Without a speaker, the House can’t pass emergency aid to Israel and it’s not clear yet whether unelected speaker pro temprore Patrick McHenry (last seen kicking Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi out of her hideaway before sending everyone home to relax since they couldn’t get any work done) can receive classified briefings on the matter, given that he doesn’t have the security clearance to receive “Gang of Eight” level intelligence.
“But as an unelected speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., is effectively powerless on the matter. Under House rules, the interim speaker can act only on matters that relate to the election of a new speaker: gavel in, gavel out, and preside. That post-9/11 rule was designed for continuity of government, not for an unprecedented political situation like the current one. Two scholars with knowledge said the House would need to elect McHenry as speaker pro tem for that to change,” NBC explained in a piece detailing that experts say interim Speaker McHenry “effectively powerless on Israel matters.”
Given the fact that the attack on a close ally of the U.S. is highlighting Republican chaos and dysfunction, you might think they’d be embarrassed about their infighting putting the U.S. at risk and our ability to be a proper partner to our ally at risk — and want to get to work. But if you think that, you’re just projecting your own work ethic on to these folks and missing the bad faith with which they’re acting.
Remember, we currently have no ambassador to Israel because Senate Republicans blocked President Biden’s nominee as well as Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville blocking over three hundred military positions including top officers whose job would be to command forces in the Middle East.
Tuberville says he will NOT lift his military blockade even in light of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
So you might ask yourselves, why would this party – already led by a man who elevated white supremacy into his administration during his scandal-ridden presidency whose supporters who stormed the Capitol on 1/6 included Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis – see the deadly attack on Israel as a good thing for them?
Sure, it might have seemed like a gaffe when Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniels said on Fox News that the horrific attack on Israel is a “great opportunity” for Republicans, but other Republican strategists have joined in to say that it is a “huge political benefit” for them, even as the Republican-controlled House remains unable to pass aid for Israel due to the unprecedented situation of not having a speaker.
Not to worry, one Republican strategist told The Hill that it’s too early to tell if the historic dysfunction of not being able to pick a speaker even after an attack on Israel will impact House Republicans next year, saying “the negative political impacts for us are still very limited.”