Why hasn't Mitch McConnell stepped in and told the House Repubes who the next Speaker will be?

[LaMouffette]

I thought he was the main Repube puppet master who got all the others to fall into line.

Has Mitch lost his grip on the party? Is he himself afraid of the radical rightwing Trump-humper Repubes?

[Joinfortmill]

1. Lol

[Ocelot II]

2. Because he's a Senator and therefore he has no power over House members.

The House and the Senate stay out of each other's business.

[H2O Man]

6. +1

[speak easy]

10. Because he's a Senator ... but could be elected as the Speaker of the House.

[Ocelot II]

11. So could I. Neither thing will happen.

[speak easy]

13. and ...

and is there anyone on their birth certificate name ... Ham Sandwich?

[LaMouffette]

14. Okay, thanks! I thought his influence extended to House Repubes as well.

[Ocelot II]

21. He probably has some amount of political influence behind the scenes, but

no actual power, as the OP suggests. Since the MAGAt faction hates him because TFG hates him, he probably doesn't even have any informal influence any more.

[tishaLA]

3. When he cut Kev off at the knees on the omnibus

he pretty much told them he wasn't keen on working with someone so beholden to the FL retiree.

[LaMouffette]

15. That makes sense. Turtle doesn't want to stretch his neck out of his shell for Kevin, who did not

get the "Distance yourself from Trump now that his popularity is waning" memo.

[Walleye]

4. I am beginning to think that Putin doesn't like McCarthy

[LaMouffette]

16. Probably doesn't like him because he lacks Trump's endearing qualities of narcissism and profound

stupidity.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Very interesting question.

Maybe he has already given his input and is being ignored.

Or he is staying out of the food fight and letting the chips fall where they may.
Seems unlikely since he loves being in control.

We know he hates Trump and didn't like the insurrection.

So my best guess is that he is going to sit back and watch the pro Trump,
pro insurrection group make total jackasses of themselves.

This would also serve his long term strategy of getting rid of Trump and
any vestige of him.

[LaMouffette]

18. I think you're right. That certainly sounds like a McConnell-esque strategy. Just like he sat back

and let the Democrats try to get rid of Trump through impeachment.

[Irish_Dem]

20. I think that was the deal he made.

He hates Trump but needed cover.

He agreed to let the Dems destroy Trump in exchange for
Cruz and Hawley not being indicted for their part in 1/6.

He may have even agreed to let some senate races go sideways.

McConnell plays the long game.

[tritsofme]

7. Huh? He is a senator.

[Zambero]

8. The MAGA Reps hate him as much if not even more than McCarthy

No sway power from turtleman.

[LaMouffette]

17. I didn't realize that! The MAGA Repubes really are evil of a different color than McConnell et al.

Interesting! The traditional Repubes, like McConnell, are mercenaries. In the end, they're in government to make a buck. The MAGA Repubes, on the other hand, are crusaders, who want to impose their racist, xenophobic, misogynistic worldview on others.

Hmm. Let me revise that: the MAGA Repube politicians are also mercenaries, but they're pretending to be crusaders to appeal to Trump's MAGA crusader voters. Like McConnell, they don't really have a cause they believe in except for keeping themselves in office.

[FakeNoose]

9. Uhhh ... that will NEVER happen

[Torchlight]

12. I think McConnell wants his hands clean on this one.

Idiots are pointing to this pig fight saying "this is what democracy is supposed to look like" while the less extreme voices are content to simply wait until after the mud stops flying before cleaning up the mess and putting a hairdo on tv to justify it.

[LaMouffette]

19. Yikes! If the pig fight continues, it's going to be two years of chaos. Worse, this is emboldening

the Freedom Caucus. I just found out that in my state (Montana) and others, the Freedom Caucus is forming committees in the state legislatures, too.