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Happy New Year! Much has happened in the two weeks since our last Topline. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a soaring speech before a joint session of Congress. The House select committee released its report on the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Kari Lake lost her bid to overturn the gubernatorial election results in Arizona. The House approved a $1.7 trillion omnibus bill, averting a government shutdown. Rep.-Elect George Santos of New York admitted to lying about much of his background, launching a federal investigation. A House committee released Donald Trump’s tax returns. And that’s just a few highlights—or lowlights, depending on your perspective. Then in Congress today, a historic standoff: Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who has long aspired to the House speakership, has, as of this writing, failed to secure the gavel on three ballots, blocked by the far-right wing of his own party. And so 2023 begins. We’re glad you’re here with us for the journey. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor
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Biden to promote U.S. infrastructure spending in bipartisan Kentucky visit —Reuters
Idaho killings suspect waives extradition from Pennsylvania —CNN
A record number of women will serve in the next Congress —KOMU
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‘Kevin McCarthy is not going to be a speaker’
Rep. Kevin McCarthy reportedly told his Republican colleagues, “I earned this job,” referring to the coveted Speaker of the House position. But 20 MAGA-aligned Republicans disagreed with him on a historic day on the Hill that ended with no speaker. It was the first time in a century that a speaker has not been elected on the first ballot. The chaotic start to the new Congress points to a difficult road ahead for Republicans, as they take a slim majority in the House, and for McCarthy, whose efforts to appease the Trump brigade appear to have been for naught.
Take one: “McCarthy has what it takes.” The first to nominate McCarthy was third-ranking Republican Elise Stefanik, but a challenge was quickly raised by Rep. Andy Biggs, the far-right former leader of the Freedom Caucus, who was nominated by a fellow conservative as speaker. Biggs got 10 votes, denying McCarthy the needed 218, and giving Democrat Hakeem Jeffries the lead.
Take two: “We have to rally around him, come together.” After McCarthy failed to win on the first ballot, Rep. Jim Jordan, who earned six nods in the first vote, delivered a compelling speech nominating McCarthy. Unfortunately for McCarthy, it had the effect of inspiring more Republicans to vote for Jordan on the second ballot (19) than on the first. Again, Jeffries earned the most votes, and no one reached 218.
Take three: “We all came here to get things done.” Second-ranking Republican Steve Scalise then gave it his best shot, urging his colleagues to drop their protest. Railing against President Biden’s agenda, he said, “We can’t start fixing those problems until we elect Kevin McCarthy our next speaker.” The result? McCarthy fared even worse, earning just 202 votes, as yet another Republican defected to Jordan.
Now what? The House adjourned today without a speaker, which means it cannot swear in representatives, name committee chairs, or engage in floor proceedings. Members agreed to return at noon tomorrow. Until then, Republicans have their work cut out for them. Will they renominate McCarthy on a fourth ballot? Concede to the MAGA caucus? Attempt a compromise? Stay tuned. —Associated Press
MORE: Democrats, Republicans have sharply distinct priorities for 2023, AP-NORC poll finds —PBS NewsHour
Ben-Ghiat: George Santos’ lies stem from the Big Lie
“In a different ethical and political climate, such an individual might have thought twice about submitting himself to the public scrutiny of a campaign. Now, [Rep. George] Santos fits right into a party devoted to the Big Lie and engaged in a coverup of its complicity in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.” —Ruth Ben-Ghiat in Lucid
Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an author and professor of history and Italian studies at New York University. She is a commentator on fascism, authoritarian leaders, and propaganda, and the threats they present to democracies.
MORE: Brazil to reopen fraud case against George Santos —The Wall Street Journal
‘We all look like domestic terrorists now’
That was the fear that Hope Hicks, who served as a top adviser to Donald Trump, shared with a fellow White House staffer as the violence broke out at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In texts released by the House select committee, Hicks expressed concerns about the potential consequences of Trump’s actions to Julie Radford, who was then Ivanka Trump’s chief of staff. “In one day he ended every future opportunity that doesn’t include speaking engagements at the local Proud Boys chapter,” Hicks said, referring to the ex-president. “And all of us that didn’t have jobs lined up will be perpetually unemployed.” —NBC News
MORE JAN. 6 NEWS:
The most intriguing revelations, new evidence from Jan. 6 transcripts —The Washington Post
Jan. 6 committee warns White House it can't ensure identity of anonymous witnesses will remain protected —CNN
Ex-Capitol Police chief faults intelligence officials and military in Jan. 6 attack —The New York Times
Adam Kinzinger raises fears for future of America if Trump isn’t charged over Jan. 6 —The Independent
Biden to mark second anniversary of Jan. 6 Capitol attack —The Hill
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Altschuler: For election deniers, 2022 ended with a whimper
“In the midterms, almost all the election-denying candidates for U.S. Senator, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general in battleground states lost their races. Congress passed—and President Biden signed—a reform of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which clarifies that the vice president’s role is ceremonial, and raised the threshold for objecting to a state’s slate of electors from one member in the House and Senate to 20% of the members in each chamber. … And so, on New Year’s Day, 2023, Americans have some reason to hope that the threats to our democracy are subsiding—but only if we also recognize that ‘eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.’” —Glenn Altschuler in The Hill
Glenn Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University and the co-author of “Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century.”
MORE: Election deniers remain in office—and so does the threat to democracy, writer says —NPR
Lopez: A new hope for a new year
“For years, democracies have become less representative. Some have fallen into authoritarian rule. Freedom House, which tracks the health of the world’s democracies, has called the decline a ‘long democratic recession.’ But in 2022, small-d democrats fought back not just in Ukraine but also in Brazil, the U.S., and even authoritarian countries like Iran and China. It’s far too early to declare 2022 a turning point. Yet democracy experts, who are often a pessimistic group, are feeling more optimistic. ‘I tend to be the skunk at the garden party,’ said Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. ‘But I do think the story of the last year has been, if hopeful isn’t the right word, at least more mixed.’” —German Lopez in The New York Times
German Lopez is a writer for “The Morning,” The New York Times’ daily newsletter, where he covers major world events and how they affect people.
MORE: Eliza Newlin Carney: Where democracy won in 2022 —The Fulcrum
Whitman: Let’s move beyond the status quo in 2023
“That is our calling now: to take off the blinders and examine in earnest the system that has brought us to this era of discontent and discord. And then, just as countless brave Americans before us have done, get to the work of making a better, freer, more equitable system. Let’s undertake that patriotic work together, starting today.” —Christine Todd Whitman in The Fulcrum
Christine Todd Whitman is co-chair of the Forward Party.
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Liz Cheney for Speaker of the House—YES! If she's up for the aggravation. —Anna K., Washington
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The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Renew America Foundation.
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