As part of the Compromise of 1790, the Residence Act was passed in July 1790, establishing the U.S. capital in Washington, D.C. In exchange, The Funding Act, including the assumption act, passed in August 1790, and established Hamilton’s foundation for public credit.
    ===end quote===
    link: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/compromise-1790

    Logs don't roll by themselves, you know. But it's best when they're not rolled secretly by rollers with competing loyalties.

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  9. Avatar photo
    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    I'm sorry to have missed out on the 15% discount, but I attest here to my complete satisfaction with the Advisory Opinions "Flagship Podcast" baseball cap. Very fetching: https://dispatchstore.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/flagship-podcast-baseball-hat

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  10. Avatar photo
    Citizen60

    Johnson should write bills with every amendment each Republican House member wants—even if they are contradictory to each other—so it will get to the floor for a vote. And a laddered CR that has every rider every Republican House member wants—even if contradictory to each other—and kicks the can down to 2 government shutdown dates to get it to the floor. No Republican will have a reason to veto it, all having gotten exactly what they want.
    It either passes—hooray! Republicans can get something done on their own—and goes to the Senate to figure out. Or it doesn’t pass, and—just like the 3 week Speaker fight—and then either: a) Johnson threatens to quit, or b) members in the Republican caucus must make compromises.

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    1. Avatar photo
      JohnF

      This has to be resolved by next Friday.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Citizen60

        Or else the government shuts down, which many Republicans in the House believe would not be such a bad thing.

        There have been numerous very short (< 4 day) government shutdowns in this nation's history. Newt Gingrich went long.

        You'd think a situation like this would make the Republicans hang together with their Republican Senate colleagues and work on coming up with a solution since the shutdown deadline is so close -- except the Republican Speaker of the House recessed the House so everyone could go home for a long weekend. Maybe he wants the veterans to give their Congressional Reps an earful.

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        1. Avatar photo
          JohnF

          I have long stopped thinking that the crazies in the House Republican caucus do anything for any kind of logical or long-term strategic reason.

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