"Quick story about govt. shutdowns and the theatrics behind them. One year when I was reporting at CBS News during a govt. shutdown..."

"... we were sincerely searching for real life impact. When we couldn't find any, *that* should have been part of the story. Instead, we kept trying to create the appearance of an impact. It wasn't really trying to be dishonest. It was, in my retrospective view, because the general editorial idea for the story was to show how bad the 'Republican' shutdown was for ordinary Americans, and the answer simply couldn't be that it wasn't.... [W]e were calling Ds and the Obama administration for ideas to report what was the real impact. Taking our cue, these officials fabricated impact that we could report. For example, they cordoned off outdoor public monuments in Washington DC. We knew and even discussed in the newsroom that this made no sense. These monuments weren't 'manned' to begin with. The only reason to cordon them off from the public was so that visiting tourists would see the 'impact' of the shutdowns and the news media would have something to take pictures of and interview people about...."

Tweets Sharyl Attkisson.

"The House overwhelmingly passed a measure Wednesday to force TikTok to split from its parent company or face a national ban, a lightning offensive that materialized abruptly..."

"... after years of unsuccessful negotiations over the platform’s fate. The legislation, approved 352 to 65 with 1 voting present, is a sweeping bipartisan rebuke of the popular video-sharing app — and an attempt to grapple with allegations that its China-based parent, ByteDance, presents national security risks. The House effort gained momentum last week after President Biden said he would sign the bill if Congress passed it.  But its fate now rests in the Senate, where some lawmakers have expressed concern it may run afoul of the Constitution by infringing on millions of Americans’ rights to free expression and by explicitly targeting a business operating in the United States.... Biden and his campaign opponent, former president Donald Trump, have taken conflicting public stances on the matter, with Biden endorsing it and Trump speaking out against the prospect of a ban."

WaPo reports.

Here's a WaPo article from yesterday about "Why Trump is now against a TikTok ban."

"House Republicans on Sunday released two articles of impeachment against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary..."

"... charging President Biden’s top immigration official with refusing to uphold the law and breaching the public trust in his handling of a surge of migration at the U.S. border with Mexico.... The charges against Mr. Mayorkas... are all but certain to fizzle in the Democratic-led Senate.... But the process would yield a remarkable election-year political spectacle...."

The NYT reports.

What's the "high crime"/"misdemeanor" bringing this policy disagreement within the constitutional power to impeach?

"Twenty-two Democrats voted with 212 Republicans to censure Tlaib, and four Republicans voted with 184 Democrats against the resolution..."

"Tlaib was not required to stand in the well of the House and be rebuked by the speaker, as is traditionally the case.... [T]he resolution mentions Tlaib’s Nov. 3 video post on X, which included the first portion of the phrase 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,' a call for the eradication of Israel.... Tlaib responded by saying the phrase is 'an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate.'"

From "House censures Rep. Rashida Tlaib over defense of Hamas, calls to destroy Israel" (NY Post).

ADDED: "White House denounces Tlaib's use of controversial pro-Palestinian slogan" (The Guardian)("We strongly disagree with using that phrase – it’s been said by many people at the White House").

"Amid the impasse, [Kevin] McCarthy is floating a plan that would reinstall him as speaker and make Jordan, a conservative Trump ally, the assistant speaker..."

"... according to three sources familiar with McCarthy’s pitch. Asked why the idea — which lacks key details, like how it would be enacted and whether it could even gain enough traction to happen — was being floated now, a GOP lawmaker replied: 'We’re desperate.'... A source briefed on the idea likened it to the Speaker Nancy Pelosi/Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark arrangement that the Democrats had. 'Kevin speaker, Jordan assistant speaker,' the source said. Two GOP lawmakers described McCarthy as having melted down in conference meetings [Tuesday] because, they said, he is losing his ability to handpick a new speaker...."

NBC News reports.

"House Republicans on Friday nominated Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the hard-right chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to be their next speaker..."

"... but quickly postponed a floor vote to elect him as scores of their members refused to commit to backing him.... After a week of turmoil and disarray, Republicans sent their members home for the weekend late Friday afternoon with no resolution and no sense of when the feuding might end...."

The NYT reports.

"Mr. McCarthy, in his desperate pursuit of the speakership last winter, ran around making promises willy-nilly to the House’s small band of right-wingers..."

"...  and he will now rise and fall on how he handles those commitments and expectations.... His attempt to placate them by announcing an impeachment investigation into President Biden went over poorly, prompting multiple Freedom Caucusers to scold him for trying to buy them off.... Gaetz & Company have a point: Mr. McCarthy is out of compliance with several of his promises...."

Writes Michelle Cottle, in "Maybe Matt Gaetz Is Right" (NYT).

"Shame" chant in Congress echoes the "Shame!" chants heard in Wisconsin in 2011.

Democrats throw a 5 minute temper tantrum in the well of the House chamber as the vote to censure Adam Schiff passes, yelling "shame" at Kevin McCarthy and refusing to allow him to finish reading the resolution. pic.twitter.com/kqQocSoZPi

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 21, 2023

I want to remind the world that the "shame" chant was a major feature of the Wisconsin protests of 2011 — the so-called "uprising" — as documented on this blog at "Protesters chant 'Shame! Shame!' after Gov. Walker reads the MLK Day proclamation" and "Weary Wisconsin Democrats surprised by late-night vote, rush at the Republicans "pumping their fists and shouting 'Shame!' and 'Cowards!'", and "Next to the meat, concern for the fish... and for fraud... chanting 'shame'... yelling 'Koch suckers!' at a 14-year-old girl... laughing at Andrew Breitbart's 'Go to Hell!'" 

From that last link:

I've clipped out the "Shame!" chant. There's much more on the video I recorded and edited, and the highlights are identified in the post. To hear the voice of Andrew Breitbart, scroll to 3:36.

Screen Grab of the Morning.

"Title 42, the policy that has allowed the swift expulsion of many migrants at the southern border, will lift on Thursday."

The NYT reports on how "Officials are bracing for a new immigration surge."

When the pandemic-inspired restrictions end, border officials will resume an immigration system that has largely failed for decades, but with the added pressure of three years of pent-up demand. About 35,000 migrants are amassed in Ciudad Juárez, another 15,000 in Tijuana and thousands more elsewhere on the Mexican side of the 2,000-mile-long border....The federal government is expecting as many as 13,000 migrants each day immediately after the measure expires, up from about 6,000 on a typical day.

Meanwhile, Republicans are poised: 

"Meet the Lonely New York Progressive Defending TikTok/Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York says the drive to ban TikTok stems from anti-China 'hysteria.'"

NYT reports.

"Twice in the past week, Republicans scored wins and divided Democrats by employing an arcane maneuver known as a resolution of disapproval..."

".... The biggest victory came on Thursday, when President Biden told Senate Democrats that he would sign a Republican-led resolution blocking the District of Columbia’s new criminal code if it reached his desk. It was a reversal from his earlier opposition and a frank acknowledgment that Republicans had gotten the better of Democrats on the hot-button topic of violent crime. It is somewhat unusual for the president to have to confront legislation he opposes when his party controls at least part of the Congress — in this case the Senate — since his allies on Capitol Hill can usually bottle up legislation they don’t like and spare him from a veto or a tough decision...."

 
Writes Carl Hulse, in "Republicans Use Arcane Political Tactic to Thwart Democrats/The party has used resolutions of disapproval to confound President Biden and Democrats, forcing them to make tough decisions and debate issues they would prefer to avoid" (NYT).

"Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) felt that sense of tension, or agita as her Italian family might say, the moment she walked into the massive hotel — that burden..."

"... from helping lead so many policy retreats here. Then, calm. 'You don’t have any responsibilities,' the former speaker told herself, attending the annual getaway for House Democrats as a congressional commoner for the first time in more than 20 years. As Biden administration officials gave policy presentations on Wednesday, Pelosi said she whispered a message to those at her table: 'If you don’t like your pillow, it’s not my fault. If you don’t like the menu, I don’t care. I don’t even care.'"

From "Nancy Pelosi untethered: The former speaker revels in newfound freedom/The former speaker isn’t in charge of anything now but is doing exactly what she wants in what some call 'Pelosi 3.0'" (WaPo).

"In my plan, I suggested the following: All federal legislation sunsets in five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again."

Said Senator Rick Scott, quoted in "Scott doubles down on sunsetting all federal programs after Biden’s jab" (The Hill).

"Biden's jab" was "instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset."

I'd avoid the metaphor "jab." Clearly, the reference is to boxing. A quick, sharp blow. But "jab" has been such an important word in the delivery of the vaccine, and there, somehow, it's supposed to signify that it won't hurt at all.

BUT:  Yahoo News says: "President Biden, while still a senator for Delaware, introduced legislation to sunset all federal programs, including Social Security and Medicare.... Biden doubled down on his legislation in the '90s, saying on the Senate floor that his bill would affect Social Security.... 'When I argued that we should freeze federal spending, I meant Social Security, as well,' Biden said. 'I meant Medicare and Medicaid. I meant veterans’ benefits. I meant every single solitary thing in the federal government.... And I not only tried it once, I tried it twice, I tried it a third time, and I tried it a fourth time." 

To be fair to Biden, we should note that he must know the meaning of Scott's proposal, since he himself embraced it and, presumably, understood what it meant.

"His chief aim, he asserted, is to bring egalitarianism to a legislative process dominated by lobbyists and powerful committee chairmen."

"As a conservative, he said, he and his allies intend to use this push for greater transparency 'to draw the American people into our vision.' Mr. Gaetz became cagier when the subject turned to how he intended to use his influence on the burning issues of the day, including the debt ceiling and funding for Ukraine. 'Well, I mean, we’ll see,' he replied."

From "Matt Gaetz, Political Arsonist, Has New Powers. What Will He Do With Them?/'I am not some Lord of the Flies nihilist,' said the far-right congressman and chief tormentor of Speaker Kevin McCarthy" (NYT).

"House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has backed his fellow Republicans into a corner with one of the promises he made to his far-right flank to land his job..."

"... opening the door to considering fringe legislation that would replace the income tax with a federal sales tax and abolish the IRS. Most GOP members appear determined to distance themselves as much as possible from the idea and McCarthy himself said this week he doesn’t support the legislation. But Democrats aren’t going to let the issue die quietly. They’ve been more than happy to use it as a cudgel to portray Republicans as dangerous radicals. 'You gotta be kidding me. What in God’s name is this all about?' President Joe Biden said Thursday about the plan, saying it would slap a 30 percent national sales tax on 'every item from groceries, gasoline, clothing, supplies, [and] medicine.'"

Writes Politico.

"We always treated it as a dumping ground for our less serious members. Republicans have long treated Oversight as the land of misfit toys."

"There’s very little evidence that members on the far right have moved on from Donald Trump. This will be a forum for his grievances and going down ridiculous rabbit holes and entertaining conspiracy theories."

Said Brendan Buck, "who served as a top adviser to the past two Republican speakers, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and John A. Boehner of Ohio," quoted in "Right-Wing Trump Allies Win Seats on Oversight, Reflecting G.O.P. Priorities/Some of the former president’s most outspoken defenders will sit on the House’s main investigative committee, underscoring their high-profile roles in the new Republican majority" (NYT).

The Oversight Committee has long been populated by the most ideological and outspoken members of the House in both political parties, along with those who have less interest in legislating than in landing political blows that will grab the attention of the public and tarnish their opponents....

"A divided House voted on Tuesday to launch a wide-ranging investigation into federal law enforcement and national security agencies..."

"... as Republicans promised to use their new power in Congress to scrutinize what they said was a concerted effort by the government to silence and punish conservatives at all levels, from protesters at school board meetings to former President Donald J. Trump. On a party-line vote of 221-211 with all Democrats opposed, the House approved the formation of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which is to be chaired by Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, the incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a staunch ally of Mr. Trump.... In a floor speech, Mr. Jordan... said his interest was merely in 'protecting the First Amendment' at a time when he said the right was being unfairly targeted.... 'We don’t want to go after anyone,' he said. 'We just want it to stop.'"

The NYT reports.

"In 2020, House Progressives and the incredibly radical Squad had exactly the same opportunity as House conservatives had."

"House conservatives defied Leadership to get major concessions to empower them and their agenda. House progressives did what they were told and got nothing.... The reason the Squad and House Progressives never defy Pelosi or anyone else is because they have a pathetic partisan media... who defend their harmlessness and venerate partisan subservience....  If these Dem Party loyalists who pretend to be leftists or whatever had even the slightest integrity, they'd apologize to @jimmy_dore , @briebriejoy , etc., because Gaetz & Co. just proved how politics works when you care more about your constituents than head-pats from the DNC."

Tweeted Glenn Greenwald, just now.

"For the first time in recent memory, former president Donald Trump found himself relegated this week to the outskirts of a humiliating Republican implosion...."

"In the long run-up to the race for speaker, Trump was the leading character in a bevy of political parlor games — including breathless, overhyped scenarios in which the former president would offer himself up for the gavel and speculation about whether Trump would endorse McCarthy’s bid. In the end, Trump supported McCarthy’s candidacy — and his party responded with a collective shrug. The former president and his endorsement, it seemed, were essentially irrelevant."

Write Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey in "The House hard-liners blocking McCarthy aren’t listening to Trump/In another sign of the former president’s waning influence, his efforts to bolster McCarthy’s bid as House speaker have not persuaded 20 Republicans to drop their opposition" (WaPo).