The Full Belmonte, 10/4/2023
Rep. Kevin McCarthy answers questions during a news conference at the US Capitol after the House passed a motion to remove him from his position as speaker.
McCarthy
“Kevin McCarthy will not run for speaker again after the House ousted himfrom the top leadership post in a historic vote on Tuesday. The tally was 216 to 210 with eight Republicans siding with Democrats to remove him from the speakership. It also comes days after McCarthy successfully engineered a last-minute bipartisan effort to avert a government shutdown. The House will now need to elect a new speaker. There is no clear alternative to McCarthy — but the race for a potential successor is already underway with a vote expected next week. In the meantime, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina.” [CNN]
Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters hours after he was ousted as Speaker of the House. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House speaker chaos stuns lawmakers, frays relationships and roils Washington
“For the first time ever, a House speaker has been voted out of the position, plunging Congress into a new degree of turmoil. It is the latest test for an institution grappling with the aftermath of the Capitol siege and a Republican Party at war with itself. Read more.
Why this matters:
It was a stunning moment for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a punishment fueled by growing grievances but sparked by his decision to work with Democrats to keep the federal government open rather than risk a shutdown.
Removing the speaker launches House Republicans into chaos heading into a busy fall when Congress will need to fund the government again or risk a mid-November shutdown.
Republicans will try to coalesce around a new leader after McCarthy ruled out another bid to become speaker. They face a leadership vacuum and deep divisions, with many Republicans seething at Rep. Matt Gaetz, who orchestrated the vote.” [AP News]
Judge gags Trump
Former President Trump returns to court for the second day of his civil fraud trial in New York. Photo: Seth Wenig/AP
"The New York judge overseeing former President Trump's civil fraud trial imposed a limited gag order against him, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.
Trump publicly attacked the judge's law clerk on Truth Social today.
‘Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I won't tolerate it,’ Judge Arthur Engoron said.
Trump's post has been deleted.
Between the lines: Federal prosecutors have also called for a gag order on Trump for his 2020 election interference case in D.C.” [Axios]
Trump's violent streak
Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Spencer Platt, Shannon Stapleton-Pool, Brendan Smialowksi/AFP via Getty Images
“Former President Trump's violent rhetoric has grown more extreme as the walls have begun to close in on his business empire, livelihood and personal freedom, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.
Why it matters: Since he left office, Trump's erratic behavior has been masked, numbed and normalized by the political fatigue permeating the media and the public.
His words' violent turn in recent weeks — suggesting a U.S. military leader be executed, mocking a potentially fatal assault on a congressional spouse, urging police to shoot shoplifters — suggest a line has been crossed.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who's presiding over Trump's civil fraud trial in New York, yesterday imposed a gag order on the defendant after he attacked Engoron's clerk online and posted a link to her Instagram account — while sitting in the same courtroom as her.
Zoom out: Political scientist Brian Klaas dubs it ‘the banality of crazy.’
Much of the public may be in the dark about Trump's darkening rhetoric, Klaas writes. But ‘the people most likely to be radicalized by him or to act on his incitement already hear him, loud and clear.’
In speeches, interviews and on social media in recent weeks, Trump:
Said former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley committed ‘treason’ and suggested he be executed.
Called for Judge Engoron to be disbarred, thrown out of office and criminally prosecuted.
Labeled New York Attorney General Letitia James — who's suing Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth and assets on financial records — a ‘racist’ and ‘monster.’
Said special counsel Jack Smith — who's prosecuting Trump in the Jan. 6 and classified documents cases — is ‘deranged’ and a ‘psycho’ who ‘looks like a crackhead.’
Posted online, ‘IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!’ — one day after swearing in federal court that he would not intimidate witnesses in the election interference case.
Mocked Paul Pelosi after he was brutally assaulted by a home intruder who was searching for his wife, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Urged police to shoot shoplifters on sight.
Said migrants illegally crossing into the U.S. are ‘poisoning the blood of our country.’
The bottom line: Trump's courtroom debut this week provided a glimpse of whether he would tone down his rhetoric once his trials began. The early verdict is a resounding no.” [Axios]
GOP in chaos: The two early front-runners
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) leaves the House floor after being ousted yesterday. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP
“House GOP sources tell me the two most likely candidates for speaker as of this morning are House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
It might be tough for the conference to turn down Scalise, 57, if he goes all-in for the job: He was badly wounded in the shooting at a House GOP baseball practice in 2017, and was diagnosed this summer with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. But the sources told me there are many questions about whether the grueling job suits Scalise right now.
Jordan, 59, is a McCarthy loyalist and team player who has establishment ties — and was the founding chair of the hardline House Freedom Caucus. But it's unclear whether Jordan's hardcore conservative brand could fit the realities of governing.
Reality check: The GOP had no Plan B after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) yesterday became the first speaker in House history to be removed.
An outside GOP power broker texted me that it's more like a buffet of plans B to Q: ‘Some are crazy, all are speculation.’
The final vote. Image: C-SPAN via Reuters
State of play: The House will return Tuesday, with a leadership election the next day.
Party breakdown of final vote ... Go deeper: How Trump shadowed McCarthy, by Axios' Hans Nichols.” [Axios]
"Gobsmackingly" hot September
Data: JRA-55 data via Zeke Hausfather. Chart: Tory Lysik/Axios Visuals
“The planet has shattered heat records in recent months. But even by the standards of a sizzling summer, September's temperature anomaly stands out, Axios extreme-weather expert Andrew Freedman writes.
Why it matters: Following the hottest June through August on record, and the globe's hottest ever month in July, last month's preliminary data has astonished climate researchers.
By the numbers: In data from the Japan Meteorological Agency, September beat the previous hottest September by 0.5°C (0.9°F).
Typically, monthly records are beaten by fractions of a degree — with such narrow margins that different climate centers around the world can rank them differently.” [Axios]
Baltimore shooting
“Five people were shot at Morgan State University in Baltimore Tuesday night and police have yet to locate a suspect, officials said. The shooting unfolded as a popular homecoming week event was letting out at the university — an HBCU in northeast Baltimore. The victims, four men and one woman aged 18 to 22, were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The gunfire forced orders for students and teachers to shelter in place for hours as a SWAT team combed through buildings. Hours later, police said they didn't find a suspect and announced it was no longer an active shooter situation.” [CNN]
Strikes
“More than 75,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente locations are poised to join a 3-day strike today. Employees began walking off the job this morning after the parties failed to reach an agreement Tuesday. Experts say it will mark the largest health care worker strike in US history. The workers who are threatening to strike represent people who are crucial to patient care, including EMTs, nurses, respiratory therapists and support staff. Separately, the US autoworkers strike has entered its third week amid slow talks at the negotiating table. General Motors and Ford said they are laying off 500 additional workers between them, blaming the expansion of the strike as the rationale for trimming their workforces.” [CNN]
“The Supreme Court seemed skeptical of a challenge that could hobble a watchdog that protects consumer rights.” [New York Times]
“Kari Lake, a Republican who lost her bid for Arizona governor last year, has filed to run for the Senate seat occupied by Kyrsten Sinema.” [New York Times]
Covid-19
“The CDC is no longer distributing Covid-19 vaccination cards, the white cards that were given out with vaccines earlier in the pandemic. Major pharmacy chains say you don't need your old card to get the newly updated vaccine, but the CDC recommends keeping a copy of your vaccination record to help make future medical decisions. The US and most countries have also stopped requiring proof of vaccination to enter, but destination requirements can vary, the CDC says. Meanwhile, doses of the updated Covid-19 vaccine remain scarce after it was recommended last month for everyone ages 6 months and older. However, only about 1 in 4 American adults say they definitely want the updated Covid-19 vaccine, a new survey finds.” [CNN]
GOP boots Pelosi from Capitol office
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), now interim speaker, talks to reporters hours before Speaker Kevin McCarthy lost the gavel. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP
“Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was ordered to move out of her office in the Capitol by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) after he became acting speaker. (She keeps her regular space in a House office building.)
Why it matters: Pelosi was a harsh critic of now-former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and McHenry is a close McCarthy ally, Axios' Andrew Solender writes.
In an email sent about an hour and a half after McCarthy was removed and McHenry became speaker pro tem, GOP aides on the House Administration Committee said:
‘The Speaker pro tempore is going to re-assign [Pelosi's hideaway] for speaker office use. Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed.’
Pelosi, who is in San Francisco for tomorrow's funeral of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (and thus missed the speaker-removal vote) said in a statement:
‘This eviction is a sharp departure from tradition. As Speaker, I gave former Speaker Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished. Office space doesn't matter to me, but it seems to be important to them.’” [Axios]
Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to three federal gun charges filed after his plea deal collapsed
“Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to three federal firearms charges filed after his earlier deal imploded. It sets the case on a track toward a possible trial in 2024 while his father is campaigning for reelection.” Read More at AP News
Laphonza Butler sworn in to replace late California Sen. Feinstein
“Democratic insider Laphonza Butler has been sworn in as the newest member of the Senate, replacing California Sen. Dianne Feinstein after her death. She becomes only the third Black female senator in history.” Read More at AP News
Colorado high court to hear case against Christian baker who refused to make another LGBTQ+ cake
“Colorado’s highest court said Tuesday it will now hear the case of a Christian baker who refused to make a cake celebrating a gender transition, the latest development in the yearslong legal saga involving Jack Phillips and LGBTQ+ rights.” Read More at AP News
Arizona to cancel leases allowing Saudi-owned farm access to state’s groundwater
“Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said this week her administration is terminating state land leases that for years have given a Saudi-owned farm nearly unfettered access to pump groundwater in the dry southwestern state. Read more.
Why this matters:
On Monday, Hobbs said the state had canceled Fondomonte Arizona’s lease in Butler Valley and would not renew three other leases up next year, after an investigation by the governor’s office had found that the foreign-owned farm had violated some lease terms.
Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Almarai Co., raised eyebrows when it purchased nearly 10,000 acres of Arizona land for $47.5 million in 2014. Since then, worsening drought in the state has brought renewed attention to the company’s water use and broader issues of foreign-owned farms and groundwater pumping.” [AP News]
Massive emergency alert test scheduled to hit your phone
“Get ready to not freak out. On Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 2:20 p.m. EDT, every TV, radio and cellphone in the United States should blare out the distinctive, jarring electronic warning tone of an emergency alert. It's a test – only a test. No, it's not a national conspiracy. Yes, it does go back all the way to the Cold War in the 1950s. No, we can't play you the tone – we could get hit with a big fine if we did. But mostly the test is an important way to make sure that if something really bad – and really big – happens, Americans can be warned quickly.” Read more at USA Today
Bus carrying tourists crashes in Venice
“Firefighters worked until dawn Wednesday to remove the wreckage of a bus that crashed in a borough of Venice, Italy, across the lagoon from its historic center, killing 21 people and injuring at least 15, mostly foreign tourists returning to a nearby camping site. The victims included at least four Ukrainians and a German citizen, according to Venice prefecture. The bus — which was new and electric — was carrying foreign tourists when it fell from an elevated street on Tuesday evening, catching fire.” Read more at USA Today
Italian firefighters work at the scene of a passenger bus accident in Mestre, near Venice, Italy, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023.
Antonio Calanni, AP
‘A Glimmer of Hope’
Residents evacuate the Carrefour-Feuilles commune in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Aug. 15.Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images
“Nearly a year after Haitian leaders first asked for foreign intervention, the United Nations is finally heeding their calls. On Monday, the U.N. Security Council approved sending a Kenya-led armed multinational force to Port-au-Prince to combat deadly gang violence. ‘More than just a simple vote, this is in fact an expression of solidarity with a population in distress,’ Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Généus said. ‘It’s a glimmer of hope for the people who have been suffering for too long.’
As part of a 12-month mandate, Kenya will send 1,000 police officers to the island to strengthen local security as well as Haiti’s national police. Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica also promised to assist Kenya’s intervention, and the United States pledged up to $200 million in aid. According to Kenyan officials, foreign forces, which will be under Kenyan and not U.N. control, could deploy within two to three months. ‘This mandate is not only about peace and security but also about the rebuilding of Haiti—its politics, its economic development and social stability,’ Kenyan Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua said.
Around 90 percent of Haiti’s capital is controlled by warring gangs. More than 3,000 people have been killed and over 1,500 residents have been kidnapped since Jan. 1. And roughly 200,000 others have fled their homes to escape mass violence, with neighboring Dominican Republic closing its borders last month to prevent gang violence from spilling into its territory. The U.N. Security Council has called on foreign actors to stop selling arms to Haiti.
But not everyone is enthusiastic about sending foreign forces. Both China and Russia abstained from the Security Council vote, with Beijing’s U.N. ambassador arguing that ‘without a legitimate, effective, and responsible government in place, any external support can hardly have any lasting effects.’ Caretaker Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been in power since Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021 and has refused to hold long-anticipated elections until the nation’s security improves.
Human rights activists have also criticized Kenya’s involvement, as its own police have been accused of torture and using deadly force against its civilians. And locals worry that foreign intervention could once again have devastating consequences. A U.N. mission to Haiti established in 2004 introduced cholera to the island, killing nearly 10,000 people, and foreign forces were accused of committing sexual abuses against Haitian citizens.” [Foreign Policy]
“Press crackdown. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is once again cracking down on free press. On Tuesday, police in New Delhi raided the homes and offices of journalists working at NewsClick, a left-leaning outlet known for criticizing Modi’s government. The raids were conducted under India’s anti-terrorism law after New Delhi accused NewsClick of receiving funding from China.
Beijing and New Delhi have had tense relations for years, due in part to a contested border between the two countries that has seen clashes in the past. And while China continues to tout an anti-U.S. foreign policy, India is struggling to maintain friendly ties with the West, as the United States remains its top export partner.
But not every Western country is on best friend status with India. On Tuesday, it was reported that India had ordered Canada to remove 41 diplomats from its embassy in New Delhi. This signals the latest deterioration of relations between the two nations following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accusing India-backed agents of assassinating a Sikh leader living in British Columbia. The two countries have already removed their respective ambassadors.” [Foreign Policy]
“Welcome to the ICC. Armenia strengthened its Western ties on Tuesday when it voted to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to top Armenian officials, the move was in response to Azerbaijan’s aggression in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. However, it has complicated Armenia’s relationship with Russia, a longtime ally of Yerevan and the primary peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Russia is not party to the ICC and has repeatedly denounced its arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin, who is charged with the war crime of forcibly transferring Ukrainian children. ICC member states are required to arrest Putin if the Russian leader enters their territory. Armenia, though, promised not to arrest Putin if he traveled to Yerevan after Moscow warned of ‘serious consequences’ for ratifying the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding document.” [Foreign Policy]
“Algeria, the mediator. Nigerien forces accepted Algeria’s offer to negotiate a peace deal on Monday, more than one month after Algiers first proposed a six-month transition process. The peace agreement would institute a civilian-led government and restore constitutional order to the nation, which experienced a coup in July. Niger’s junta leaders had originally suggested a three-year transition process.
Since a military junta deposed then-President Mohamed Bazoum, Algiers has warned against foreign intervention, particularly after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Nigeria, threatened direct involvement if Bazoum was not reinstated. ECOWAS officials said they would deploy troops to Niger if Algeria’s diplomatic efforts fail.” [Foreign Policy]
By Amber Phillips
with Caroline Anders
“With the government running out of money again in a little over a month, the House has instead ousted the speaker for the first time in the chamber’s history — with no one to replace him.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy lost his job Tuesday as House speaker, throwing a key governing body into chaos, leaving it without a clear leader to pass legislation, and leaving the country without a designated second in line to the presidency. This also has the potential to be a seminal point in the chamber’s history and raise serious questions about whether the House — and the Republican Party — are governable.
Here’s what’s going on.
How the effort to oust McCarthy went down
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves the House floor after being ousted (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
McCarthy (R-Calif.) lost his job despite the support of a vast majority of Republican lawmakers. That’s because the current House is set up to benefit large majorities of one party, or bipartisanship. Republicans have only a slim majority in the House, so to pass legislation that Democrats oppose — or to keep a speaker the Democrats despise — they have to be nearly unified. They can only afford to lose five Republicans on key votes, and McCarthy lost eight. And he didn’t have the support of a single Democrat.
‘The House does not govern as a pure majoritarian body,’ explained Matthew Green, a professor of politics at Catholic University and co-author of a book about Newt Gingrich. ‘It’s not the will of the majority, it’s the will of leadership of the majority party, and if you only bring things to the floor that the majority party wants, and your majority party is small, that gives leverage to a tiny fraction of that party.’
Democrats played a big role in kicking McCarthy out
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post)
Democrats thought about voting with a majority of Republicans to help McCarthy keep his job. They contemplated it but ultimately decided not to; every Democrat present voted against McCarthy.
There are lots of reasons Democrats dislike McCarthy: He’s all-in on Donald Trump; he just launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over ‘allegations’; and he thwarted Jan. 6 investigations. But the last straw for them was seeing McCarthy on TV over the weekend trying to blame Democrats for the near-shutdown, reports The Washington Post.
‘He dug his own grave,’ one person in the know told The Post about why Democrats weren’t saving him.
Who voted against McCarthy?
It was a weird coalition of eight far-right Republicans and all House Democrats present. Here’s a look at how your lawmaker voted.
Who is next in line for speaker?
A temporary speaker was pulled from a secret list that McCarthy made when he became speaker in case of a vacancy. So that person is Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.). But he might just hold the job for hours, or days or months, until Republicans can present a nominee for speaker.
That person probably won’t be McCarthy. He said he’s not going to try to run again.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is also not a likely candidate. Despite leading the charge to oust McCarthy, NBC News reports that Gaetz is expected to run for Florida governor.
We don’t know what happens next
There isn’t anyone who seems willing or able to take the speakership. McCarthy needed four days of voting in January to get the gavel, and he is the sixth Republican speaker to essentially be thrown overboard by his own party.
While Republicans figure out their next steps, it’s not clear how much authority McHenry has to run the House. That’s because this has never happened before, so everything he does is unprecedented. Some experts think the House could pass some legislation that the Constitution deems ‘necessary and appropriate,’ but most other matters might have to wait.
The next speaker probably won’t be a Democrat
There’s another option out of this mess: To work with Democrats and build a center coalition. But that’s not the way the modern political system is set up. To elect a Democratic representative as House speaker would require moderate Republicans to join with Democrats, and there just doesn’t seem to be the political will for that.
‘Voters have come to expect that people stay loyal to their parties and not cross party lines,’ Green said. ‘It’s the consequence of this party-first attitude.’
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post)
Republicans might oust Matt Gaetz for this
‘Expel Matt Gaetz,’ wrote Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker in the 1990s, in a Washington Post op-ed.
And in the House, he might have a receptive ear. Republicans’ disdain for Gaetz had previously been limited to private griping, but it was on display this week with jeers when he spoke. A majority of Republicans in the House dislike him so much that they wouldn’t let him speak Tuesday from the Republican side of the House chamber.” [Washington Post]
October 4, 2023
By David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick
Kevin McCarthy speaking after his ouster.Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times
Chaos in the House
“In the 234-year history of the House of Representatives, its members had never voted to fire their leader in the middle of a term. They did so yesterday.
The toppling of Speaker Kevin McCarthy creates an uncertain future for Congress. It’s unclear who will be the next speaker, although it apparently won’t be McCarthy; he said last night that he would not run again. It’s also unclear what will happen with several major issues, including U.S. support for Ukraine and a potential government shutdown next month.
In today’s newsletter, we walk through two things that we do know the morning after McCarthy’s firing. For much more, you can read The Times’s main story on yesterday’s events, as well as this explanation of what happens next.
Lesson 1: House Republicans have fallen into chaos with little precedent.
McCarthy lost his job because eight House Republicans voted against him yesterday, mostly as punishment for his working with Democrats to pass a bill keeping the government open into next month. Those Republicans, led by Matt Gaetz of Florida, wanted to use a potential shutdown to insist on large spending cuts.
But that was never going to happen. Democrats control the Senate and the White House. Even many House Republicans don’t favor the cuts that the hard-right faction does. Nonetheless, a small Republican faction decided that a bill to keep the government open was a fireable offense for their leader.
‘Think long and hard before you plunge us into chaos,’ Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican and a McCarthy ally, told his House colleagues before the vote yesterday, ‘because that’s where we’re headed if we vacate the speakership.’
‘Chaos is Speaker McCarthy,’ Gaetz replied. ‘Chaos is somebody who we cannot trust with their word.’
McCarthy, speaking before the vote, said: ‘If you throw a speaker out that has 99 percent of their conference, that kept government open and paid the troops, I think we’re in a really bad place for how we’re going to run Congress.’
The unprecedented nature of a speaker’s midterm dismissal highlights the radicalism of parts of today’s Republican Party. It’s also a contrast to the unity of Democrats when they controlled the House under Speaker Nancy Pelosi in recent years.
Lesson 2: Democrats took a gamble by not saving McCarthy.
House Democrats could have helped keep McCarthy in the job. Instead, 208 Democrats voted unanimously against him. Combined with the eight breakaway Republicans, the Democrats caused McCarthy to lose the referendum that Gaetz called, 216 to 210.
McCarthy has certainly given Democrats reason to oppose him. He depended on their votes to pass a spending bill last week but barely gave them time to read the bill before calling for a vote — and then claimed on television, falsely, that Democrats were the ones who wanted a shutdown.
Perhaps most significantly, McCarthy has made excuses for extremism, including Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and the violent rhetoric of a few House Republicans. Ilhan Omar, a progressive House Democrat from Minnesota, yesterday called McCarthy ‘a threat to our democracy.’ Abigail Spanberger, a centrist from Virginia, said he had ‘excused the inexcusable time and time and time again.’
The spectacle of Republican infighting does offer some potential political advantages for the Democrats. From their perspective, as Carl Hulse, The Times’s chief Washington correspondent, told us, ‘a little chaos is good.’ Voters may end up blaming Republicans for the current tumult. (Politico explains how infighting could hurt Republicans’ chances in 2024.)
Democrats also argue that it is not their job to rescue Republicans from internal discord. ‘It is now the responsibility of the G.O.P. members to end the House Republican Civil War,’ Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, wrote before yesterday’s vote.
Still, McCarthy’s downfall brings risks for Democrats.
He managed both to keep the government open last week and to raise the debt limit this past spring. He did so by finding compromise with Democrats, however unpleasant the process was, and by maintaining the support of most Republicans. His successor may not be able to do so, risking economic and political turmoil.
The war in Ukraine is one example of the stakes. U.S. aid will decline significantly unless Congress passes a new bill to help Ukraine fight Russia. The next speaker may be less willing to help Ukraine than McCarthy was.
‘I think Democrats would benefit by a more functional House,’ Laura Blessing of Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute told us. ‘They have a lot that they need to get done.’
For more
The House is paralyzed, with no consensus on who will replace McCarthy. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Tom Emmer of Minnesota are contenders.
Representative Patrick McHenry, a McCarthy ally from North Carolina who voted for the government funding bill, became interim speaker.
McCarthy’s nine-month speakership was the shortest since 1876, CNN reports. ‘I don’t regret standing up for choosing governance over grievance,’ he said after his ouster.
His demise highlights the challenge of leading Republican lawmakers who refuse to be governed, Carl Hulse writes.
President Biden, in a conference call with world leaders, said the U.S. would continue to support Ukraine.
Gaetz is using the country’s fiscal problems as a ladder to elevate himself, Ross Douthat writes in Times Opinion.” [New York Times]
Nobel Prize for discovery of quantum dots that changed everything from TV displays to cancer imaging
“The 2023 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to a trio of scientists who worked to discover and develop quantum dots – nanoparticles so small that their size determines their properties.
The prize was won by Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov, the committee announced in Stockholm on Wednesday.”
Read More at CNN
Companies race to make AI wearable
Images of three new AI wearables from Rewind, Meta and Humane. Photos: Rewind.ai, Meta, Justin Shin/Getty Images
“Entrepreneurs and tech giants are racing to deliver AI in new devices and gadgets — including smart glasses, pendants and pins — that they hope will challenge the smartphone, Axios chief tech correspondent Ina Fried writes.
Why it matters: New hardware could find a niche even if the phone, which is all most users need to harness AI, remains the dominant device.
What's happening: Most entrants in the new AI hardware race work via voice input, foregoing the price and bulk of a large display.
Humane: The startup, led by former Apple employee Imran Chaudhri, showed off its AI Pin on a Paris runway this week after previously teasing the device in a TED talk. The wearable uses a projector to allow its simple user interface to appear on a hand or other nearby surface.
Rewind Pendant: Rewind.ai is showing off a $59 neck-worn pendant that's designed to record conversations and transfer them securely to a smartphone, creating a sort of searchable database of your life's soundtrack.
Meta smart glasses: One of the biggest changes in the updated Ray-Ban models Meta announced last week is that users can converse with an AI chatbot through them.
Tab: Due out next winter or spring, Tab is a smart wearable that ‘ingests the context’ of your daily life by listening to all of your conversations, according to a video founder Avi Schiffmann posted on X.
Jony Ive: Former lead Apple designer Jony Ive is said to be in talks with SoftBank and OpenAI regarding raising money for an AI hardware effort.” [Axios]
SPORTS
“M.L.B.: The Minnesota Twins won their first playoff game since 2004.” [New York Times]
“Big game, small crowd: The Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Texas Rangers, 4-0. The game drew the smallest M.L.B. postseason crowd since 1919.” [New York Times]
“Mattel unveiled a Stevie Nicks Barbie with an outfit inspired by her look on the cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours.”” [New York Times]
Fat Bear Week starts today.
A brown bear snags a sockeye salmon in Alaska. (John Moore/Getty Images)
“What’s that? The annual bulk-building competition between 12 beefy brown bears in Alaska, as they eat up to 100,000 calories of salmon a day ahead of their winter hibernation.
Make yourself heard: You can watch live bear cams and vote for your favorite fat friends every day between noon and 9 p.m. Eastern through Oct. 10 — Fat Bear Tuesday.”
Read this story at Washington Post
”Lives Lived: Ed Young wrote and illustrated dozens of children’s books, mesmerizing readers with intricate depictions of fairy tales, poetry and his own life story as a Chinese immigrant. He died at 91.” [New York Times]