More “fed up” Republicans may leave before the election in hopes of cashing in on the private sector, reporter says

More House Republicans may quit before the end of their terms, which could potentially allow Democrats to regain control of the chamber before the elections.

The early departures of Reps. Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., dropped the Republican majority’s margin to just one vote. Gallagher’s planned departure on April 19 is immediately after a date that would trigger a special election to fill his seat, meaning it is expected to stay empty until in the election.

But “other Republicans are angling to get out as soon as they can,” Fox News’ Chad Pergram reported. “A big payday in the private sector could lure some members to cash in their voting card early.”

Pergram reported that some House Republicans are “fed up” and “just exasperated.”

    • 0110010001100010@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Nah, it just doesn’t pay well enough apparently…

      A big payday in the private sector could lure some members to cash in their voting card early.

    • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      “Personally, if you’re going to make a commitment to the people that elect you, that you’re going to serve for two years unless you have a really good reason not to serve, then why would you do that? And aren’t we team Republican?” she asked.

      They genuflect at the altar of business, and then say, “wait aren’t we team Republican?” You fuckin idiot. What even is a Republican anymore? Grifters, cash grabbers, rapists, and people who swear by “individualism.” A “team” of greedy individualists. “Where’s the loyalty to individualism?!” they scream.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        The maddening thing is how much their voters go for the worst the party has to offer. They actually seem to prefer worse candidates

        • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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          Well, they’ve conditioned their voters to survive off of little nibbles of dog whistle racism and classism (somehow. Seeing as a lot of their voters are working class whites). But now, they’ve basically Pavloved them and all they’re doing is ringing that bell with all their might. So those fuckers are slobbering all over themselves for the juicy pieces of racism being freely dished out by OTHER people who were conditioned by the last generation’s dogwhistles. The new generation of republicans are basically saying “wait, why hadn’t the previous generation thought of outright racism?!” When the answer is they were trying to have some deniability. But fuck all that now. No need for it. Factionalism keeps open racism safe and electable.

          • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Southern strategy. You can connect the dots quite clearly from the hamstrung and incomplete post civil war reconstruction to where we are now. Unhung traitors really do destroy republics, sooner or later.

        • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
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          7 months ago

          All they care about is a state-enforced white supremacist hierarchy and making their opponents angry.

      • Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de
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        7 months ago

        Rapists Exploiting Peons Under Basic Lies Incorporating Christianity And Nationalism

        (Feel free to edit, it’s a bit rough)

  • taanegl@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Uh oh, spaghetti-o’s! Was filling your party with a bunch of money hungry, spineless, bootlickers not such a great idea? No. It’s the liberals that are wrong. Must lick boot harder.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Only barely, though.

      Current House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is the even more corrupt and hostile towards the left wing of the party protégé of Nancy Pelosi. That’s to the right of where most Republicans were a decade or two ago.

        • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Well there’s his 2023-2024 top donor list, for example:

          The propaganda arm of a despotic regime, one of the biggest insurance companies in the world, a private equity company, one of the world’s largest corporate law firms and a “strategy, policy, and communications firm based in Washington, DC” are not the top 5 donors of a politician who can’t be bought.

          • Habahnow@sh.itjust.works
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            None of that really indicates corruption in a way that matters. Yeah I don’t like that he’s getting money from those groups, but this doesn’t quite show real corruption (compare that to Donald Trump as a shinning example of corruption). Regardless, the point is I’d rather Hekeem than the current speaker any day. I won’t let perfect be the enemy of progress.

          • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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            And how does that compare to other people with the experience to lead the House? What is the other option?

            Edit: I just checked and $323K is only 2.6% of his total donations. AIPAC just happens to be the largest individual group. Overall, he has received $706K from “pro-Israel” groups (5.6%). This is not a big deal.

            • Hacksaw@lemmy.ca
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              7 months ago

              LMAO, hey I know you’re struggling with inflation on your 50k income, but that nice neighbour just gave you 2.5k to fix up your car so you can get to work. Certainly that’s just 5% of your income, so you won’t be swayed to do them any favors later.

            • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              We’re talking about Jeffries here, not comparison with others.

              Even IF there were no one better available (which there ABSOLUTELY would be if the party leadership didn’t insist on him), being a corrupt pro-corporate politician and notoriously hostile towards the left wing of the party both make him an unacceptable choice.

                • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  That’s an exaggeration in general, but yeah, .world has more or less become r/politics when it comes to any criticism of the DNC leadership…

      • bradorsomething@ttrpg.network
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        7 months ago

        I love that when I click on your name, the first comment is “I wonder if his piss voice conducts electricity like its namesake, in which case I better watch my ass while farting around him 🤔”

        • Sciaphobia@lemm.ee
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          I have the guy he had responded to tagged as the guy with the piss voice. Good times.

        • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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          Yeah, he said he could make anyone piss their pants from fear using his voice only and I countered with the equally true claim that I can shoot lightning out of my ass 🤷

  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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    7 months ago

    I mean GOP money is being sucked up by their golden baby, so it’s not a surprise for selfish representatives to take what they can and leave.

    • Mirshe@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Either that, or they’re afraid of another Jan 6 (because that’s not unlikely to happen whether he wins or loses), and thus afraid that they’re gonna get caught in the crossfire on that one (potentially literally).

  • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    Fun fact: every newborn since the year 2000 has a 3%-5% chance of being a GOP speaker of the house one day. My niece just turned 11 and she’s been speaker of the house twice, and hopes to be minority whip later this fall!

  • someguy3@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Has that ever happened before, to lose control because multiple people leave?

    And of course they have to blame it on something other than their Republican dysfunction lol.

    • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
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      Civil War of 1861? Due to ejections of insurrectionists and abandonment for rebellion, the Senate flipped and the nascent Republicans got control of the House, Senate, and Presidency.

    • RampageDon@lemmy.world
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      I do not have the answer to your question, but I am also curios so leaving a comment to follow for an answer.

      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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        I do not have the answer to your question, but I am also curios so leaving a comment to follow for an answer.

        There is a star button that allows you to follow responses to a comment.

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    I think Democrats were already favored to win the House in 2024 before the Republican exits. And Republicans are favored to win the Senate given how many seats Democrats are defending in red and red-leaning states.

  • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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    I’m no Constitutional scholar, but since the GOP is so racked with infighting, could the Dems call for a new Speaker (or use MTG’s recent proposal) and elect one of their own even before they have the majority? It would only take one or two disgruntled Republicans sitting out the vote… Seems worth a try anyway.

  • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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    7 months ago

    Yeah but Democrats probably wouldn’t actually capitalize on this like they could, the Democrat elected would just function as a Republican and Democrat politicians will be like “ha, see we showed them!”.

    • stanleytweedle@lemmy.world
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      Yeah but can you honestly say low information voters like you wouldn’t think that no matter what they actually did?

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        As a leftist? No, I have been waiting for democrats to actually wield power for most of my life instead of managing a conservative status quo, I would immediately notice that kind of change.

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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      Yeah but Democrats probably wouldn’t actually capitalize on this like they could, the Democrat elected would just function as a Republican and Democrat politicians will be like “ha, see we showed them!”.

      Almost assuredly, but it would also be ‘kicking the anthill’ a bit to the Republicans. The house is all they really have right now (excepting the supreme court), and they’ve had it for a long time. They haven’t done shit with it.

      One thing American voters do understand is that voting is transactional. Its why Trump remains so popular as a political figure, because for better or worse, he delivered for his voters on what they were voting for. The Republicans in the House simply haven’t delivered on shit. This works against them, and taking leadership of the house away from them ‘about now’ going into an election would be basically disastrous for their election hopes. Whats the point of putting Republicans into the House if they don’t do shit with the power you give them.

      And to your other points made for the low/ no information neo-liberal apologists like @stanleytweedle, the Democrats suffer from this same issue in their unwillingness to ever actually do anything with the power they are given. We elect them to govern and they fail to do so. Democrats are even less interested in their own agenda than Republicans, and this is the central issue in why votership is so disenfranchised in the US. So in regards to the House races, its a race to the bottom in terms of worthlessness. Democrats could set up a political dynasty that would last generations (like they did under Roosevelt) if they would just commit to policies that make a direct, tangible, and timely difference in peoples lives (LIKE THEY DID UNDER ROOSEVELT!!). Instead we get the neoliberal worship of technocracy and credentialism. Bruh just give us the fucking healthcare we already pay for.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      the Democrat elected would just function as a Republican

      Since that Democrat would be current House Minority Leader Hakeem “Nancy Pelosi’s even more corrupt and hostile towards the left wing of the party protégé” Jeffries, that isn’t far from literal truth at all.

      • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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        7 months ago

        Nancy Pelosi the person who defended the right for senators and their spouses to trade stocks in industries they are involved in crafting legislation for because…… because…… omm……. Freedom! Yeah!