ZWF: The most embarrassing bunch in D.C.
Zander's Weekend Facts #89: Sunday, October 22, 2023
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, how Republicans in Congress have continued to fail at an extremely basic duty, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know about from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast! Episode 121 features a preview of the upcoming NBA season with Zander’s Facts NBA analyst Hill Billy. Download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, October 22, 2023:
A Speaker has still not been elected
Friends, it’s been almost three weeks now… and we still don’t have a Speaker.
Since Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted as Speaker of the House of Representatives after eight of his fellow Republicans broke ranks and voted to vacate the chair, Republicans have not coalesced around a single nominee that can get to the magic number of 217 votes.
At first, Republicans chose House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) to be their speaker-designate. Scalise quickly realized, however, that he wouldn’t have enough Republican support to win the position and dropped out of the race.
Scalise’s initial opponent within the GOP ranks, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), then tried to build support among his party-mates. Jordan even went so far as to go to the House floor to hold a vote. (Even if he didn’t have the votes.)
But as C-SPAN’s graphics show, it did not go well for Jordan. In fact, it actually kept getting worse the more times he tried to force votes:
Not only did 20 Republicans defy Jordan (who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election) on the first ballot, that number grew to 25 by the third ballot.
House Democrats stood firm in their opposition, with all Democratic votes going toward House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Jeffries received more votes than Jordan all three times, garnering either 212 or 210 votes each time. Jordan only managed to get 200 votes once. Jeffries actually stood just five votes shy of grabbing the gavel, the closest anyone’s gotten since McCarthy finally convinced enough Republicans to vote for him after 15 ballots back in January.
After 25 Republicans voted for someone other than Jim Jordan (including one voting for former House Speaker John Boehner) the House Republican Conference held a secret ballot to determine whether Jordan should remain their nominee. In that vote, Jordan only received 86 votes compared to 112 who decided to move on from the man Boehner once called a “legislative terrorist.”
And now, the Republicans are back to where they were after some in their ranks decided to oust McCarthy. Seven House Republicans have now thrown their hat into the ring to be their party’s nominee. So far, the presumed front-runner is House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN). But with a very influential figure in the Republican Party saying he won’t support Emmer (because he did the horrible thing of voting to certify the 2020 presidential election) it doesn’t appear he would be able to garner 217 Republican votes on the House floor.
In fact, is there really any Republican who can get 217 votes? Since that would mean losing less than five votes within a deeply divided conference, it may not be possible.
One way the House could go back to doing the one thing it’s always supposed to be doing (governing) is if members of the majority party negotiated with the minority party in hopes of somebody getting to the magic number of 217. Jeffries has signaled many times that Democrats would be open to bipartisan negotiations in order to secure some or all of the votes of the party.
But remember that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) made the motion to oust McCarthy because he got Democratic votes on a bill to avert a government shutdown. (Which McCarthy then criticized Democrats for on CBS’ Face The Nation the next day, the reason why he didn’t get any Democratic support in the House vote to remove him.) So it doesn’t appear that Republicans are hungry to negotiate with Democrats on anything. (Even if it means the government stays stagnant, solely because of their ineptitude.)
Another potential solution proposed by some Republicans (and seemingly picked up support by Democrats) would empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC). McHenry is currently serving essentially as the temporary speaker, but can only call votes for the speaker position. However, McHenry has threatened to resign if Republicans attempt to move legislation through the House without passing a bill giving McHenry expanded powers. And that bill to make him a full-blown temporary speaker until January appears to have already died within the conference.
This should be the most basic governing duty known to man, electing your leader. It’s the first thing done every two years when a new House is elected. And yet, Republicans fail at the most basic thing.
If the government does shut down when it runs out of funding on November 17 because Republicans in the House can’t get themselves situated, it probably won’t make sense to blame the president of the other party.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s an article from the Washington Post - Jordan’s implosion in House speaker bid lays bare GOP civil war
What Zander’s been reading
As discussed in last week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, there is rampant misinformation spreading on the conflict taking place between Israel and Hamas. Here’s one news source that has been constantly providing updates on the conflict that don’t deviate from reality:
Check out this week’s featured article at NBC News - Israel-Hamas war live updates: Relief over hostage release; aid crosses into Gaza from Egypt
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Trump Georgia Case: Two members of former President Donald Trump’s legal team pled guilty to charges in the Georgia election interference case. On Thursday, lawyer Sidney Powell pled guilty to six misdemeanor counts as part of a plea deal in which Powell is expected to testify against the remaining defendants in the case, potentially including Trump. On Friday, Trump-aligned layer Kenneth Chesebro also pled guilty as part of another plea deal where he would cooperate with prosecutors.
White House Aid Request: The White House sent a request to Congress on Friday for over $100 billion in aid. After President Biden advocated on behalf of Israel and Ukraine in an Oval Office address on Thursday, the White House asked for nearly $14 billion in aid go toward Israel’s air and missile defense systems. The request outlines $61.4 billion towards Ukraine in their fight against Russia, along with $13.6 billion to fund proposals at the U.S. southern border with Mexico, and $4 billion to counter Chinese regional efforts in Asia. An additional $9 billion would go towards humanitarian relief for both Israel and Gaza. However, any funding would not be able to be approved until a Speaker has been elected in the House of Representatives.
Poland Elections: Legislative elections in Poland last Sunday appear to have ousted the ruling conservative party out of the majority. In the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, the ruling Law and Justice party received 194 seats, less than the 231 needed for a majority in the 460-seat chamber. The three opposition alliances, led by Civic Coalition, garnered 266 seats. The result is expected to place Donald Tusk, the leader of Civic Coalition, as the country’s prime minister. Tusk was Poland’s prime minister from 2007 to 2014 and also served as president of the European Council from 2014 to 2019.
Netflix Price Increases: Streaming giant Netflix announced price increases to some of its subscription plans during its quarterly shareholder report. The company announced that the price of its most expensive premium plan in the U.S. will rise to $22.99 per month, while its basic plan will now cost $11.99 per month. The cost of the ad-supported plan will remain the same at $6.99 per month. The company also announced that the service added 8.8 million additional customers in the third quarter of 2023, bringing the overall total of subscriptions to over 247 million, the most of any streaming service.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
NFL Week 7: The Jaguars survived a late rally from the Saints on Thursday night to win 31-24 and open week seven in the NFL. Today’s action begins at 1:00 pm et with the Bills taking on the Patriots, the Lions facing the Ravens, and the Browns playing the Colts. At 4:00 pm et, the Steelers head west to play the Rams, the Packers and Broncos square off, and the Chiefs host the Chargers. At 8:20 pm et, the Dolphins visit the Eagles in a matchup of 5-1 teams. Then on Monday night, the 49ers travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. After the Eagles and 49ers lost last week, there are no more unbeaten teams in the NFL this season.
College Football Week 8: #3 Ohio State won another matchup of top ten foes this season, taking down #7 Penn State 20-12 in Columbus. Elsewhere around the country in week eight, #11 Alabama overcame early struggles to beat #17 Tennessee 34-20, Minnesota won a defensive battle over #24 Iowa 12-10, and #4 Florida State fought off #16 Duke 38-20. Out west, #14 Utah used a last-second field goal to beat #18 USC in Los Angeles 34-32, while #13 Ole Miss survived a road test at Auburn 28-21, and Virginia stunned #10 North Carolina 31-27 for the program’s first-ever takedown of a top ten team on the road.
MLB Postseason: Two teams are just one win away from the World Series in the Championship Series of the 2023 MLB Postseason. In the ALCS, the Houston Astros hold a 3-2 series lead over the Texas Rangers with Game 6 taking place tonight in Houston at 8:07 pm et on FS1. A Rangers win will force a Game 7 on Monday night on Fox. In the NLCS, the Philadelphia Phillies lead 3-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks as Game 6 will take place tomorrow at 5:07 pm et on TBS. A potential Game 7 will occur Tuesday at 8:07 pm et on TBS. The winners of the two series will square off in the 119th edition of the World Series, which begins on Friday with all games airing on Fox.
WNBA Finals: The Las Vegas Aces became the first team in nearly 20 years to win back-to-back WNBA championships after taking down the New York Liberty in Thursday’s Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals. The Aces squeaked by the Liberty 70-69 in Game 4 to clinch the series 3-1. The Aces are just the second WNBA team to clinch a championship by winning by one point, joining the 2015 Minnesota Lynx. A’Ja Wilson was named Finals MVP after averaging 21 points and 12 rebounds during the four-game series, including scoring 24 points in Game 4.
Michigan Football Investigation: A Yahoo Sports report revealed on Thursday that the University of Michigan football program was under investigation for allegations related to sign stealing by the NCAA. While sign stealing specifically is not prohibited by the NCAA, scouting future opponents in person is. The Wolverines have been accused by unnamed past opponents of using individuals to attend games of future opponents to gather information on signs the team was using. The NCAA told future opponents of Michigan this season about the investigation on Wednesday. Michigan State, Michigan’s opponent yesterday, reportedly considered not playing this week’s game but ultimately decided to participate. (#2 Michigan won Saturday’s game over Michigan State 49-0.)
New Olympic Sports: While the next edition of the Summer Olympic Games are set to be played next summer in Paris, the International Olympic Committee is already looking ahead to 2028. The IOC announced on Monday that six new sports will be added to the Olympics when they are hosted in Los Angeles. Baseball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, squash, and softball are the sports that will be added to the 2028 Olympics. Cricket and flag football are making their Olympic debuts, while the four other sports have been played in previous editions. Several current and former NFL players, including Tyreek Hill and Rob Gronkowski, have already expressed interest in participating in flag football.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment! That includes the next episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast, which comes out this Wednesday!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, October 29, 2023.
