The Week In Politics Oct. 1-6
Welcome to our website, built for people who are hungry to learn about politics. We are excited to start this blog/website to help YOU, the reader, learn about politics. This week is perfect for the first blog, so let's dive right into it.
Late Saturday evening, a Continuing Resolution was introduced and passed by both houses of Congress (and signed into law by the President) to keep the government running for 45 more days, until Friday, November 17. This was a huge deal. The bill was passed by almost all of the Democratic members and about half of the Republican members. The bill included funding natural disaster relief, but no funding for the war in Ukraine nor border security. Although the Democrats asked for time to review the bill before passage, no time was given. Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), on his way to vote, pulled the fire alarm in one of the office buildings. Bowman said, “I didn’t think I would trigger the building alarm”, but several members of Congress have questioned his actions.
After the bill passed, Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) showed his displeasure with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy by filing a motion to oust the Speaker. When McCarthy became Speaker, he agreed to a rule that only one person was needed to call a vote to oust the Speaker, and Gaetz took full advantage of that rule. A roll call vote took place the following day and McCarthy was voted out of the position of Speaker of the House. The vote was 216-210, as 8 Republicans voted with the Democrats to oust him. McCarthy held a news conference shortly after the vote and said he would not run again for Speaker, leaving the door wide open for a new Speaker. Some of the possible candidates include Financial Services Committee Chairman (and current Speaker Pro Tem) Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (R-OK), and Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY). The election is supposed to happen on Wednesday, October 11.
Lastly, Laphonza Butler was sworn in as the new Senator from California. She succeeded Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died last week at the age of 90. Each State has its own way of filling a Senatorial vacancy mid-way through a term. In California, the governor gets to choose the Senator. Governor Gavin Newsom of California chose Butler over the three candidates currently running for Senator in 2024 - Congressman Adam Schiff, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and Congresswomen Katie Porter, as he did not want to give an advantage to any of the current candidates as they run for the seat. Senator Butler has not decided whether she will run for a full length term of 6 years starting in November 2024.
