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McCarthy's moment: Debt ceiling vote secures Republican US House speaker's standing
Reuters | David Morgan
June 1, 2023
Kevin McCarthy earned his stripes as Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, navigating fierce hardline opposition to pass a debt ceiling bill containing federal spending limits that President Joe Biden for months vowed to resist.
Six months after he endured 15 humiliating floor votes just to be elected speaker, McCarthy proved capable of dragging Biden into negotiations over spending and other Republican priorities, and then marshaling two-thirds of his often fractious House Republican majority to enact bipartisan legislation. Read more
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Utah Rep. Chris Stewart to leave Congress
Axios | Andrew Solender & Erin Alberty
May 31, 2023
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Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) on Wednesday announced plans to resign "after an orderly transition" due to his wife's ongoing health issues.
Why it matters: Stewart's departure will leave the GOP's already narrow House majority down yet another seat and leave open seats on the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees.
What he's saying: Stewart did not specify when he intends to step down.
- "It has been one of the great honors of my life to serve the good people of Utah in Congress," he said in his statement.
- "...But my wife's health concerns have made it necessary that I retire from Congress after an orderly transition can be ensured."
The intrigue: Stewart's safely-Republican seat could remain empty until March 2024 or later under Utah election law.
State of play: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox will have seven days "after the day on which the vacancy occurs" to schedule a primary for the seat at least 90 days later, and a special election at least 90 days after that. Read more
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Scoop: Chris Christie to announce GOP presidential campaign next week
Axios AM | Mike Allen
May 31, 2023
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Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to announce his 2024 Republican candidacy for president next Tuesday in New Hampshire, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Christie, 60, is a former close Trump ally who now calls the former president a "coward" and "puppet of Putin." He gives traditional Republicans a horse — but seems to have a narrow market in today's GOP.
Driving the news: Christie is expected to make the announcement at a town hall at Saint Anselm College at 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Here's what to expect from a Christie candidacy, per his team:
- Being joyful and hitting a more hopeful note aimed at America's "exhausted majority."
- Being authentic — a happy warrior who speaks his mind, takes risks and is happy to punch Donald Trump in the nose. Christie's recent interviews and New Hampshire town halls aim to recapture the brio of his 2009 governor's race.
- Running a national race — "a non-traditional campaign that is highly focused on earned media, mixing it up in the news cycle and engaging Trump," an adviser said. "Will not be geographic dependent, but nimble."
Read more
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Exclusive Interview: Newt Gingrich on His New Book
"We stood on President Reagan's shoulders, and our victory could not have occurred without his ideas."
American Spectator | Paul Kengor
May 30, 2023
The following is an exclusive Q&A between The American Spectator editor Paul Kengor and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on his new book, March to the Majority: The Real Story of the Republican Revolution, written with Joe Gaylord, former executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee. The book will be released on June 6. You can order it online now.
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Paul Kengor: Mr. Speaker, let's start with the title of your book, which is truly about what it says,
i.e., marching to the majority, both historically speaking and moving forward into the future. For some politicians, the latter might seem like mere rhetoric, talking points, hype. But in your case, you have credibility. In 1994, you led Republicans to the first majority in the House of Representatives in 40 years, and it was a huge majority, a net gain of 54 seats. It was historic. And yet, few have written that history or lived it like you. You lived it and led it. Why did you decide to write this history now? What can be learned from it?
Speaker Gingrich: The situation we find ourselves in today is remarkably like the one we were in after the 1992 election. Bill Clinton had won the presidency running as a centrist, but the liberals in the Congress convinced him to move sharply to the left. By 1994 he had alienated a lot of the country that had voted for him. We had spent 16 years growing a GOP big enough to be competitive almost everywhere and Clinton gave us the issues to win on. When we won, we spent four years negotiating with President Clinton and getting him to sign a remarkable array of conservative reforms, including welfare reform, the largest capital gains tax cut in history, and four balanced budgets (the only four in your lifetime). Read more
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Republican-led Texas Legislature adjourns without passing most GOP priorities
The Texas Newsroom | Sergio Martinez-Beltran
May 29, 2023
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Near the beginning of the 88th Texas Legislature, Gov. Greg Abbott released his priorities, laying out what he wanted state lawmakers to address during their time at the Capitol.
“This session, we will ensure Texas remains the leader of this nation as an unflinching force in this world,” Abbott said during his State of the State Address in February. “Together, we will build a Texas for the next generation — the Texas of tomorrow.”
Abbott’s list ranged from curbing COVID-19 restrictions to creating school vouchers to reducing homeowners’ property tax bills.
But four months later, most of Abbott’s priorities stalled. Read more
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WG Discussion Points
Debt Talks: Why Republicans Shouldn't Allow Tax Increases On The Table
Debt and spending debate needs some agreement on the actual numbers
WG Discussion Points for Roll Call | David Winston
May 24, 2023
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Almost six years ago, NBC's Chuck Todd interviewed then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on "Meet the Press" in the midst of a fight to pass Republicans' Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Todd, clearly an opponent of the legislation, asked Mnuchin: "Where is the analysis that says this is going to lead to economic growth?" He went on to add: "There has been no study that has been able to somehow reinforce this idea that tax cuts do translate to economic growth."
As a proponent of the legislation, I decided to respond to Todd's question with a Roll Call column titled "Tax Cuts by the Numbers" that looked at the actual results of four major tax cuts, starting with the Kennedy tax cuts of 1964. Below are some significant facts:
1964 — Presidents John F. Kennedy (proposed)/Lyndon B. Johnson (signed): Lowered individual and corporate taxes; 66 percent increase in annual federal revenues (1964-69); 6.5 percent or more GDP growth in first two years.
1981 — President Ronald Reagan: Went into full effect in 1983; Growth between 1983 quarter two growth and quarter one growth in 1984 was 8 percent; annual federal revenues between 1983-89 increased by 65 percent; seven years of 3.5 percent or more GDP growth (1983-89).
1997 — President Bill Clinton: 4.1 percent GDP growth or more through 2000; 28 percent increase in annual federal revenues from 1997-2000; balanced budgets for four consecutive years.
2003 — President George W. Bush: 3.5 percent GDP growth or more in the first two years; 44 percent increase in annual federal revenues from 2003-07; deficit cut by 57 percent, from $378 billion to $161 billion.
Read more
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Don't miss the latest episode of the GOPAC Podcast!
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