“It goes in Political 101 textbooks going forward as maybe one of the most crushingly stupid things somebody could do on the eve of your survival vote.”

This comment came from Northern Virginia U.S. congressman Gerry Connolly Tuesday evening concerning a taped interview in which embattled House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) whose ouster was being voted on at the time of the interview, blasted Congressional Democrats, lying that they were responsible for the current governing gridlock instead of the half dozen radical GOP congressmen led by Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Connolly said that any chance McCarthy had to salvage his role of House Speaker under assault from the GOP radical right was torpedoed by the replaying of his remarks in the Democratic caucus Sunday morning. As it turned out, all the House Democrats voted his ouster with those pivotal Republicans, and he was unceremoniously booted out.

In an exclusive interview with the News-Press yesterday, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer of Falls Church and Northern Virginia said that while he “does not rejoice in the misfortune” of McCarthy, the man had a history of being untrustworthy in dealing with Democrats, very frequently reneging on negotiated deals. Something he has done repeatedly from Day One.

So now, Beyer says he is worried that it is only 41 days until the temporary funding of the federal government faces another deadline and threat of a government shutdown. With so many federal workers in his 8th District, he is already focused on that issue.

But as for the House leadership, he said he’s currently locked into backing the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffereys, for speaker, though he concedes that would be a long shot now, given how locked in Republicans, and not just the fringe crazies, are on the issue of abortion.

“This is a dividing line very difficult to overcome,” Beyer said, even though centering on that issue is generally considered to represent the Democrats’ best shot at regaining control of the House of Delegates in Richmond in next month’s elections.

Beyer concurred. He said he’s seen results of “focus group after focus group” from around the country “in the rural areas as well as among the ‘coastal elites,’” that affirm the abortion issue is very strong for Democrats. “The issue of women having control of their own bodies is extremely important no matter where the opinions are being taken from,” he said.

Beyer Remarks on Speakership Fiasco

Beyer said he is hopeful that Congressional Republicans will avoid reverting to a radical to lead the House. In particular, he said that Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who has put himself forward as a candidate for the job is “mean, and doesn’t tell the truth a lot.”

There are conservative Republicans, he said, who are “sensible,” and among those are the likes of Scalise, Kevin Hearn and Jody Arrington.

Ultimately, though, he is putting his hopes on the elections in 13 months that present the greatest opportunity for taking back the House for Democrats.

A year ahead of that, in just weeks now, the Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates are pressing to do just for Richmond.

Del. Marcus Simon of Falls Church appeared at a local meeting of community leaders in Falls Church Monday to identify the key races that could flip the razor thin GOP majority that now exists.

Meanwhile, Rep. Connolly said the following in a letter to constituents this week:

“We don’t know what comes next, but there’s one thing I’m certain of: the country can’t afford an unstable Republican majority in 2024. When Democrats had a narrow majority in 2021, we got things done for the American people. We restored American democracy, passed historic clean energy investments, the largest infrastructure investment in American history, and reopened the country after Covid-19.

“Democrats need to pick up just five seats to gain a majority and I’m doing everything I can to make sure we win them in 2024.”