It’s Political: House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy made history yesterday becoming the first nominee for Speaker in 100 years to lose on the first vote with his party in the majority. Then he made history again, and again, losing the second and third votes.

  The Republicans barely won the House and are already demonstrating that they can’t run it. No one gets sworn in until they elect a Speaker. McCarthy said, “Is it the day I wanted to have? No.”

  McCarthy suffered the indignity on all three rounds of winning fewer votes than Hakim Jeffries, a Black Democrat from New York with no chance of winning. McCarthy fell 15 votes short of what he needed in the first round and was down one more by the third.

  As the afternoon dragged on, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace rhetorically asked, “How long do we have to listen to the lobster scream?” But McCarthy told reporters between the second and third votes, “I’m staying until we win.” 

  McCarthy could afford to lose only four Republican votes. In the first round, 10 votes went to Andy Biggs from Arizona and 9 to others, including 6 for Jim Jordan of Ohio.

  Biggs was not nominated in the second round and Jordan rose to nominate McCarthy in an effort to give away his votes. Butt Matt Gaetz from Florida then nominated Jordan, who won 13 additional votes, again denying the speakership to McCarthy.

  By the end, McCarthy faced a bloc of at least 20 Republicans who don’t want him to be Speaker unless he knuckles to their demands. They have not produced an alternate candidate who could get elected, so the House is in a freeze. 

  At 5:30 the House decided by voice vote to adjourn until noon today and Rep. Elise Stefanik announced that pizza and salad was cancelled.

What They Want: The diehards already squeezed a promise out of McCarthy that … if he’s speaker … they need only five members to initiate a vote to remove him. It’s a way of keeping him on a string.

  The rebels also want other rule changes to diminish the power of the leaders and make it easier for small factions to change or block legislation. They are bargaining for committee assignments.

  These are the most extreme right wingers. All but two of the defectors are election deniers who say Donald Trump won in 2020. Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina, for instance, was behind his state’s “bathroom bill,” which required people in public buildings to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate.

 And then there’s Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, a believer in QAnon conspiracies who has said, “I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk” and, “The church is supposed to direct the government.” 

Liar, Liar: New York Republican George Santos, who lied his way into a seat in Congress, appeared yesterday without question by his Republican colleagues. He spent the day hounded by the press and ignored by fellow party members. 

 Santos during his campaign invented a family history, academic and work records, and even lied about being Jewish. When caught he said he meant he was “Jew-ish.”

  Retired Democrat Tom Suozzi, who served that same district, wrote in The NY Times that, “It saddens me that after 30 years of public service rooted in hard work and service to the people of this area, I’m being succeeded by a con man.” And he said that, “ Mr. Santos’s con game is a manifestation of a growing political phenomenon of saying or doing anything, with no automatic consequences.” 

Heart Stopping: With Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin still in critical condition after his heart stopped on the field Monday night, the NFL says it will not resume the game this week between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. The game was suspended after Hamlin was removed in an ambulance.

  The working theory is that Hamlin’s heart went into arrythmia then stopped after he took a blow to his chest tackling a Bengals player. An uncle said Hamlin’s heart stopped a second time at the hospital.

  It’s a rare injury than can occur when the chest is hit in an exact place just at the moment when the heart is relaxing for a moment after pumping out blood. Hamlin’s heart was stopped for nine minutes and there’s been no word yet on whether he sustained brain damage.

Home or Office: Struggling with a lack of affordable housing on one hand, and vacant office space on the other, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called on President Joe Biden to either end work-from-home for federal government employees or turn over vacant government buildings for new housing. 

 The federal government owns or leases a third of the city’s office space and the city is encouraging the conversion of offices. 

The Spin Rack: New FDA rules will allow women to obtain so-called “abortion pills” over the counter at certified drug stores. Previously they’ve been available only at doctors’ offices, but a prescription will still be required. — Brian Kohberger, the suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students, agreed to be returned to the state from Pennsylvania to face charges. — Actor Jeremy Renner is in critical but stable condition after two surgeries following his snowplow accident. He posted a selfie from his hospital bed. One leg and his chest sustained serious injury. Renner, who loves to plow snow around his home in the Nevada mountains, evidently got out to help a neighbor and was run over by his own machine, which weighs seven tons. Ouch.

Below the Fold: Late Show host Stephen Colbert noted that Kevin McCarthy’s staff have already been told to refer to him as “Mr. Speaker and that they have moved boxes into the Speaker’s office. Colbert said, “I wouldn’t be in a hurry to unpack.” 

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