(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Stabenow, Michigan Senator for More Than Two Decades, Won’t Run in 2024 [1] ['Carl Hulse', 'Reid J. Epstein'] Date: 2023-01-05 “Under the cloud of unprecedented threats to our democracy and our basic freedoms, a record-breaking number of people voted last year in Michigan,” she said. “Young people showed up like never before. This was a very hopeful sign for our future.” F.A.Q.: The Speakership Deadlock in the House Card 1 of 7 A historic impasse. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California is fighting to become House speaker, but a group of hard-right Republicans is blocking his bid and paralyzing the start of the new Congress. Here’s what to know: Why is there a standoff? With Republicans holding a narrow margin in the House — 222 seats to Democrats’ 212 — Mr. McCarthy needs support from his party’s right wing to become speaker. But some far-right lawmakers have refused to back him, preventing Mr. McCarthy from getting to 218 votes. Who are the detractors? The 20 House Republicans who are voting against Mr. McCarthy include some of the chamber’s most hard-right lawmakers. Most denied the results of the 2020 presidential election, and almost all are members of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus. What do they want? The right-wing rebellion against Mr. McCarthy is rooted not just in personal animosity, but also an ideological drive. The holdouts want to drastically limit the size, scope and reach of the federal government, and overhaul the way Congress works to make it easier to do so. What can McCarthy do? Mr. McCarthy has made several concessions to try to win over the hard-liners, embracing measures that would weaken the speakership and that he had previously refused to support. But so far the concessions have not been enough to corral the votes he needs. Is there an alternative to McCarthy? A big factor in Mr. McCarthy’s favor is that no viable candidate has emerged to challenge him, but Republicans could coalesce around someone else. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the House, is seen by many as the most obvious backup. How does this end? House precedent dictates that members continue to take successive votes until someone secures the majority to prevail. Until a speaker is chosen, the House is essentially a useless entity. It cannot pass laws or even swear in its members. Republicans promised to mount a strong campaign for the seat. “We are going to aggressively target this seat in 2024,” Mike Berg, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement. “This could be the first of many Democrats who decide to retire rather than lose.” In Michigan, Ms. Stabenow’s announcement set off a frenzy among ambitious Democrats. Representative Elissa Slotkin called allies in the state on Thursday saying she was preparing to announce her candidacy for the Senate as soon as next week. What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? What’s their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process. Representative Haley Stevens, who won a contentious primary against a fellow member of Congress last year, is also “strongly considering” running, an aide said. State Senator Mallory McMorrow, who raised millions of dollars after going viral last year defending L.G.B.T.Q. rights, released a statement minutes after Ms. Stabenow’s announcement praising the senator but saying nothing about her own plans. The state’s biggest Democratic names disavowed any interest. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit would not run for the Senate, aides said. And Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary who last year moved his official residence from his native Indiana to Michigan, where his in-laws live, said he is “fully focused on serving the president in my role as secretary of transportation and not seeking any other job.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/05/us/politics/stabenow-michigan-2024.html Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/