U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Longboat Key) lost the race for the powerful House Ways and Means Committee chairmanship to Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri.
No member of the Florida congressional delegation will chair a full committee in the 118th Congress. Florida has second largest Republican delegation in the House.
Buchanan supported Rep. Kevin McCarthy for House Speaker but Gaetz and. other Florida Republicans held out.
Another concern is a discussion that one of the deals cut by Gaetz. with McCarthy is to cap fiscal year 2024 discretionary spending across government at 2022 levels, This would mean a potential $75 billion cut to national defense – which isn’t good for Northwest Florida will all its military bases.
Ryan. Wiggins warned of repercussions yesterday.
Ms. Wiggins is spot-on about the continued vise grip Trump has on some very delicate parts of GOP “leadership.” And that message needs to be continually pounded into the rational world’s common understanding.
A few nuances come to mind per Gaetz and the impact here. With the future of our bases on the line due to the (intentionally?) detrimental idea of running the State road through there, the constant clamor about public access from some high corners; and him at the head of a Coup Cult that wants to defund the Pentagon, the less Gaetz’s message-carrying from “top brass” will make any impact on our delegation and Downtown getting that developers’ dream going again.
As Ms. Wiggins makes clear, Gaetz doesn’t give a crap if Pensacola loses bases and the jobs that will go with it–and we can pparently expand that sentiment to encompass two thirds of our delegation and the governor. It has been my understand that Gaetz for once played the adult in the room on the issue of continuing to rabble rouse on public access and the road issue, knocking heads together and saying “quit that.” Will anybody care about his input at the next juncture?
When Sinclair allows the head of the whack job local REC to voice concern on WEAR about the need for our congressman to pull his head out, you know the bottom is on the top.
It’s hard to say what’s worse: the true chaos or the orchestrated variety. I don’t believe for one minute that the Rogers “lunge” at Gaetz was anything but orchestrated–and from where I sit, badly at that. He barely makes a move towards him before Hudson completely overreacts with that ridiculous “maximum constraint” move. And now McCarthy has Dog Rogers rolled over on his back, paws limp and his belly exposed. It would all be hilarious if it weren’t so damn dangerous. And globally contagious, as is clear from the copy cat insurrection in Brazil. :(