In today’s edition, we look at the première of the new episode of (real-life) House of Cards. Grab your popcorn and enjoy!

Too loud, this time out

The United States of America is known to be the land of great Hollywood productions. Still, to date, your storyteller needed to be made aware that Hollywood is located in Washington DC.

On Wednesday morning, the Brussels bubble woke up with a new, uncut episode of House of Cards (I miss you, Frank Underwood): for the first time ever, the US House of Representatives deposed its Speaker. Democrats joined Republican Matt Gaetz and his small group of conservative allies to vote to strip Kevin McCarthy of his gavel.

Here it is, the long-awaited showdown. The 41-year-old Florida lawyer, the Trumpian radical, the black sheep of the GOP, was ready to challenge the seasoned politician (but no less unscrupulous) trained in the school of the good old Republican Party: Kevin McCarthy. And got the job done.

McCarthy’s removal followed the unexpected approval of a “continuing resolution” (CR) on Saturday, which temporarily extended funding for seven weeks beyond the end of the 2023 fiscal year, preventing a much-feared government shutdown.

After weeks of making concessions to the right-wing flank of the House Freedom Caucus, the former Speaker had failed to make substantial progress on the 2024 spending bills and couldn’t garner support for a continuing resolution despite including some spending cuts and border security measures sought by Freedom Caucus Members. To the surprise of many in the House and Senate, McCarthy eventually proposed a “clean” continuing resolution, maintaining 2023 spending levels with the addition of only emergency disaster relief funds. The CR passed with a vote of 335 to 91, including 90 Republicans. Notably, the CR did not include the $24 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine requested by the White House, a point of contention on both sides of the Atlantic.

McCarthy’s decision to avoid responsibility for a government shutdown angered some members of the Freedom Caucus, especially Representative Gaetz, who vehemently accused him of relying on Democratic support to advance President Biden’s agenda (by the way, do the Republicans have their proper agenda?).

On Tuesday morning, the Democratic caucus made it clear they wouldn’t come to McCarthy’s aid and supported the motion to remove him. McCarthy’s recent actions, such as rolling back the agreed-upon debt ceiling deal, initiating an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, and risking a government shutdown until the last minute, eroded Democrats’ trust in him.

Kevin McCarthy may have wielded his gavel for the last time while sitting atop his throne in the face of defeat.

And now, the game is on.

Let’s delve into some potential repercussions of Tuesday’s showdown.

Brain teaser #1: The House will now need to hold a new election. According to the latest reports, McCarthy will not run for the speakership again. The House may engage in multiple rounds of voting, similar to what occurred in January. Speculation about potential candidates is already circulating, with senior leadership figures such as Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, and current Speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry being mentioned.

Brain teaser #2: The momentary relief provided by passing the continuing resolution on Saturday has dissipated, as internal turmoil is likely to delay budget discussions and set the stage for further complications as the next shutdown deadline approaches on November 17.

Brain teaser #3: Funding for Ukraine has become a casualty of the continuing resolution, sparking increasingly negative debates. Democrats had relied on McCarthy’s consistent support for Ukraine to ensure the submission of an emergency funding package to the House in the coming weeks, possibly in conjunction with a border security measure. Matt Gaetz accused the former Speaker of striking a secret deal with Democrats on Ukraine funding. The next Speaker may not prove as dependable as the former one, though the White House is attempting to reassure Kyiv and its allies that nothing will change.

“Proximity to power deludes some into thinking they wield it.” – Francis “Frank” Joseph Underwood.