9 votes

Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 13

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Tags: usa, politics, recurring.weekly

This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

9 comments

  2. [5]
    PantsEnvy
    Link
    US House Speaker passes bill to avert shutdown with Democratic support I think the house still only requires one vote in order to table a motion to dismiss the speaker of the house, I wonder how...

    US House Speaker passes bill to avert shutdown with Democratic support

    The US House of Representatives has passed a short-term funding bill in a bid to avert a government shutdown that looms on Friday, despite a major Republican revolt.

    The vote required a two-thirds majority to pass. On Tuesday night, 93 Republicans opposed the measure.

    The bill faced criticism from the conservative House Freedom Caucus, in part because it does not include the steep spending cuts they had been advocating for.

    "We're not surrendering," Mr Johnson said after a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday morning, "but you have to choose fights you can win."

    Texas congressman Chip Roy, an influential conservative, told reporters the House Freedom Caucus was "trying to give the speaker a little grace", but argued that "today's a mistake, right out of the gate".

    I think the house still only requires one vote in order to table a motion to dismiss the speaker of the house, I wonder how long we will last without either a shutdown or a leaderless house.

    5 votes
    1. MimicSquid
      Link Parent
      Yeah, nothing about booting the last Speaker actually fixed the basic arithmetic of trying to wrangle a Republican majority that's functionally a more centrist Republican group that had been...

      Yeah, nothing about booting the last Speaker actually fixed the basic arithmetic of trying to wrangle a Republican majority that's functionally a more centrist Republican group that had been caucusing with a much more extreme right group to achieve a majority. We'll see whether Johnson screwed the pooch by negotiating with Democrats, or if he can get away with it in a way McCarthy couldn't.

      2 votes
    2. [4]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [3]
        boxer_dogs_dance
        Link Parent
        I read a couple of articles about how a government shutdown would impact holiday travel. Apparently last time this happened a significant percentage of TSA workers who weren't getting paid, just...

        I read a couple of articles about how a government shutdown would impact holiday travel. Apparently last time this happened a significant percentage of TSA workers who weren't getting paid, just started calling in sick for the duration. Air traffic controllers also wouldn't get paid if i understand correctly.

        2 votes
        1. [2]
          WiseassWolfOfYoitsu
          Link Parent
          Essential workers essentially get paid in IOUs. You're not allowed to work for the government for free, so they "pay" you... but actually issuing the money apparently isn't essential tasking...

          Essential workers essentially get paid in IOUs. You're not allowed to work for the government for free, so they "pay" you... but actually issuing the money apparently isn't essential tasking (despite being essentially automated at this point), so you just never get a check or deposit.

          Alas, I am in one of those positions that still gets to work for IOUs. There is one benefit, when the government is back you're guaranteed to get the pay, non-essential workers getting back pay isn't guaranteed, Congress has to pass authorization every time there's a shutdown (and I'm less and less confident over time that they'll do so). However, if they do pass authorization for back pay for the government workers that weren't working, it kinda sucks to not get what amounts to free vacation time!

          2 votes
          1. boxer_dogs_dance
            Link Parent
            If the next shut down goes similar to the past, then there will be sickouts at airports, IOUs or not, at least according to the article I read. That's not good, especially over the holidays....

            If the next shut down goes similar to the past, then there will be sickouts at airports, IOUs or not, at least according to the article I read. That's not good, especially over the holidays.

            Thanks for the inside information re the ious.

            2 votes
  3. DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link
    Having Rights Still Bewilderingly Popular A sort of amusing opinion piece about the results of the election. Only somewhat because of the state of everything.

    Having Rights Still Bewilderingly Popular

    A sort of amusing opinion piece about the results of the election. Only somewhat because of the state of everything.

    3 votes