US Government Avoids Shutdown, Matt Gaetz Plans To Oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy

The US government avoided a shutdown with a late-night spending bill passed just before the midnight deadline. The Senate passed the bill 88-9, with amendments added to include $16 billion in emergency disaster assistance and FAA funding requested by the White House. However, the passed bill did not include any additional aid to Ukraine, despite that being a major sticking point for the Democrats during debates on Saturday.

For weeks, fears of a shutdown had mounted as Speaker Kevin McCarthy tried to engineer a spending bill that could pass without the support of the Democrats. However, the ever-problematic right-wing caucus of Republicans once again refused to work with McCarthy. In the end, the vote passed the house 209-126, with more Democrats than Republicans backing the final bill.

Read More: Plies Calls Out Donald Trump’s Hypocrisy Over Shooting Looters

Matt Gaetz Vows To Oust Kevin McCarthy

However, McCarthy’s eleventh-hour move to compromise with the Democrats has left him vulnerable. Florida Representative Matt Gaetz announced his intention this week to introduce a motion to vacate, which would trigger a vote of no confidence against McCarthy. McCarthy agreed to a resolution during the historic Speaker of the House elections earlier this week that a vote of no confidence could be triggered by just a single member of the House. “You know what, if somebody wants to remove because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try,” McCarthy said of Gaetz’s statement. Gaetz did not indicate when this week he would be submitting the motion.

It’s unlikely that Gaetz and his far-right caucus have the numbers to take down McCarthy. This is especially because the Democrats are unlikely to back Gaetz’s ploy. However, it’s yet another hold-up for a Congress that has been stagnant since the midterms in which the Republicans flipped the house. Last week, the Republicans began official impeachment hearings against President Biden. However, they were mostly an embarrassment for the Republicans, especially when their own star witness said that Biden had not committed an impeachable offense.

Read More: Joe Biden Should Drop Out Of 2024 Presidential Race, Bill Maher Believes

[via]

The post US Government Avoids Shutdown, Matt Gaetz Plans To Oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Mike Rogers Lunges At Matt Gaetz During House Speaker Vote

Mike Rogers needed to be restrained during the 14th round of voting for House speaker. The Alabama Rep. seemed to take issue with Rep. Matt Gaetz voting present.

Rogers stormed over to Gaetz and the two began yelling at one another. At one point, Rep. Richard Hudson pulled Rogers back and put his hand over his mouth.

Washington , D.C. – January 6: Mike Rogers (R-AL) is restrained after getting into an argument with Matt Gaetz (R-FL) during in the 14th round of voting for speaker in a meeting of the 118th Congress, Friday, January 6, 2023, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke about the incident with reporters on Saturday. She says that she expects there to be repercussions.

“Mike Rogers lost his temper and was basically going to, you know, put his hands on Matt,” Greene said. “And it was actually Richard Hudson — grabbed Mike Rogers from behind and pulled him away.”

She added: “So yeah, that was completely out of line. And then I’m sure it’ll be dealt with.”

Rep. Tim Burchett remarked that he wouldn’t shy away from an altercation if he found his way into one.

“I’m honestly – I’m not going to be threatened by anybody, and if somebody puts their hands on me, I will drop them like a bag of dirt,” Burchett said. “I really will, man. That is not – I am not one to back down from a fight.”

Eventually, Rep. Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker after 15 rounds of voting. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries took over as leader of the Democratic party in the House, becoming the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.

Check out a clip of Rogers and Gaetz’s confrontation below.

[Via]

Matt Gaetz, Currently Under Investigation For Human Trafficking, Is Still Trying To Make Himself The Face Of The #FreeBritney Movement

Matt Gaetz has been under investigation by the FBI since late last year, over his alleged connection to a sex trafficking ring. But the Florida representative has been doing what many Republicans do when they’re being probed for criminal activity: ignore and distract. On Wednesday, a rally was head in downtown Los Angeles for the #FreeBritney movement, which seeks to end pop icon Britney Spears’ restrictive conservatorship, which is run in part by her father. And guess who randomly showed up to make a fiery speech?

The Florida lawmaker was there to show passionate support for a person who achieved fame when she was very young. “If this case does not result in freedom for Britney Spears,” Gaetz bellowed to the crowd, “it is a black eye for the American justice system.”

Gaetz declared that Spears — whose conservatorship is so strict that she’s not allowed to remove her IUD, which prevents her from having children — deserves “the freedom and liberty that should be offered to every single American.” He continued:

“She’s been abused by the media. She’s been abused by her grifter father. And she has been abused by the American justice system. And so we need to come together and create a federal cause of action — a federal change in the law that will free Britney and the millions of Americans [presumably referring to those who are also under conservatorships].”

He added, “One thing we can all agree on is that Jamie Spears is a d*ck.”

Preach! But a few people didn’t think Gaetz was the person who should be trying to gain hosannas for sticking up for someone like Britney Spears.

Gaetz is one of a handful of GOP lawmakers who’ve tried to get Spears to testify in Washington D.C. (Then again, one of them is Marjorie Taylor Greene.) Whatever his real motives, one wonders if he got the idea to glom onto her plight after getting made fun of three months ago in a Spears-centric SNL sketch.

(Via Variety)

Matt Gaetz Got Skunked During A Britney Spears-Focused ‘SNL’ Cold Open

For much of its current season, Saturday Night Live has featured a politically-themed sketch in its cold open. In recent episodes, however, they’ve managed to do this using Chloe Fineman’s impression of Britney Spears. In its most recent episode, the NBC sketch comedy show brought back Oops, You Did It Again to “shine a light on the social pariahs of the week.”

The sketch started with Lil Nas X, whose “Satan Shoes” have riled up conservatives and caused Nike to step in and prevent the sales of the modified pairs. While Chris Redd doesn’t look very much like the rapper, he was absolutely down to twerk on a guy dressed up like “god” to even things out on the outrage scale.

Next up was Kate McKinnon dressed as a giant skunk, playing a “canceled” Pepe Le Pew. The sketch addresses some recent news that the Looney Toon was taken out of the new Space Jam, yet another example conservatives have given regarding cancel culture.

“Any good basketball film needs a horny skunk. My part was, I see a basketball in a blonde wig and I make love to it for 10-15 minutes before LeBron James says ‘Bro, that’s a basketball,’” Le Pew explained. “Not my finest moment, but the crew loved it.”

The star of the segment, however, was Pete Davidson playing suspected “sex pest” Matt Gaetz. Davidson, who had played New York governor Andrew Cuomo, another politician under fire, on the segment earlier in the year got to play a Family Guy-inspired Gaetz. Gaetz tries hard not to admit any wrongdoing, at one point comparing himself to Le Pew. Who wasn’t having any of it.

“No, I’m a cartoon skunk. You’re a United States congressman,” McKinnon said. “Be better.”