The Republicans are in a quandary. They do not have a party message unless we count the Mr. Potato Head uproar. The entire GOP voted against the Biden COVID-19 rescue bill, one their constituents like — a lot. And they are still paying homage to a delusional old guy with a terrible haircut. Some of them think the way to victory is to imitate Donald Trump. Wrong, but look at them try.
The House Committee on Ethics received a complaint from a nonprofit watchdog group. It wanted an investigation of the 13 GOP representatives who skipped out on their jobs in the House to go to a Florida political conference in February.
The errant representatives must have thought that if Trump did stupid things like this all the time, they could, too. Unfortunately for them, that was a big miscalculation.
Donald Trump was the headline speaker at the conservative event and likely wanted his closest political friends around him. Of course, by the enthusiastic expressions on their faces, they wanted to be there:
So, they had their Republican House friends vote on their behalf. Their missing representatives signed letters with their excuse for not being there was “due to the ongoing public health emergency,” CNN reported.
The Campaign for Accountability watchdog group in its complaint requested guidance:
‘Explaining that members of Congress may not claim that the public health emergency wrought by Covid-19 prevents them from personally voting on the House floor when, in fact, they simply prefer to attend other political events.’
The group included this in its letter:
‘Submitting such untruthful statements to the Clerk of the House should be considered conduct that does not reflect creditably upon the House.’
The missing 13 spoke at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando. It was a chance to enhance their profile. The reason the event was held there was that Florida was one of the few states that allowed large indoor meetings.
The way these people tried to be at the conference and voting in Washington, D.C. was via the proxy vote. Before they took off, the House Republicans were in lockstep opposing proxy voting. Indeed, they filed a lawsuit claiming it “violated the Constitution.”
The GOP called their colleagues out for using the proxy vote for fake reasons. The party has the slimmest of margins. Every vote counted.
Campaign for Accountability’s Executive Director, Michelle Kuppersmith, told CNN in a statement.
‘The representatives who chose CPAC over voting made it clear they value political opportunism over their roles as members of Congress. The House Ethics Committee must make clear that members who abuse the privilege of proxy voting will be held accountable.’
CBS News reported that the 13 were:
‘Republican Representatives Madison Cawthorn and Ted Budd of North Carolina, Matt Gaetz and Greg Steube of Florida, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Mark Green of Tennessee, Devin Nunes of California, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Darrell Issa of California, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Jim Banks of Indiana and Ronny Jackson of Texas.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
