Vox - House speaker election: Paul Ryan enters the racehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2015-10-29T10:50:21-04:00http://www.vox.com/rss/stream/92467842015-10-29T10:50:21-04:002015-10-29T10:50:21-04:00Paul Ryan was just elected speaker of the House — easily
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<figcaption>Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call</figcaption>
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<p>In an impressive demonstration of Republican unity, the House of Representatives elected Paul Ryan to be its next speaker Thursday morning by a comfortable margin.</p>
<p>Ryan easily surpassed the <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9483463/kevin-mccarthy-john-boehner">majority of votes cast overall</a> that he needed to become speaker, and even picked up the support of many of the most conservative members of the House; 236 of the 245 Republicans present and voting backed his candidacy. Meanwhile, 184 of the 187 Democrats present voted for Nancy Pelosi.</p>
<p>The few protest votes went to scattered people, none of whom had been officially nominated:</p>
<ul>
<li>Nine Republicans voted for Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL). They were Reps. Dave Brat (R-VA), Curt Clawson (R-FL), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Walter Jones (R-NC), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Bill Posey (R-FL), Randy Weber (R-TX), and Ted Yoho (R-FL).</li>
<li>One Democrat, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, as he <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/1/6/7503093/boehner-elected-speaker">has done before</a>.</li>
<li>Another Democrat, Rep. Gwen Graham (D-FL), voted for Jim Cooper.</li>
<li>And another Democrat, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), voted for Rep. John Lewis (D-GA).</li>
</ul>
<p>Overall, though, the vote was lopsided because the biggest threat to any Republican establishment speaker — the far-right Freedom Caucus — had <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/22/9600610/paul-ryan-speaker">decided not to imperil</a> Ryan's candidacy on the floor. Indeed, the vast majority of its members backed Ryan.</p>
<h3>The budget and debt ceiling deal will let Ryan start with a honeymoon</h3>
<p>Despite Thursday's show of unity, there are reasons to doubt that Ryan will be able to keep House Republicans together in the long term, as Matt Yglesias <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/28/9630414/paul-ryan-speaker-house">laid out this week</a>.</p>
<p>Luckily for Ryan, though, Boehner did him a big favor on the way out — striking a deal with the Senate and White House to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/26/9619214/budget-deal-congress">through March 2017</a>.</p>
<p>Fights over must-pass legislation like this have consumed much of the Boehner speakership, since far-right conservatives have consistently pushed to use these bills as a way to try to force President Obama to accept conservative policy priorities.</p>
<p>But now these matters are out of the way for the rest of the Obama presidency. So for the next year or so, Speaker Ryan can focus on crafting a policy agenda for the GOP, and on reforming House rules. (Ryan wants to make the "motion to vacate," a way to force an effective vote of no confidence in the speakership, more difficult to invoke. The far-right Freedom Caucus has its own ideas for reform, some of which are actually <a href="http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2015/10/20/9570747/house-freedom-caucus-process-demands">pretty good</a>.)</p>
<p>By the time the debt ceiling and government funding come up again in early 2017, either a Democrat will be president, in which case these old fights will recur, or a Republican will have retaken the White House, in which case a new dynamic will be at work.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2015/10/29/9636742/paul-ryan-speaker-house-electedAndrew Prokop2015-10-22T19:11:41-04:002015-10-22T19:11:41-04:00Paul Ryan announces he's running for speaker — despite not getting everything he wanted
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<figcaption>Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call</figcaption>
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<p>Rep. Paul Ryan announced Thursday night that he will run to succeed John Boehner as speaker of the House — and he's the overwhelming favorite to win.</p>
<p>"I pledged to you that if I could be a unifying figure, then I would serve," Ryan wrote in a <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinMaddenDC/status/657325486125772800" target="_blank">letter to his House Republican colleagues</a>. "After talking with so many of you, and hearing your words of encouragement, I believe we are ready to move forward as a one, united team. And I am ready and eager to be our speaker."</p>
<p>After Kevin McCarthy surprised everyone by <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/8/9480795/kevin-mccarthy-pulls-out-speaker" target="_blank">dropping out</a> of the speaker's race two weeks ago, Republican elites positively begged Ryan to run for the job. They viewed him as the only House member who had the credibility to unite mainstream Republicans and far-right conservatives.</p>
<p>Ryan <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2015/9/25/9397895/paul-ryan-speaker-house-boehner">was reluctant</a>, but eventually responded to these pleas — and on Tuesday, he laid out a set of <a style="font-size: 19.5px; line-height: 1.65; background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/21/9589378/paul-ryan-freedom-caucus" target="_blank">conditions</a> he said were necessary for him to run for speaker. These conditions included requests to <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/22/9594118/paul-ryan-family-leave" target="_blank">preserve his family time</a> and to let him "use the platform to create a clear policy choice for the country." There appear to have been few objections to these.</p>
<p>But he made two more demands that weren't quite met. First, he said that he'd only run if he got the endorsement of all three GOP caucuses. He got two of them, and almost got the third — <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/21/9589378/paul-ryan-freedom-caucus" target="_blank">winning support from a supermajority</a> of the far-right <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9488835/house-freedom-caucus-explained" target="_blank">Freedom Caucus</a>, but not the 80 percent necessary for its official endorsement. Still, he very nearly got there, and what he did get was an impressive display that cements his claim to be a unity candidate.</p>
<h3>But Ryan hasn't yet weakened the Freedom Caucus's most powerful weapon</h3>
<p>Perhaps more consequentially, Ryan didn't win official agreement on one of his other major demands — that the House rules should be changed to make it much more difficult to challenge the speaker's leadership in the middle of a House term.</p>
<p>This refers to an obscure procedure — a <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9288373/john-boehner-coup-meadows" target="_blank">motion to "vacate"</a> the speaker's post — that can be invoked to force an effective vote of no confidence in the speaker, and require him to line up 218 votes to keep his job. "No matter who is speaker, they cannot be successful with this weapon pointed at them all the time," Ryan's Tuesday statement said.</p>
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<p>Yet this would have removed one of the Freedom Caucus's main points of leverage. Currently, any speaker can be deposed in the middle of the year simply by losing support of a few dozen of his or her party's most extreme members. So if the far right seems willing to use this threat, the speaker currently has a huge incentive to cater to their demands. Conversely, if this threat weren't available, the speaker would find it easier to ignore the far right.</p>
<p>Indeed, one of the main reasons John Boehner is resigning is because a Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9288373/john-boehner-coup-meadows">was trying to</a> bring a motion to vacate the chair to the floor. Boehner knew he had the support of the vast majority of his caucus, yet keeping enough of the far right to win a floor vote when he was being criticized for not fighting hard enough to defund Planned Parenthood would have been a difficult challenge.</p>
<p>Ryan quickly clarified that he didn't want to eliminate this procedure entirely — he just wanted, <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/paul-ryan-doesnt-want-eliminate-motion-vacate-chair_1050432.html" target="_blank">he said</a>, to modify it in some unspecified way, to make it more difficult to use in the middle of a term. And at least some members of the Freedom Caucus reportedly voiced openness to such an idea when Ryan spoke to them.</p>
<p>But according to a report by <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/ryan-concessions-freedom-caucus-215075" target="_blank">Politico's Lauren French and Jake Sherman</a>, there's been no formal agreement on whether to make any change at all. Instead, Ryan has agreed to delay the debate, and discuss the changes he wants as part of a broader overhaul of House rules. This could theoretically make it easier for him to offer <a href="http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2015/10/20/9570747/house-freedom-caucus-process-demands" target="_blank">some rules changes</a> that the Freedom Caucus wants in exchange for a concession from them on the motion to vacate. Or it could just be a punt.</p>
<p>Still, the fact that a supermajority of the Freedom Caucus is backing Ryan for speaker makes it seem that they're not going to use this weapon against him anytime soon. So further reforms will be a problem for later.</p>
<p>For now, Ryan is officially in the speaker's race, and he faces only nominal opposition from Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida so far. An internal GOP conference vote on the speakership is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, and a full floor vote is scheduled for the following day.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2015/10/22/9600610/paul-ryan-speakerAndrew Prokop2015-10-22T12:20:02-04:002015-10-22T12:20:02-04:00Feminists should cheer Paul Ryan for taking a stand for work-life balance
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<p>Paul Ryan says he'll only <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/20/9579815/paul-ryan-speaker-house">accept the speakership of the House </a>if it doesn't cut into family time. This should be met with cheers by anyone who wants to normalize the idea of men being active in family life. Instead, he's faced a backlash — led not only be conservatives, but by liberals and feminists who presumably want more men to follow his lead.</p>
<p>On the right, the objection is predictable: Paul Ryan needs to man up and do his job.<strong> </strong>Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), a conservative Ryan critic, told <a href="https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/status/656652023966908416">Fox News's Chad Pergram</a>: "I've never heard of someone who wanted more power and less responsibility."</p>
<p>On the left, Ryan's getting called a hypocrite. The Nation's Joan Walsh became an <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/joan-walsh-doug-heye-family">instant hero</a> when she claimed Ryan was getting <strong>"</strong>credit for something a woman could absolutely never ask for." And several media outlets outright called Ryan <a href="http://time.com/4081956/paul-ryan-house-speaker-race-republicans-congress-family-leave/">a hypocrite </a>— or an <a href="http://gawker.com/sheryl-sandberg-gives-paul-ryan-enemy-of-women-the-l-1737915488">"enemy of women"</a> — for asking for family time for himself while opposing federally mandated paid family leave and other policies that liberals believe are important for family support.</p>
<p><q aria-hidden="true" class="center">You don't have to applaud Paul Ryan's record to see this choice as a step forward </q></p>
<p>This makes no sense. Ryan is identifying a problem that millions of Americans face and shouldn't have to — and forcing people to acknowledge the problem is the first step to solving it. If you believe parents in two-parent households should share the responsibility of raising a family, it is a good thing when high-profile men acknowledge it's their responsibility, too — especially when those men represent groups that tend to favor traditional gender roles. And if you believe raising a family shouldn't impede career advancement, it's a good thing when someone points out that right now, it still does.</p>
<h3>The "political wife" problem</h3>
<p>The biggest problem with accusing Ryan of hypocrisy for protecting his time with his family, while opposing policies that would make it easier for less well-off people to spend more time with theirs, is that it misrepresents what Ryan's asking for. He isn't asking for paid family leave — he's not asking for leave off work at all. He's asking that weekends, which are generally understood <em>not </em>to be part of the workweek, actually get treated that way.</p>
<p>Congress, like a lot of employers in the 21st-century United States — from <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/8/17/9166023/new-york-times-amazon">Amazon</a> to <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/08/urban_outfitters_salaried_employees_volunteer_at_rural_shipping_center_on.html">Urban Outfitters</a> — has swollen into a job that's expected to take precedence over everything else an employee does with his or her time.</p>
<p>Members of Congress get paid better than most, of course — and they're salaried, which theoretically means there's no limit to the number of hours they ought to work to get the job done. But being on salary doesn't mean that an employer has the right to demand your time all day, seven days a week. Ryan is just asking to get some semblance of work-life balance. To look at it another way, <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/22/450550272/can-paul-ryan-have-it-all">as Danielle Kurtzleben writes for NPR</a>, he's asking for scheduling flexibility — which happens to be an important factor in shrinking the gender wage gap.</p>
<p>In the private sector, employees who are expected to have <a href="http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2015/08/amazon-is-cruel-to-be-kind">a monastic commitment to their jobs</a> often struggle to build a family at all — it's called "monastic" for a reason. But politicians are generally expected to have spouses and children (just ask <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/6/11/8769061/lindsey-graham-single">Lindsey Graham</a>). They're expected to use their family, particularly their spouses, as campaign trail props (just ask <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/07/teresa-heinz-kerry-profile">John Kerry</a> or <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/08/22/deans_wife_focusing_on_career_not_campaign/">Howard Dean</a>). They're just not expected, especially as they move up the career ladder, to give them any family time.</p>
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<img alt="Ted Cruz with daughters in Iowa" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iUOaX-TIPeDhsgnGwcf1izTFazM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4188785/GettyImages-483443934.0.jpg">
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<p class="caption">The original caption provided for this in Getty Images literally says Ted Cruz "spends a few moments with his daughters" before an Iowa campaign rally. How sad is that? (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call)</p>
<p>Usually, this trade-off is just accepted as part of the job. A "political wife" (and for some reason, possibly one that rhymes with shmexism, they are mostly wives) is expected to both run the household as an effectively single parent and make herself available for public events. Paul Ryan is making that implicit sacrifice explicit: He's pointing out that moving up the career ladder will shift the division of labor within his family.</p>
<p>It's understanding fatherhood not just as a fun activity but as an obligation — something important enough that it would keep him from getting a promotion.</p>
<h3>How do we get to a place where taking family time isn't a hiring deal breaker?</h3>
<p>Ryan's making his demand in a very Republican way: The people who are making the decision to "hire" him as speaker have all the power. He's declaring in the job interview that if he gets the job, he won't give it most of his weekends. If House Republicans see that as a deal breaker, they can hire someone else. (It is not Ryan's fault that there are no other plausible candidates right now.) If they believe Ryan is so overwhelmingly talented and well-qualified that he's the best person for the job even with that drawback, then they know what they're getting into.</p>
<p>To Ryan, this might be the way the world ought to work — we don't really know. To his liberal critics, it clearly isn't. They don't want a world in which employers have the power to pick only job candidates who either don't have families or are perfectly happy to force their spouses to run the household alone. For one thing, that's never going to give the overwhelming majority of workers the same power to set their own terms that Ryan has right now.</p>
<p><q aria-hidden="true" class="center">One of the powers of privilege is that when you speak out, people are more likely to listen.</q></p>
<p>The liberal critics see this as a preventable tragedy; they see federally mandated paid family leave as one way to solve it. So they're upset that Ryan appears to acknowledge the problem without adopting what they see as the solution.</p>
<p>If federally mandated paid family leave is the ultimate goal, then sure, it makes sense to slam Ryan for opposing it (although in that case, his personal work-life balance is irrelevant). But it isn't. The ultimate goal is — or at least it should be — to change society as a whole so that child rearing is seen not as a mother's responsibility but as a parental responsibility, and having a family and wanting to spend time with them isn't seen as a career liability at all.</p>
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<img alt="Anne-Marie Slaughter" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Si9FLEWjPF-ls2QveqQkSgOQ7n8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4188797/GettyImages-492820758.0.jpg">
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<p class="caption">(Marla Aufmuth/Getty)</p>
<p>One of the powers of privilege is that when you speak out, people are more likely to listen. Paul Ryan is forcing people to acknowledge and talk about a dilemma that many Americans are expected to suffer in silence. Joan Walsh is partly right: A woman could never ask for family time, probably because she'd be expected to put her family first anyway. But that's a bad thing — it should be happening to fewer people, not more.</p>
<p>Ryan has even more privilege than the high-earning, well-educated white women who've dominated the conversation about work-life balance — the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/">Anne-Marie Slaughters </a>of the world. But it's certainly not a step <em>backward </em>for society when Slaughter talks about the work-versus-family trade-offs she's had to make. And it's not a step backward when Ryan talks about them.</p>
<p>House Republicans aren't going to elect a speaker who supports federally mandated paid family leave. But they have a chance to elect a speaker who appears to believe that family isn't exclusively his wife's job. Why wouldn't it be a good idea to take it?</p>
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<p><b>CORRECTION:</b> This article originally said that Joan Walsh writes for Salon; she now writes for The Nation.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2015/10/22/9594118/paul-ryan-family-leaveDara Lind2015-10-09T15:50:02-04:002015-10-09T15:50:02-04:00The House Freedom Caucus, explained
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<img alt="Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) is the HFC member who launched the bid to unseat Speaker John Boehner." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CdS09PvRktWFauW_GdlDYHZxpoI=/0x0:3000x2250/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47375140/GettyImages-482278770.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) is the HFC member who launched the bid to unseat Speaker John Boehner. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>When Raúl Labrador looks at his fellow House Republicans, he sees a lot of people who are in Washington for the wrong reasons. "They think that being a member of Congress is just so dang cool, and that there’s nothing greater than this," the Idaho Republican <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/house-freedom-caucus-warns-of-blowback-for-boehner/">said</a> in June.</p>
<p>In Labrador's view, he and his allies in the House Freedom Caucus are different. They're in Washington to make big changes to how the federal government operates. They're not necessarily more conservative than other Republicans in the House, but they see their role as a sort of conscience to leadership, forcing them to stay true to their beliefs in the face of opposition from President Obama. And they're more comfortable using extreme tactics — like risking a government shutdown — to defend those beliefs.</p>
<p>The group is relatively new — it was only founded in January — and it keeps its membership rolls secret. But it's been waging an increasingly open rebellion against Boehner and his leadership team. One of their members, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/28/rep-mark-meadows-makes-bid-to-oust-boehner-from-speakership/">launched an effort</a> to unseat Boehner that ultimately led to a <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/9/25/9397191/john-boehner-resigns">surprise resignation announcement</a> last month. And the HFC's threat to withhold votes from Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the frontrunner to replace Boehner, contributed to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/8/9480795/kevin-mccarthy-pulls-out-speaker/in/9246784">McCarthy's decision</a> to drop out of the race this week.</p>
<p>With only around 40 members, the HFC isn't close to representing a majority of House Republicans. But the group is big enough to deny the leadership a governing majority. And they've used that leverage to the hilt.</p>
<p>The problem is that these confrontational tactics might backfire. The group's tactics have been systematically weakening the party discipline that allows the leadership to get things done. Their hope is that this will push the House further to the right, but it could easily wind up giving more influence to House Democrats instead.</p>
<h3>The House Freedom Caucus is so secretive we don't know who's in it</h3>
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<img alt="Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) has refused to confirm or deny his membership in the secretive group. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty)" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lSY3QTyKzlouP_abg_LJ9M85J8c=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4143608/GettyImages-175801686.0.jpg">
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<p class="caption">Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) has refused to confirm or deny his membership in the secretive group. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty)</p>
<p>For more than a decade, the most conservative members of the House have organized themselves into a group called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Study_Committee">Republican Study Committee</a>. The group would develop conservative policy proposals that it would then urge other Republicans to adopt.</p>
<p>As House Republicans have gotten more conservative, the RSC has grown to more than 170 members, and it has begun to work more closely with Republican leaders. Steve Scalise (R-LA), the No. 3 man in the GOP leadership hierarchy, is a former chair of the RSC, and the current chair, Bill Flores (R-TX), has vowed to work closely with the leadership.</p>
<p>So in January of this year, a group of nine hardcore conservatives <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/rival-conservative-group-presents-challenge-to-rsc-or-not/">launched a new group</a> called the Republican Freedom Caucus. Over the course of the year, the group grew to about approximately 40 members.</p>
<p>I say "approximately" because the group treats its membership rolls as a closely guarded secret. We know approximately how many members the HFC has, and most of the group's members have acknowledged being part of it. But some suspected members of the group have been <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/scott-perry-sets-new-standard-answering-questions/">weirdly cagey</a> about whether they're part of it. "It’s nobody’s business but our own," Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/scott-perry-sets-new-standard-answering-questions/">told a CQ Roll Call reporter</a> about the group's membership list in July.</p>
<h3>The HFC and the GOP leadership have been at war all year</h3>
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<img alt="Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), is a member of the House Freedom Caucus (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty)" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tyUutfXMT4d1hXniJRPL8yTn1As=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4143596/GettyImages-490539666.0.jpg">
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<p class="caption">Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), is a member of the House Freedom Caucus who was <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/246337-the-dozen-rebels-targeted-by-gop-leaders" target="_blank">booted from House leadership</a>. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty)</p>
<p>One possible reason for the group's secrecy is concerns about reprisals from leadership. The group's size of around 40 members is significant because there are a total of 247 Republicans in the House. Subtract the 40 HFC members, and you're left with around 207 votes, short of the 218-vote majority needed to pass legislation in the 435-member body.</p>
<p>That means that if the HFC's members vote as a block, they can deny the Republican leadership the votes they need to pass legislation without Democratic help. And that potentially gives the group a lot of leverage to push the Republican Party's legislative agenda to the right. In February, RFC members <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/house-freedom-caucus-looks-to-be-force-in-leadership-and-lawmaking/">pushed the Republican majority</a> close to a partial government shutdown over President Obama's controversial executive order on immigration.</p>
<p>The other 200-some members of the Republican majority don't necessarily appreciate having their legislative agenda driven by the most extreme 40 members in the conference.</p>
<p>"They’re not legislators, they’re just assholes," a senior GOP aide <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/house-freedom-caucus-looks-to-be-force-in-leadership-and-lawmaking/">told CQ Roll Call</a> during the February budget fight. "These guys have such a minority mindset that the prospect of getting something done just scares them away, or pisses them off."</p>
<p>To avoid giving stubborn minorities disproportionate power, the Republican Conference (like majorities in legislatures everywhere) has strong norms requiring members to vote with the leadership on certain types of procedural votes. <span>But in June, a block of 34 conservatives, including several HFC members, defied the leadership on a procedural vote that would set up the rules for debating Trade Promotion Authority — legislation that would help Obama negotiate international trade deals.</span></p>
<p>Republican leaders viewed this as beyond the pale, and they <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/conservatives-fume-over-gop-retribution/">struck back at the rebels</a>. Three members of the HFC were booted from the whip team, which is in charge of rounding up votes for legislation supported by the leadership. Another rebel, Mark Meadows (R-NC), was stripped of his chairmanship of the Government Operations Subcommittee.</p>
<p>The GOP's civil war escalated from there. The rebels eventually forced the leadership to reinstate Meadows, leaving everyone angry. A month later, Meadows <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/28/rep-mark-meadows-makes-bid-to-oust-boehner-from-speakership/">filed a motion to vacate the chair</a>, a little-used tactic to force Boehner out. The vote was never held because Boehner announced his resignation before the motion could be voted on.</p>
<h3>The Freedom Caucus is interested in everything from fiscal policy to Iran</h3>
<p>The Freedom Caucus has set its agenda one issue at a time. It takes support from 80 percent of the membership for the caucus to take an official position. Here's a partial list of positions the group has taken:</p>
<ul>
<li>In April, the Freedom Caucus endorsed <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/gop-washington-dc-abortion-law-117462">blocking a DC law</a> to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on their use of contraception and abortion services.</li>
<li>In May, the group <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/house-freedom-caucus-lines-opposition-export-import-bank/">called for the abolition of the Export-Import Bank</a>, which provides credit for overseas customers of American companies. The HFC regard the group as a form of corporate welfare.</li>
<li>In July, the group <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/247599-religious-freedom-bill-picks-up-momentum">endorsed legislation</a> to prohibit the federal government from punishing churches or charities based on their opposition to same-sex marriage.</li>
<li>In September, the caucus <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/freedom-caucus-looks-pressure-leadership-iran-vote-delay/">called to delay a vote</a> on Barack Obama's Iran deal until the president released the text of a "secret side deal" Iran made with the International Atomic Energy Agency (as Vox's Max Fisher <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9296551/iran-nuclear-side-deal-republicans">put it</a> "it is not a 'side deal,' nor is its existence secret").</li>
<li>In September, the group called for <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/freedom-caucus-oppose-spending-bill-planned-parenthood-money/">defunding Planned Parenthood</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Obviously, these are all conservative positions, but beyond that there's no particular theme tying them together. Rather, the HFC seems to take stands on issues — same-sex marriage, abortion, and the Iran deal — that have generated a lot of excitement among grassroots Republican activists.</p>
<h3>The GOP rift is about tactics more than ideology</h3>
<p> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Conservative stalwart Tom McClintock (R-CA) quit the RFC in September due to concerns about their tactics. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty)" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SXn_KKCaPbGXyuwup2j5Jrb2XIk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4143612/GettyImages-473136342.0.jpg">
</figure>
</p>
<p class="caption">Conservative stalwart Tom McClintock (R-CA) quit the HFC in September due to concerns about their tactics. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty)</p>
<p>It's worth noting that more mainstream Republicans agree with the Freedom Caucus on most of these issues. The Iran deal is widely disliked by congressional Republicans. Most Republicans in Congress are strongly pro-life, and few would object to protecting churches' religious liberty.</p>
<p>The big disagreement is about how hard the Republican majority in Congress should push for more conservative policies in the face of stubborn resistance from President Obama. The intra-Republican argument on this issue tends to revolve around the 2013 government shutdown. Boehner believes the two-week shutdown was a tactical disaster for Republicans; it created a lot of bad press for congressional Republicans and ultimately didn't produce much in the way of conservative policy changes.</p>
<p>But in the view of the Freedom Caucus, the problem is that Republicans weren't serious about winning their showdown with President Obama. They <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/john-boehner-resigns-house-conservatives-next-steps-214080">point out</a> that the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power of the purse. Suppose Congress passes legislation funding all of the government except for Planned Parenthood, and Obama vetoes it. Obama would describe that as shutting down the government to defund Planned Parenthood. But conservatives say it would be just as accurate to say that Obama shut down the government in defense of Planned Parenthood.</p>
<p>Members of the HFC believe that with more disciplined and effective leaders, the next shutdown can turn out better than the last one did.</p>
<p>But even some conservative stalwarts think the HFC approach is foolish. One is Tom McClintock, a California Republican who has long been a hero of fiscal conservatives. He <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/mcclintock-resigns-from-house-freedom-caucus-213692">quit the House Freedom Caucus</a> in September, arguing that it had proven counterproductive.</p>
<p>"When the House Freedom Caucus formed in January, I fervently hoped that it would provide responsible and effective leadership to advance conservative principles," he wrote. "I believe the tactics the HFC has employed have repeatedly undermined the House’s ability to advance them."</p>
<p>The HFC's conservative opponents believe that it's simply not possible to get more conservative policies enacted so long as Barack Obama is in the White House. They prefer to settle for more modest conservative gains over the next 18 months while laying the groundwork for a Republican to win the White House in 2016. And they believe that constant headlines about infighting among Republicans don't advance that goal.</p>
<h3>The Freedom Caucus's tactics could prove counterproductive</h3>
<p> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt="House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will stay in power until Republicans are able to choose a successor. And he's not happy about it. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NGLXGA4msQYVU_Xa__IZAu76N4A=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4143620/GettyImages-166735713.0.jpg">
</figure>
</p>
<p class="caption">House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will stay in power until Republicans are able to choose a successor. And he's not happy about it. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)</p>
<p>The Freedom Caucus's most significant accomplishment so far has been to first pressure John Boehner into resigning and then pressure Kevin McCarthy to give up his bid for the speaker's chair. The problem is that it's not clear if anyone can win the support of both the Freedom Caucus and the GOP's more mainstream members.</p>
<p>The Freedom Caucus has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/us/politics/daniel-webster-freedom-caucus-republicans-house-speaker.html">endorsed Daniel Webster</a> for speaker, but he doesn't seem to have much support beyond the House's conservative firebrands. One of the few people who might be able to unite House Republicans, Paul Ryan, says he <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/9/25/9397895/paul-ryan-speaker-house-boehner">doesn't want the job</a>. And no other strong candidates have emerged.</p>
<p>Ironically, an ongoing leadership vacuum could push the House to the left instead of the right. John Boehner has said he will continue serving as speaker until his successor is chosen. And, freed of concerns about a conservative mutiny, Boehner will feel more comfortable cutting deals with Democrats if the most conservative members of his caucus won't cooperate.</p>
<p>Indeed, this is the larger danger of the Freedom Caucus's tactics. The group has spent the past nine months systematically attacking the mechanisms that promote party discipline and allow the GOP majority to act as a single, unified group. But it's far from obvious that the breakdown of party discipline would lead to more conservative governance. There are a lot more Democrats in the House of Representatives than there are Freedom Caucus members. If the House agenda becomes a free-for-all, the result could easily be less conservative legislation rather than more.</p>
<p>For example, one of the HFC's signature accomplishments was defunding the Export-Import Bank. Restoring the bank's funding appears to enjoy a support from a majority of the House — most Democrats and a minority of Republicans — but it's being blocked by the House leadership because a majority of Republicans — including Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) — oppose it.</p>
<p>But as the HFC erodes respect for party discipline, moderate Republicans are <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/10/09/republicans-and-democrats-gathering-momentum-attempt-save-export-import-bank/73652178/">becoming more willing</a> to defy their leadership too. A group of 40 moderate Republicans have signed on to a "discharge petition" to force a vote on restoring the Export-Import Bank's funding. If the petition gets a majority of the House — which it very well could if the chamber's 188 Democrats sign on — the Republican leadership won't be able to block it from being considered.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9488835/house-freedom-caucus-explainedTimothy B. Lee2015-10-09T14:20:01-04:002015-10-09T14:20:01-04:00The affair allegations that derailed Kevin McCarthy's quest for the speakership, explained
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8doIsBwdV7gEk3DigwHtTu5hIcw=/0x30:3000x2280/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47374528/GettyImages-491859220.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Alex Wong/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A lot of people I speak to who aren't deeply involved in American politics are a little confused about what, exactly, is up with the House Republicans these days. Why did Kevin McCarthy remove himself from the running for speaker without even having a vote? And if the problem with McCarthy is that he wasn't conservative enough, why are people talking about Paul Ryan — who isn't any more conservative than McCarthy — as possibly being able to step into the breach? What, in other words, is actually going on?</p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote lang="en" class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">That time everyone in politics & journalism knew what happened and readers/viewers/listeners were left in the dark.</p>
— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkHalperin/status/652209010616180736">October 8, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It's awkward for the media because a key element of the story is a wild allegation for which nobody in journalism seems to have any evidence.</p>
<p>But it's clear at this point that the rumors — whether or not they are true — have started to play an important role in big-picture American politics. So here goes. People are saying that McCarthy, who is married, is (or was in the past) having an affair with Renee Ellmers, a married Republican member of Congress from North Carolina.</p>
<p>McCarthy's opponents on the right helped shove him out of the race by threatening to elevate this rumor from Capitol Hill gossip to national news. This explains why he bowed out without insisting on a vote, and it also explains why people think a person with McCarthy-like views <em>might</em> be able to squeak in.</p>
<h3>Is the McCarthy-Ellmers rumor true?</h3>
<p>I have no idea, and nobody else seems to either. It's obviously in neither party's interest to admit it if it <em>is</em> true, but it's also not the kind of thing they would easily be able to <em>disprove</em> if it weren't true. But <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/renee-ellmers-affair-rumor-kevin-mccarthy-thanks-gop-lawmakers-for-support-214607">Politico's team of congressional correspondents</a> reports that Ellmers has thanked colleagues for their "prayers and support," and earlier this week her lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to GotNews, the website that originally published the rumors, calling them defamatory.</p>
<h3>Can you give me a timeline of what happened?</h3>
<p>Sure:</p>
<ul>
<li>Back in January, Charles C. Johnson, a conservative blogger and provocateur known for trafficking in "whoa if true" quasi-news, posted a story to his website <a href="http://www.gotnews.com">GotNews</a> "breaking" the "story" (if, indeed, the story is true). </li>
<li>Sometime after that, rumors of the affair became widespread on Capitol Hill and became part of the general backdrop of congressional gossip.</li>
<li>Then on September 25, John Boehner unexpectedly announced his intention to resign as speaker and swiftly tapped McCarthy as his chosen successor.</li>
<li>The House GOP caucus was supposed to take a vote on its leadership candidates on October 8.</li>
<li>On October 7, <a href="http://jones.house.gov/sites/jones.house.gov/files/10.6.15%20Letter%20to%20McMorris%20Rodgers.pdf">GOP Rep. Walter Jones sent a cryptic letter</a> to fellow Republicans calling on any members of Congress guilty of "misdeeds" to step aside and making reference to former Rep. Bob Livingston, who back in 1999 was forced to abandon the House GOP leadership in the wake of the revelation of an affair.</li>
<li>Later that day, Ellmers's attorneys sent a <a href="http://gotnews.com/breaking-gotnews-com-hit-with-cease-desist-letter-for-mccarthy-ellmers-affair-story/">cease-and-desist letter to GotNews</a>, calling the allegations of an affair both "false" and "defamatory." </li>
<li>Then, just before 8 am on the morning of October 8, Steve Baer, an influential conservative donor and activist known for his ties to the right wing of the party, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-mccarthys-exit-affair-allegations_5616f004e4b0082030a1e0a8?zdpo80k9">sent an email to McCarthy, Ellmers, and others</a> threatening to expose the alleged affair. </li>
<li>Hours later, McCarthy unexpectedly withdrew from the race, the leadership elections were canceled, and the caucus was thrown into chaos. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Why is this relevant?</h3>
<p>Nobody thinks the alleged affair is the actual reason McCarthy faced opposition in his quest for the speaker's gavel. Rather, the affair seems to be a tool that his enemies inside the caucus and in the larger movement used against him.</p>
<p>It's a tool that works on two levels:</p>
<ul>
<li>At least a few GOP congressmen who don't have strong objections to McCarthy on the merits might fear the elevation of a speaker who would end up tainting the caucus with a sex scandal.</li>
<li>McCarthy might have bowed out despite having the votes to win simply because he wanted to spare his family (he has a wife and two children) the embarrassment of an affair being revealed publicly. </li>
</ul>
<p>The affair allegations matter, in other words, because they raise the possibility that the Freedom Caucus <em>doesn't</em> actually have the votes necessary to block an establishment-friendly choice for speaker from obtaining the 218 votes needed to take over. It's possible that the affair allegations were a crucial difference maker — either in driving a few votes away from McCarthy or in driving him from the field even though he had 218 supporters — and that Paul Ryan or some other figure could unite the party without saying or doing anything substantively different from what McCarthy has done.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9488323/mccarthy-ellmers-affairMatthew Yglesias2015-10-09T11:38:00-04:002015-10-09T11:38:00-04:00Play this game to see what it's like to be John Boehner
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vIL-CRNldRRrbRzXRpSYsnMh3Mg=/150x0:2861x2033/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45818430/459363048.0.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>After a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9483463/kevin-mccarthy-john-boehner">difficult five-year tenure</a> as speaker of the House, John Boehner has <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2015/9/25/9397997/john-boehners-resignation-explained">announced his plans</a> to step down. Yet Republicans <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/8/9483105/speaker-house-worst-job">are having difficulty</a> coming up with someone who wants to replace him. If you want to understand why, how about trying your hand at his job?</p>
<div class="quiz-container qq-flowchart"></div>
<p>
<script type="text/javascript"><!--
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shutdown"},{"slug":"Tempextensionk","text":"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","connectsto":"Earmarksk, threatenk, Persuadek, pullbillk, leadk","connectstext":"Offer conservatives earmarks, Threaten them, Try to persuade them of your plan's merits, Pull the bill"},{"slug":"HoldfirmK2","text":"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","connectsto":"Shutdownk, Slowcleank","connectstext":"Bring on the shutdown, Agree to a clean bill funding the government"},{"slug":"Earmarksk","text":"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","connectsto":"Pullbillk, Riskyfloorvotek","connectstext":"Pull the bill, Take a vote anyway"},{"slug":"Threatenk","text":"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","connectsto":"Pullbillk, Riskyfloorvotek","connectstext":"Pull the bill, Take a vote anyway"},{"slug":"Persuadek","text":"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","connectsto":"Pullbillk, Riskyfloorvotek","connectstext":"Pull the bill, Take a vote anyway"},{"slug":"Pullbillk","text":"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","connectsto":"Slowcleank, Shutdownk","connectstext":"Agree to a clean government funding bill, Bring on the shutdown"},{"slug":"Riskyfloorvotek","text":"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","connectsto":"Slowercleank, Shutdownk","connectstext":"Agree to a clean government funding bill, Bring on the shutdown"},{"slug":"Stopshutdown","text":"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","connectsto":"Quickcleans, Consbills","connectstext":"Clean government funding bill, Funding bill that kills Obama's program"},{"slug":"Consbills","text":"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","connectsto":"Holdfirms, ConvinceDemss, Medcleans","connectstext":"Hold firm for a few days, Try to win over Senate Democrats, Give up the fight for now"},{"slug":"ConvinceDemss","text":"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","connectsto":"Holdfirms, Medcleans","connectstext":"Hold firm for a few days, Give up the fight for now"},{"slug":"Holdfirms","text":"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","connectsto":"Tempextensions, Holdfirms2","connectstext":"I'll try to pass my own plan, I'll just do nothing until the day before the shutdown"},{"slug":"Tempextensions","text":"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","connectsto":"Earmarkss, threatens, persuades, pullbills","connectstext":"Offer conservatives earmarks, Threaten them, Try to persuade them of your plan's merits, Pull the bill"},{"slug":"Holdfirms2","text":"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","connectsto":"Shutdowns, Slowcleans","connectstext":"Bring on the shutdown, Agree to a clean bill funding the government"},{"slug":"Earmarkss","text":"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","connectsto":"Pullbills, Riskyfloorvotes","connectstext":"Pull the bill, Take a vote anyway"},{"slug":"Threatens","text":"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","connectsto":"Pullbills, Riskyfloorvotes","connectstext":"Pull the bill, Take a vote anyway"},{"slug":"Persuades","text":"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","connectsto":"Pullbills, Riskyfloorvotes","connectstext":"Pull the bill, Take a vote anyway"},{"slug":"Pullbills","text":"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","connectsto":"Slowcleans, Shutdowns","connectstext":"Agree to a clean government funding bill, Bring on the shutdown"},{"slug":"Riskyfloorvotes","text":"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","connectsto":"Slowercleans, Shutdowns","connectstext":"Pass a clean government funding bill, Bring on the shutdown"},{"slug":"Shutdownk","text":"00540068006500200067006f007600650072006e006d0065006e007400200073006800750074007300200064006f0077006e002100200042007500740020004f00620061006d0061002700730020006c00690062006500720061006c002000700072006f006700720061006d002000690073006e00270074002000610066006600650063007400650064002c00200061006e00640020007400680065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e002000630061007500730065007300200061002000730065006e0073006100740069006f006e00200069006e0020007400680065002000700072006500730073002e00200041007300200064007500720069006e0067002000740068006500200032003000310033002000730068007500740064006f0077006e002c0020007000750062006c006900630020006f00700069006e0069006f006e0020006f0066002000740068006500200047004f005000200070006c0075006d006d006500740073002e00200059006f007500200063006f0075006c006400200065006e00640020007400680065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e00200071007500690063006b006c00790020006200790020006200720069006e00670069006e00670020007500700020006100200063006c00650061006e002000660075006e00640069006e0067002000620069006c006c002e00200053006f002c002000610020007700650065006b00200069006e002c0020007700680061007400200064006f00200079006f007500200064006f003f","connectsto":"Endshutdownk, Shutdownk2","connectstext":"End the shutdown, Keep the shutdown going"},{"slug":"Shutdownk2","text":"005700650027007200650020006e006f007700200069006e0074006f0020007700650065006b002000740077006f0020006f00660020007400680065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e002c00200061006e00640020007000750062006c006900630020006f00700069006e0069006f006e0020006f0066002000740068006500200047004f005000200069007300200061007400200072006f0063006b00200062006f00740074006f006d002e00200054006800650020006d006f006400650072006100740065002000660061006300740069006f006e0020006f006600200079006f0075007200200063006f006e0066006500720065006e0063006500200069007300200072006500610064007900200074006f0020007400680072006f007700200069006e002000740068006500200074006f00770065006c002e002000420075007400200063006f006e00730065007200760061007400690076006500730020007300740069006c006c002000770061006e007400200074006f00200068006f006c00640020007300740072006f006e0067002c0020006500760065006e002000740068006f00750067006800200074006800650020003200300031003600200065006c0065006300740069006f006e002000690073002000670065007400740069006e006700200063006c006f007300650072002e002000570069006c006c00200079006f00750020006200720069006e00670020007500700020006100200063006c00650061006e002000620069006c006c00200074006f00200065006e00640020007400680065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e00200061006e007900740069006d006500200073006f006f006e002c0020006f0072002000770069006c006c00200079006f00750020006b0065006500700020007200650066007500730069006e006700200074006f00200064006f00200073006f003f","connectsto":"Endshutdownk2, Shutdownk3","connectstext":"OK I'll cave, I will still hold firm"},{"slug":"Shutdownk3","text":"004100730020007400680065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e00200073007400720065007400630068006500730020006f006e00200066006f00720020006d006f006e007400680073002c0020007700650061006c00740068007900200064006f006e006f007200730020007400680069006e006b00200079006f00750027007600650020006c006f0073007400200079006f007500720020006d0069006e00640020201400200061006e006400200063006f006e00740072006f006c0020006f006600200079006f0075007200200063006f006e0066006500720065006e00630065002e00200045006c0069007400650073002000630061006c006c00200066006f007200200079006f007500200074006f0020007300740065007000200064006f0077006e002c00200061006e00640020006200610063006b00200068006f006d0065002c00200079006f00750020006c006f006f006b0020006c0069006b00650020006100200066006f006f006c002e00200054006800690073002000740069006d0065002c002000740068006500720065002700730020006e006f00200064006900730061007300740072006f007500730020006c00610075006e006300680020006f00660020004f00620061006d0061006300610072006500200074006f0020006300680061006e0067006500200074006800650020007300750062006a006500630074002c00200061006e006400200079006f0075007200200066007500740069006c0065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e002000730074007200610074006100670065006d0020006b006500650070007300200064006f006d0069006e006100740069006e0067002000740068006500200068006500610064006c0069006e0065007300200061006e0064002000740068006500200063006f006e006700720065007300730069006f006e0061006c0020006100670065006e00640061002e0020005400680065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e0020006200650063006f006d00650073002000610020006d0069006c006c00730074006f006e006500200066006f0072002000520065007000750062006c006900630061006e002000630061006e006400690064006100740065007300200061006c006c0020006f007600650072002000740068006500200063006f0075006e007400720079002e00200059006f0075002000680061007600650020006f006e00650020006c0061007300740020006300680061006e0063006500200074006f00200065006e0064002000690074002000770069007400680020006100200063006c00650061006e002000620069006c006c002e00200044006f00200079006f0075003f","connectsto":"Endshutdownk3, Shutdownelectionk","connectstext":"OK now I'll cave, I will never 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End"},{"slug":"Endshutdownk2","text":"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","connectsto":"End","connectstext":"The End"},{"slug":"Endshutdownk3","text":"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","connectsto":"End","connectstext":"The End"},{"slug":"Shutdowns","text":"00540068006500200067006f007600650072006e006d0065006e007400200073006800750074007300200064006f0077006e00210020004800650079002c0020007700610073006e0027007400200079006f0075007200200067006f0061006c00200074006f002000610076006f0069006400200074006800610074003f00200041006e00640020004f00620061006d0061002700730020006c00690062006500720061006c002000700072006f006700720061006d002000690073006e00270074002000610066006600650063007400650064002e0020005400680065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e002000630061007500730065007300200061002000730065006e0073006100740069006f006e00200069006e0020007400680065002000700072006500730073002c00200061006e0064002c00200061007300200064007500720069006e0067002000740068006500200032003000310033002000730068007500740064006f0077006e002c0020007000750062006c006900630020006f00700069006e0069006f006e0020006f0066002000740068006500200047004f005000200070006c0075006d006d006500740073002e00200059006f007500200063006f0075006c006400200065006e00640020007400680065002000730068007500740064006f0077006e00200071007500690063006b006c00790020006200790020006200720069006e00670069006e00670020007500700020006100200063006c00650061006e002000660075006e00640069006e0067002000620069006c006c002e00200053006f002c002000610020007700650065006b00200069006e002c0020007700680061007400200064006f00200079006f007500200064006f003f","connectsto":"Endshutdowns, 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End"},{"slug":"Shutdowns2","text":"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","connectsto":"Endshutdowns2, 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</p>
https://www.vox.com/2015/3/6/8150437/boehner-gameAndrew Prokop2015-10-09T10:30:02-04:002015-10-09T10:30:02-04:00Democratic congressman creates Craigslist ad for speaker of the House position
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/E-YKVOxW0nM6qRKRT5YB6OwHXMk=/0x0:4500x3375/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47372638/GettyImages-460309660.0.0.jpg" />
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<p>Republicans are having a difficult time finding someone who actually wants to be speaker of the House. So Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat from California, is selflessly trying to help them out — by creating this fake Craigslist ad for the position's requirements and <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/RepMarkTakano/status/652225913317421056">posting it on Twitter</a>:</p>
<p> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Craigslist Speaker" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2GW51bMe7j0fXGEkKKv9RrL5ryM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4142108/Screen_Shot_2015-10-09_at_9.40.02_AM.0.png">
</figure>
</p>
<p>Do you think you might fit the bill? Try <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2015/3/6/8150437/boehner-game">playing this game</a> to see if you have what it takes to be the next John Boehner. But before you sign up for the job, read <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9483463/kevin-mccarthy-john-boehner" style="font-family: Balto, Helvetica, Arial, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.65;">our explanation of why the House GOP is such a mess</a>.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9486559/speaker-of-the-house-craigslistAndrew Prokop2015-10-09T09:30:01-04:002015-10-09T09:30:01-04:00And just like that, Boehner's back?
<figure>
<img alt="The Usual Suspects." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ge4-bIMMPMrUsavgSowvTlVCD5Q=/0x65:4386x3355/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47370140/GettyImages-120224519.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>The Usual Suspects. | Win McNamee/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kevin McCarthy's decision to step aside in the race for the speakership was an absolute bombshell. Though his announcement was surprising, McCarthy's predicament <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/256128-how-john-boehner-could-stay-speaker">was obvious</a>: While he almost certainly had a majority of Republican votes for yesterday's (now postponed) vote, he couldn't count on garnering the required 218 votes for the actual speaker election.</p>
<p>The announcement exploded so loudly Thursday that John Boehner's attempt to calm the masses has barely been heard. <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-will-stay-new-speaker-elected/?dcz=">As Roll Call reported</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"As I have said previously, I will serve as Speaker until the House votes to elect a new Speaker," Boehner said in a written statement early Thursday afternoon. " We will announce the date for this election at a later date, and I'm confident we will elect a new Speaker in the coming weeks."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'll admit, I hadn't noticed earlier that Boehner's resignation was conditional on the choice of a replacement. This is further evidence of Boehner's strengths as a leader, as I <a href="http://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2015/9/29/9411061/krugman-wrong-boehner">wrote about before</a>.</p>
<p>More generally, though, it's an even better version of my own strategy for how Boehner could retain the speakership, <a href="http://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2015/9/9/9293309/boehner-can-keep-job">which involved having the House vote to replace him only after the replacement candidate had secured 218 votes</a>. I'm not saying that Boehner stole my idea and put a classy Keyser Soze spin on it, but I'm not saying he didn't, either.</p>
<p>I don't know if Boehner's trying to remain speaker or not, but the magical part of his position right now is that regardless of anything his colleagues may think about him, he has one thing that nobody else has: John Boehner doesn't need to be elected speaker of the House<i>.</i></p>
<p>How this will evolve over the next couple of days is uncertain, but I will predict that if a consensus candidate does not emerge by Monday, John Boehner will still be speaker in January 2017. Given that Paul Ryan seems intent on <i>not</i> being speaker (arguably because he's a smart politician with higher ambitions), this will be an interesting weekend.</p>
<p>Finally, I think it is interesting to note that Paul Ryan was to nominate McCarthy for the speakership. Boehner basically endorsed McCarthy for the speakership in his "resignation" speech. Ryan said early on that he didn't want the job. In spite of protesting that he was surprised today, three's a crowd when it comes to the House leadership. I find it very hard to believe that the whole dynamic starting with Boehner's resignation has been as unforeseen to them as it has been to the rest of us.</p>
<p>In any event, it may turn out that the most powerful stunt John Boehner ever pulled was convincing his caucus he was giving up his power.</p>
https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2015/10/9/9484575/mccarthy-gone-bombshellJohn Patty