McCarthy Bargains: A Dangerous Deal with the MAGA Fringe
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy made covert deals with twenty one Representatives who changed their votes in order to give him the Speaker’s gavel, including rewarding them with powerful committee assignments.
Members of Congress are supposed to engage in constructive dialogue, mutual respect, and compromise to write laws that improve Americans’ lives. Instead, most of McCarthy’s appointments obsessively seek to degrade Democratic accomplishments, dismantle America’s law enforcement institutions, and sow distrust in our elections, often through bizarre accusations.
MAGA Fringe Appointees: Threats to Lawmaking and Democracy
Marjorie Taylor Greene was rewarded with seats on the Oversight and Homeland Security committees. She was also the clear winner of the deranged canard competition. She has claimed that:
- The QAnon conspiracy theory is true. It holds that a global child-sex trafficking ring is backed by the government and run out of a pizza restaurant in DC by celebrities and politicians.
- The 9/11 attack was a hoax.
- The Clintons may have arranged the plane crash that killed JFK Jr.
- Devastating wildfires were started by “a laser” from space, controlled by a Jewish banking family with connections to powerful Democrats.
- She wanted to execute Nancy Pelosi.
- The Democratic party was into child sex, satanism, and the occult.
- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double before her death in 2020.
- The Capitol Police were like the gestapo (she mistakenly called them “the Gazpacho”).
- Vaccine passports were like the stars Nazis forced Jews to wear to identify them during the Holocaust.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci is like the Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele, the Nazi “Angel of Death.”
- The July 4 and Highland Park shootings were set-ups by rich people to pressure Republicans to back gun control.
- Prosecuting the people at the Capitol who bashed windows, built gallows, chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” and urinated and smeared feces on the walls is “a political witch hunt.”
- Walmart is “sexualizing children with sex toys.”
Weaponization of Government: MAGA Fringe’s Agenda
Dan Bishop was given a spot onthe House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which is intent on proving that Democrats have weaponized the DOJ and FBI to attack conservatives. The subcommittee has a budget of $19 million, up from $7.6 million last year. Its staff was expanded from about 20 to more than 60.
Weaponization Select Committee Chairman Jim Jordan claims to have heard from “dozens and dozens of whistleblowers” about how the FBI has been “weaponized” against the Right. In fact, he’s heard from three of them, none of whom described any wrongdoing. They are each about as credible as George Santos.
One, George Hill, repeatedly called for dismantling the FBI and suggested that it would be better for Americans to “die than to have any kind of domestic intelligence program.”
Another, FBI Special Agent Garret O’Boyle,has a vendetta against the agency after being suspended for refusing to take part in a SWAT raid on a January 6 suspect. O’Boyle claimed January 6 was “set up” by the Democrats with the help of the FBI. He posted a video of himself outside the Capitol on January 6 wearing body armor and a gas mask and holding an AR-15-style rifle. He also compared COVID-19 vaccine mandates to Nazi genocide.
The third, Stephen Friend, isanothersuspended FBI special agent who helped Russian propaganda outlets while an FBI employee. He was quoted extensively in a Sputnik article headlined “Federal Agencies Turned Into Instrument of Intimidation,” and he did an interview with Russia Today.
O’Boyle and Friend were paid by Kash Patel, a high-ranking official in Trump’s administration, who also found them jobs. Patel is facing a Justice Department investigation for improper disclosure of classified information.
MAGA Fringe Influence: Undermining the FBI and Law Enforcement
Sadly, Jim Jordan, his Select Committee, and other Republicans gunning for the FBI have done their damage. Almost half the country now doesn’t trust the FBI, citing concerns it does the bidding of one political party over another. This is a tragedy for the country.
The FBI was founded as an apolitical crimefighting force in 1909 and has become the world’s mightiest domestic intelligence agency. It has arrested countless criminals involved in organized crime, cyber security breaches, terrorism, espionage, drug trafficking, murders, and other violent crimes. It continues to prevent crime and save lives through its surveillance operations. Yet the Republican Right wing is calling for it to be destroyed and defunded.
Republican Moderates vs. MAGA Fringe: A Struggle for Control
More moderate Republicans have expressed chagrin at this radical turn. One G.O.P. committee aide complained, “There’s a big difference between oversight where you have expertise and oversight just to churn out press releases.”
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Reward Lauren Boebert with Oversight Role
Lauren Boebert was rewarded with seats on the Oversight and Accountability Committees, which will muckrake and investigate the Biden administration in an effort to degrade its accomplishments.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Support Boebert’s Controversial Statements
She suggested that U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who is Muslim, is a terrorist. She regularly calls Omar, Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts “the Jihad Squad.”
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Back Boebert’s Defunding NPR
Boebert called for NPR to be defunded, claiming it’s a government propaganda tool. She said talking about transgender identity and oppression causes students to shoot up schools.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Endorse Andy Biggs for Judiciary and Oversight
Andy Biggs stays on the Judiciary and Oversight committees and was named chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance. He called Dr. Anthony Fauci a “coward” and tweeted that Tucker Carlson “reveal[s] the truth in America today.”
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Align with Biggs on 2020 Election
Biggs was a ringleader in the plot to overturn the 2020 Presidential election and was joined by 147 Republicans including 16 of McCarthy’s appointees. Along with most of last year’s 120 Trump-backed candidates, he endorsed the “big lie,” even though the claims of voter fraud were rejected by 60 courts including the Supreme Court, every state and federal election official including Republicans, all federal election officials and intelligence agencies, and Trump’s own Awas addedttorney General William Barr.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Add Matt Gaetz to Weaponization Committee
Matt Gaetz will stay on the Judiciary Committee and was added to the Weaponization Select Committee, where he dog-whistled his antisemitism by complaining about the “Soros-ization of the US Justice System.”
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Back Gaetz Despite Controversial Remarks
He asked Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who was about to testify against Trump, “Do your wife and father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison.” He later withdrew the accusation.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Support Gaetz’s Immigration Stance
He suggested that two Black members of Florida’s Senate couldn’t write or spell, and told a group of teens that abortion rights activists are too fat and ugly to impregnate.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Ignore Gaetz’s Anti-Immigration Lies
Generously funded by the NRA, Gaetz argues that immigration of violent criminals –- not guns — is the greatest driver of shootings. He’s either ignorant or lying about that. Crime by illegal immigrants is 45% lower compared to native-born Americans. Crime by legal immigrants is 62% lower.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Back Gaetz’s Anti-Immigration Rhetoric
False rhetoric about immigrants and crime helped freeze immigration during Trump’s administration. That depleted the labor force, which as Fed Chair Powell said, contributed heavily to wage inflation, driving up costs consumers pay for essentials. About a million would-be immigrants who were turned away could have taken high-skilled jobs that boost U.S. innovation, productivity, and economic growth if they had been let let in. Immigrants generate 2.5 jobs per worker and are three times more likely than U.S-born workers to start businesses.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Receive NRA Contributions
Republicans received $645,382 from the NRA last year while Democrats and Independents received nothing –- proof that impartiality has vanished from the Republican party when it comes to preventing the slaughter of adults and children. Indeed, every one of McCarthy’s appointees receive NRA money and oppose gun control. Coincidence?
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates’ Role in Blocking Gun Control
Lawmakers who block gun control, particularly assault weapons, could be guilty of involuntary manslaughter. It is a felony defined as committing a reckless or negligent act that results in the death of another person. Notably, proving it does not require showing intent to cause death, only that the defendant was, or should have been, aware of the risk of death.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates and the Risk of Gun Control Opposition
Risk of death from blocking gun control is undeniable. The US has 5% of the world’s population and 42% of the world’s civilian gun ownership. There are 88.8 guns per 100 Americans — the world’s highest per capita rate. There have been 21 mass shootings in 2020, 28 in 2021 and 36 in 2022. As of May 7, 2023, there have been 202 mass shootings, on track to set a record.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Reinstating Paul Gosar
Paul Gosar was reinstated on the Oversight and Investigation committees after being removed for tweeting an anime video of himself killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and swinging a sword at President Joe Biden. He also posted a video in which he appears to slash immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border with anime blood spattered on the screen.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Endorse Gosar Despite Extremism
Gosar has a history of promoting QAnon and birtherism conspiracies. He claims the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville was paid for by “Obama supporter” George Soros, who “turned in his own people over to the Nazis.” He called the people who attacked the Capitol peaceful patriots and accused the Capitol Police of “executing” insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Support Mike Cloud’s NRA Ties
Mike Cloud won seats on the powerful Appropriations Committee which controls federal spending. Having received $46,000 from the NRA and pro-gun PACs, he introduced a bill to prevent the federal government from building a firearms registry.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Back Andrew Clyde on Appropriations Committee
Andrew Clyde was awarded a spot on the Appropriations Committee. He claimed that the video of the attack on the Capitol just showed an orderly group of normal tourists.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Ignore Clyde’s Racism and Extremism
Clyde’s racism surfaced when he blocked naming a federal courthouse after Judge Joseph Hatchett, the state’s first Black Supreme Court justice. It resurfaced when he voted against a community garden that commemorated 23 people murdered by a white supremacist in a mass shooting, and again when he voted against the Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act which makes lynching a federal hate crime.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Defend Clyde’s Pro-Gun Stance
Clyde received $11,600 from Daniel Defense LLC, a supplier of assault weapons, and voted to repeal taxation, registration, and regulation of several of their weapons. Clyde also handed out AR-15 lapel pins to fellow Representatives during a week that commemorated gun violence victims.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Elevate Eli Crane Despite CRT Opposition
Eli Crane, whowill serve on the Homeland Security Committee, accused Biden of using the “FBI Gestapo to Terrorize Parents Opposed to CRT [critical race theory].”
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Overlook Bob Good’s Ethical Issues
Bob Good of Virginia was appointed to the Budget, Education, and Workforce Committees and was named Chairman of the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations and Employee Benefits. He filed a false financial disclosure form that listed no assets. An amended report revealed assets indicated multiple conflicts of interest because he voted to award major government contracts to two companies he held stock in, including two that pushed opioids.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Back Andy Harris Despite Capitol Comments
Andy Harris will continue to serve on the Appropriations Committee and was appointed chairman of the Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration Subcommittees. Even Republican constituents are calling for his resignation because he likened the mob banging on the Capitol’s doors to the enthusiasm that greets a president’s arrival at a State of the Union Address. Harris also claimed the Capitol attack was linked to Black Lives Matter protestors and Leftist provocateurs.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Reward Anna Paulina Luna
Anna Paulina Luna won a seats on the Oversight and Natural Resources panels. She built a backstory loaded with falsehoods.
McCarthy Bargains: Republican Moderates Endorse Mary Miller’s Controversial Views
Mary Miller will stay on the Agriculture Committee. During a Trump rally, she urged conservative mothers to follow Hitler’s advice to “win the hearts and minds of our children,” (for which she later apologized). She called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a “victory for white life.”
Ralph Norman will stay on the Financial Services and Budget Committees and was named to the Rules Committee, which controls the introduction and processing of legislation through the House. It has been nicknamed the “traffic cop of Congress.” He sent Mark Meadows a text urging Trump to invoke martial law to prevent Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Andy Ogles won a seat on the Financial Services Committee. During his 2022 campaign he misrepresented himself as an economist, police officer, and international sex crimes expert.
Scott Perry brokered a deal between conservatives and McCarthy. He’ll stay on the Foreign Affairs Committee and was given a seat on the Oversight committee. Perry pushed a you-got-to-be-kidding fiction that an Italian defense contractor conspired with the CIA to use military satellites to flip votes from Trump to Biden and pressed Mark Meadows and Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to investigate it.
Matt Rosendale will continue to serve on the Natural Resources Committee. He posed for a photograph outside the U.S. Capitol with supremacists Ryan Sanchez, a former member of a neo-Nazi street gang, and Greyson Arnold, a pro-Nazi blogger.
Chip Roy wasgiven spots on the Budget and Rules Committees and kept his seat on the Judiciary Committee. At a hearing on hate crimes against Asians, he equated lynchings with justice, saying, “There’s old sayings in Texas about ‘find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree.’” Asked about the racist connotations his lynching comments evoked for African Americans, Royreplied, “Yeah, so?” He voted against the Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act.
Consequences of McCarthy’s Bargains: The Future of American Governance
McCarthy’s appointees may be good material for a Saturday Night Live skit, but they should set off alarm bells. We now have powerful legislators steeped in dangerous fictions that will pervert lawmaking to the detriment of Americans. McCarthy has brought a pernicious fringe into the mainstream who are unencumbered by reality, and intent on debasing government. Whether delusional, deceitful, dumb, or deranged, they should not be in positions of power.
