At the height of the Roman Empire, the Circus Maximus was the place to be — wild animal shows, gladiator fights. You can find a variation of that today on Capitol Hill, where Republicans are up in arms over … the Senate dress code.
Welcome to Circus Minimus. Or The GOP Clown Show.
The House Insurrection Caucus — when it’s not busy trying to impeach Joe Biden without any high crimes or misdemeanors required by the Constitution — is playing chicken with an improving economy by threatening a government shutdown by not providing funds for the nation’s priorities, including support for Ukraine in its battle to fend off Vladimir Putin.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who sold his soul and some body parts to grab the speaker’s gavel, has seemingly lost total control of the chamber he barely won the right to run after 15 ballots. Five members of the Insurrection Caucus sided with Democrats to prevent floor action on funding the Pentagon budget.
Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Wrestling Coach, attempted to grill Attorney General Merrick Garland over the “weaponization” of the Justice Department.
That was a tactic favored by Former AG William Barr, one that Garland ended to the point of standing silent as a Trump appointed US Attorney indicted Hunter Biden ongun charges. Said Jordan, who by the way doesn’t generally wear a suit coat:
“There’s one investigation protecting President Biden. There’s another one attacking President Trump. The Justice Department’s got both sides of the equation covered.”
Garland, who’s taken heat from progressives who think he slow-rolled the January 6th investigation, was having none of it.
“Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress, or from anyone else, about who or what to criminally investigate. I am not the president’s lawyer. I will also add that I am not Congress’s prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people.”
Meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking on what seems like yet another Republican-triggered government shutdown.
But Pennsylvania Senator John Fettermen, the focus of Beltway Agita, has a simple solution to today’s crisis:
“If those jagoffs in the House stop trying to shut our government down, and fully support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week.”
If only it were that easy.