The Cheese Stands Alone

[mystery-ak]

The Cheese Stands Alone
By Joe Cunningham | 10:08 AM on September 27, 2023

Kevin McCarthy really, really wants to fund the government. But the Speaker of the House has a thin majority, a lot of promises to keep, and a caucus filled with conservatives who all want something different but stand united in their belief that he is not conservative enough for them.

All of this, as can be expected, poses a problem for McCarthy.

I am reminded of the children's nursery rhyme "A Farmer in the Dell." One of the verses repeats the line "The cheese stands alone," which has an extremely complex interpretation: The cheese stands alone. In our case, the (Big) Cheese is McCarthy, who does not seem to have much support from any side right now.

The moderates still believe he gave the conservatives too much power. Some conservatives, like Chip Roy, are trying to push him (and the House as a whole) to the right. Other conservatives, like Matt Gaetz, just want to watch his tenure go up in flames. Even Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of his closest allies on the right, seems to have abandoned him.

This brings us to last night.

Both the House and the Senate have made movement on government spending. On the Senate side, with a majority of Republicans joining the Democrats, a continuing resolution (CR) was passed that would fund the government until the middle of November. It includes both aid for Ukraine and disaster relief.

On the House side, McCarthy was able to get passage on the rules for four of the 12 appropriations bills that would need to be passed in order to fund the government fully. So far, that's all they've been able to do.

more
https://redstate.com/joesquire/2023/09/27/the-cheese-stands-alone-n2164358

[catfish1957]

McRINO's tenure as Speaker smells like cheese.  A rotten rank, smelly one I might add.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

The moderates still believe he gave the conservatives too much power. Some conservatives, like Chip Roy, are trying to push him (and the House as a whole) to the right. Other conservatives, like Matt Gaetz, just want to watch his tenure go up in flames.

This was inevitable from the moment he had to make concessions in January, because he really kind of did sell out the rest of the caucus by giving the FC a disproportionate share of committee chairs, etc..  Now, it is literally impossible for him to satisfy both the moderates and conservatives if both are going to insist on "their" agenda.  He was smart to work things out with Chip Roy to get something decent, but even that couldn't get enough support.  And if there are people like Gaetz who just want him gone, he's got no chance.