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Special 🚨 Speaker madness episode
We tracked Liam down between media interviews to get his take on the historic vote last night that ousted Speaker McCarthy. Liam, Josh, and Paul discuss the tensions within the GOP and with Democrats leading up to the vote, who has put their hat in the ring to be the next Speaker, and what this all means for issues such as funding for Ukraine.
Listen to the full episode here.
I joined NPR‘s Morning Edition to discuss the aftermath of the historic vote to vacate the office of the Speaker, and what (and who) comes next for the House of Representatives.
NPR’s A Martinez talks to Republican strategist Liam Donovan about what it says about the state of the GOP when a small group of Republican rebels was able to topple the speaker of the House.
Listen to the full segment here.
I spoke to The Economist‘s Adam O’Neal for his piece on Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as Speaker and the implications for the House broadly and Ukraine funding specifically.
The immediate task will be funding the government. The deal to avert a shutdown keeps the government going with a “continuing resolution” (cR) only until November 17th. A Republican strategist, Liam Donovan, reckons Mr Gaetz might be satisfied with Mr McCarthy gone, but other hardliners will not easily accept a long-term funding solution simply because a fresh face is running the House. Government will have to be funded “in a way that is even more anathema to these Republicans than the CR,” Mr Donovan says. Mr McCarthy’s replacement could soon be overseeing a shutdown. Averting a closure could potentially cost the new speaker his job.
Read the full piece ($) here.
I sat down with Steve Scully, host of The Briefing on SiriusXM’s POTUS channel, to discuss the shutdown that wasn’t, the Matt Gaetz show, the 2024 Senate outlook, and more.
Listen to the full clip here.
I spoke to Aaron Blake for his Washington Post piece on the complicated dynamic between Speaker McCarthy’s fate, Matt Gaetz’s gambit, and the House Democrats who face a choice between the two.
Republican strategist Liam Donovan said significant concessions are so unlikely that seeking them would essentially just serve to build the rationale for Democrats to join with the likes of Gaetz in ousting McCarthy. He said the real question is whether Gaetz can marshal the support to oust McCarthy, and the choice for Democrats is between taking McCarthy out and letting Republicans continue to turn on one another.
“Any quid pro quo is a non-starter,” Donovan said. “It’s simply not tenable for McCarthy to be seen as bargaining with Democrats to secure his job. Gaetz knows this, which is precisely why he engineered this situation.”
Read the full piece here.