Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks to reporters hours after he was ousted as Speaker of the House, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File
The political drama in Washington has taken a fresh turn, with Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) voted out as speaker of the House of Representatives this week.
Having just barely avoided a government shutdown earlier this week, the hope that Congress might resolve its disagreements in the 45 extra days made possible with the passage of the continuing resolution on Saturday seems to have dissipated.
The recent developments are a clear indication that polarization and partisanship are now mainstays of politics in Washington, outliving the divisiveness of the Trump administration. As McCarthy awaited judgment, former president Donald Trump found himself in a New York courtroom in a civil fraud trial involving $250 million for allegedly falsely inflating his net worth in order to enrich himself.
Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who initiated McCarthy’s ouster, declared prior to the vote that there should not be a “secret side deal” between Biden and McCarthy and to support both Ukraine and border security with a resolution that “fails to give either of those issues the dignity they require.”
U.S. support to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 has amounted to $76.8 billion, an amount that includes security, financial, and humanitarian assistance.
Gaetz is part of an increasingly vocal group of hardline Republicans who have been calling for the cessation of aid to Ukraine, a country he has described as “a money laundering Mecca.”
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