McCarthy’s impossible tightrope walk
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is between a rock and a hard-right caucus.
On the one hand, it’s McCarthy’s job to muster enough votes to pass a budget so the government doesn’t shut down in a few weeks. That means he either needs to convince the Marjorie Taylor Greene-Matt Gaetz wing of his caucus to back a short-term measure or find another way to pass it by getting Democrats on board.
As Jake Sherman, the editor of Punchbowl News told me this week, McCarthy is “befuddled” and doesn’t know exactly what to do.
He also is navigating a tricky tightrope when it comes to his baseless push for impeaching President Joe Biden. So far, he seems to be betting that authorizing an impeachment inquiry without forcing his vulnerable members to actually vote on it (despite his vow to not do just that) can keep the right wing in check while giving enough cover to the moderates.
If McCarthy wants to remain speaker at the end of this mess, he’ll need to keep the wing nuts happy enough that they don’t trigger a motion to vacate (which may happen anyway) while not entirely screwing over the vulnerable Republicans who represent congressional districts that Biden won.
So, yes McCarthy’s in a pickle. And all this maneuvering for daily survival feels increasingly divorced from any long-term vision for the future.
A story you should be following: Putin's election meddling 2.0
President Vladimir Putin seems to be wading back into American politics. And given the Kremlin’s unprecedented interference in the 2016 election, that is cause for concern.
Earlier this week, the Russian leader stated that the criminal cases against Donald Trump reveal the “rottenness” of the United States political system, and that the former president’s four indictments are simply “persecution of a political rival for political reasons.”
Putin’s M.O. is exploiting our divisions. In 2016, Russian groups meddled in the election using strategies like a hacking campaign, cyberattacks and social media disinformation.
Now, 2024 could be a rerun of 2016. As former FBI Director James Comey explicitly warned me in June, “Vladimir Putin does not want Joe Biden to be president of the United States. … They’ll come for this election”
The bromance between Putin and Trump isn’t new, but it is something I will be watching closely as we gear up for Election Day.
Some people you should know: These 18 GOP moderates
There are currently 18 Republicans representing districts where voters supported Biden over Trump in 2020. Those seats could be the key to whether the GOP can hold onto its narrow majority in 2024.
Interestingly enough, a majority of those 18 have voiced support for McCarthy’s decision to authorize an impeachment inquiry, according to Punchbowl News.
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., said “that there’s been enough preliminary work here to absolutely justify going forward with an inquiry,” while Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., said that the impeachment inquiry is “an appropriate next step.”
I’ll be watching closely to see whether this group of Republicans continue holding the line on impeachment — and whether their words come back to haunt them in 2024.
Jake Sherman’s weekend routine
No one has better sources in the House Republican caucus than Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman. As we follow the latest developments in McCarthy’s impeachment inquiry, Jake is someone I’ll be following closely, and you should too. Follow him @JakeSherman on Twitter.
What show are you bingeing on right now?
I was watching “Hard Knocks” about the New York Jets’ training camp. But after Aaron Rodgers got injured, I felt like I knew the end of the story.
What’s the last book you read?
“DisneyWar” by James Stewart. A terrific business book.
What time do you wake up on the weekends?
My body wakes me up every morning at 4 a.m., but I usually sleep until 6 or so.
How do you take your coffee?
Black and hot. One at 4 a.m. and one at 4:34 a.m. I don’t know why. But that’s just what I do.