To become speaker of the House, you need to win a majority of the full chamber. That means that if all members are present, and there are no vacancies, and everyone casts a ballot for an actual candidate, you need 218 votes
The only way to reduce that number is if someone is absent; a seat is vacant; or a member votes "present" instead of voting for a candidate
Oct 25, 2022 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Second Democrat who signed the "negotiate with Putin" letter now trying to walk it back. Jayapal earlier put out a statement she described as "clarifying" the letter she led progressives.house.gov/press-releases…
Oh boy. One of the signers of the Progressive Caucus letter advocating for negotiating w/Putin over Ukraine, WI Rep. Mark Pocan, says it was written 3 months ago, has "no idea why it went out now" & called it "bad timing"
Mondaire Jones has a difficult choice right now, and I don't envy him. DCCC chair Sean Patrick Maloney selfishly put Jones in a bad spot by immediately saying he'd run for #NY17 instead of #NY18 as soon as NY's new draft map came out. Now Jones must decide between #NY17 & #NY16
Assuming the map is finalized as-is, Jones would represent 3x as much of #NY17 as Maloney. He's also vastly more progressive than SPM, one of the most centrist Dems in the House. Jones even had more cash on hand than Maloney as of 3/31! $2.9 mil vs. $2.1 dailykos.com/stories/2022/4…
Sep 2, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Fuck you, Akhil Amar
And fuck you, too, @cartersnead
Jul 26, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
I think there's some real anger brewing out there among vaccinated folks that's not getting much attention. Instead, we see pieces trying to soothe the infantile reactance of the unvaccinated and blame it on those who've gotten shots
What was I just saying above?
"As Virus Cases Rise, Another Contagion Spreads Among the Vaccinated: Anger"
The possibility that Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul could become governor highlights an infirmity in NY law: There's no explicit provision allowing anyone to fill a vacant *LG* spot. The state's highest court let David Paterson do so after a legal fight, but this hole should be plugged
Having no LG is bad b/c if the governorship were to become vacant a second time, the job would fall to the leader of the state Senate, which is a bad & anti-democratic outcome. Had Paterson left office early (which was possible!), Republican Joe Bruno would have become gov
Mar 3, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
This is great news. We previously had Klobuchar as "not ruling it out" on our filibuster reform whip list, but we can officially upgrade her to "for." Full list here: dkel.ec/3gdW4Y5
And here's another great update, thanks to @Tzipshmil. We'd been relying on old comments from Brian Schatz that slotted him into the "unclear" category, but this one is a no-doubter
Note that if Republican senators refuse to show up for a quorum call, Democrats can direct the Senate's sargeant at arms to arrest them and compel their attendance. That's how radical a threat withholding quorum is—you can be arrested for doing so crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL…
The quorum requirement (ie, need a majority of members to conduct business) is written into the Constitution. But one medium-term way to alter that calculus would be to admit DC and Puerto Rico as states
Jan 11, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: We've obtained a full list of all 212 Democratic House members who are co-sponsoring the articles of impeachment drafted by Reps. David Cicilline, Ted Lieu & Jamie Raskin. Also available at link: dkel.ec/3nCP7TD
Notable names not on the list of impeachment cosponsors:
• Scott Peters
• Ed Perlmutter
• Jim Himes
• Jared Golden
• Ron Kind
Three Biden appointees (Fudge, Haaland & Fudge) are unlikely to speak out. Presumably Pelosi & Hoyer are not on list for leadership reasons
Jan 10, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I think there's a story here for a reporter interested in calling up some of these silent Republicans. The entire GOP loudly opposed last year's impeachment in unison. This time, almost none have spoken up ... and some have are *open* to impeachment
dkel.ec/3nmCJHl
There are 27 House Dems we've been unable to find statements on (we've gone through every Twitter account, both official & campaign). Almost everyone supports some form of removal (like 25A or resignation), but some folks haven't expressly opined about impeachment
Jan 6, 2021 • 18 tweets • 6 min read
At least six House Democrats have already called for Trump's impeachment for inciting today's violent coup attempt:
Cicilline
Moulton
Omar
Pressley
Takano
Wexton
Please let me know if you see others.
NY Rep. Mondaire Jones has also called for impeachment
Just before the House votes on Ds' coronavirus aid package, the HEROES Act, later today, Republicans will try to add a poison pill using a mechanism called the "motion to recommit." A better term for it is a troll amendment
*ALL DEMOCRATS MUST VOTE AGAINST THIS TROLL AMENDMENT*
It looks like some folks are hearing about the IDC for the first time tonight. Gather round, because if you don't already know about this gang of scumbag turncoat "Democrats" who enabled Republican rule in New York for years, you'll want learn 1/
"IDC" stood for "Independent Democratic Conference." Four members of the New York state Senate who'd been elected as Democrats, led by Jeff Klein, broke away from the party in 2011 and sided with the GOP majority in the chamber (Republicans had won back control in 2010) 2/
Oct 19, 2019 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
And let's also talk about "true progressive" Tulsi Gabbard when it comes to other issues. Her record is *awful*. I laid much of it out here, but now it's time for a thread: dailykos.com/stories/2019/1…
Gabbard has for years cultivated ties to violent Hindu nationalists in India, including now-PM Narendra Modi, who oversaw the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 that left over 1,000 Muslims dead when he was the state's chief minister theintercept.com/2019/01/05/tul…
Sep 17, 2019 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
This is such a colossal “fuck you” by North Carolina Senate Democrats to all the people who have fought—and donated to—the legal battle to end gerrymandering
NC Republicans are gleeful right now. Democrats just gave them a huge gift. The GOP can now say to the court, "Your honors, this map passed with bipartisan support!" even though it's STILL a pro-Republican gerrymander
Aug 7, 2019 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
I think part of this feigned hysteria on the right about Castro’s (totally legitimate) use of public donor info is also part of a ploy to attack campaign finance disclosure laws. They’d like nothing more than for all money to be dark money
Really good point. The constant GOP smearing of Soros with antisemitic tropes actually led to someone trying to murder him with a bomb
My colleague Mark Sumner (@Devilstower) has written this up: If Trump declares a national emergency, Pelosi can immediately pass a resolution to end the emergency—and then the Senate would *have* to take it up dailykos.com/stories/2019/1…
Sure, the Senate might vote down such a resolution, but at the very least, it would put Mitch McConnell and every single Republican senator in the deeply awkward position of having to openly defend—in an on-the-record roll call vote—Trump's declaration of emergency
Jan 4, 2019 • 35 tweets • 9 min read
Dear House Democrats: Never, ever vote for a Republican motion to recommit. Treat them as purely procedural motions to be all but ignored, otherwise they’ll weaponize them against you
This is how the GOP screwed with the Democratic agenda using motions to recommit in 2007. Democrats, don’t fall for this again washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content…
Nov 14, 2018 • 41 tweets • 13 min read
Man this is making me angry. You have Chuck Schumer, who's constitutionally incapable of standing up to Trump and is determined to sell us out to Facebook, waltzing to another term, while Nancy Pelosi, who passed freakin' Obamacare, is getting challenged huffingtonpost.com/entry/nancy-pe…
Thread. So the #FiveWhiteGuys leading this brigade against Nancy Pelosi more or less have an Underpants Gnomes strategy. Let's take a look at what they're up to.
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