Dem
49
GOP
51
Kabuki theater is very formulaic, and so is pro wrestling (with its kayfabe), and so is Baroque opera. Another cultural artifact in that category is commedia dell'arte, which comes to us from Renaissance Italy. It even has the benefit of having well-established, named character types. (Z) can't believe that he didn't think of it, since he directed a play based on commedia when he was a senior in high school.
For example, one of the stock commedia characters is Tartaglia, the bumbling politician. In a completely unrelated note, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced his "Plan B" for keeping the government open, and it's... almost exactly what the Democrats have been suggesting all along. In short, it would keep the government funded through December 20, kicking the can to "right before Christmas." The bill Tartag... er, Johnson will bring to the floor will have no SAVE Act, no money for the VA, and no money for nuclear subs, all of which were in the bill that already failed. It will, however, have $231 million to beef up Secret Service protection for the presidential candidates, as well as $10 billion in additional funding for FEMA.
Another stock commedia character is Scaramuccia, the loudmouth with villainous traits. In a completely unrelated note, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is hopping mad about Johnson's new plan. She appeared on Steve Bannon's podcast, which is being hosted by former representative Dave Brat while Bannon is in the Big House, and declared that Johnson has "lost the respect" of House Republicans. We suspect that Scara... er, Greene really means he's "lost the respect" of the Freedom Caucus, which shares Greene's fury that Johnson is doing an end run around them.
At this point, Johnson has three options for getting the bill through the House. The first would require a procedural vote to bring the bill to the floor. Since the Democrats have been singing the praises of Johnson's bill (it's basically their bill, after all), they will certainly back the bill if it makes it to the floor. The problem here is that the procedural vote has to come first, and those are almost always a party-line matter. Point is, Johnson probably won't have any Democratic votes for step one, even if he'll have plenty of them for step two. And because of the cranky FCers, he probably can't scrape together the necessary number of Republican votes for step one.
The second option is to persuade Democrats to abandon normal practice and to support the procedural vote. The problem here is that they won't be excited to do that, since "I voted to support the Speaker" is a different matter, politically, than "I voted to support the legislation." It could come back to haunt some of them in their primaries in 2026, or maybe even in the general election in 2024.
The third option is a suspension of the rules of normal order. In that case, no procedural vote would be needed, but then the actual legislation would require a two-thirds majority to pass. That would mean most or all of the Democrats, plus 80 or so Republicans. This is the likeliest option, and the one that has been used in the last few budget "crises."
In any case, in entirely predictable fashion, it appears that Congress is going to figure this out in the nick of time to avoid a shutout. And assuming they do, it will be a big poke in the eye for Donald Trump. Not only is he not going to get the SAVE Act, but it will also become clear that, when push comes to shove, he is not able to order the House Republican Conference to do his bidding. (Z)