118th Congress (2023-2025)

An All Time High Number Of Women In The 118th Congress

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The 118th Congress (2023-2025) will see an all time high number of women serving.

A total of 149 women will be members, with 124 in the House of Representatives and 25 in the Senate.

That means a bit more than a quarter of women in the House of Representatives and exactly 25 percent of the Senate will be women.

A total of 19 Latinas will serve, and 27 African American women, so a total of 46, a bit less than a third of all women members in Congress.

There are also 10 Asian-Pacific Islander women; 2 Native American, Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian women; and one Middle Eastern/North African woman.

So more than a third of all women serving will be women of color.

Also, 42 Republican women will be in Congress, with 33 in the House of Representatives, and 9 Republican women in the US Senate, with a total of 5 Latina Republican women in the lower chamber.

The Democrats will have 91 women in the House of Representatives, and 16 women in the US Senate. So with 107 women, Democrats more than double the Republican total of 42 women.

And Democrat Marcy Kaptur of Ohio is becoming the longest serving woman in the history of Congress, having already served 40 years in total, breaking the record of Congresswoman and Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.

The Ten Greatest Political Villains Of 2022! And An Addendum!

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Yesterday, I published a post on the ten greatest Political Heroes of 2022.

So now, it is time to indicate who I believe are the ten greatest Political Villains of 2022!

In no special order, I would list the following:

Republican House Minority Leader, possibly Speaker of the House (hopefully not), Kevin McCarthy of California, who time again and again showed he had no spine, being a supplicant to Donald Trump, and demonstrating no principle or ethics in his crazed desire to be Speaker, two heartbeats away from the Presidency. The thought of him being that close in the line of succession is horrifying, not that there are very good alternatives!

Election Denier, and symbol with clenched fist, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who promoted sedition and treason! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Election Denier and most obnoxious Senator (with other competitors), Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who this author and blogger thought in 2016 was the most dangerous Republican running for President, even more than Donald Trump! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who once had some intelligence, but after Arizona Senator John McCain died, has become a total Donald Trump sycophant!

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a very unstable and unpricipled excuse for a human being, who, somehow, was able to defeat one of the best US Senators of modern times, Russ Feingold, in 2010 and 2016, and then a very talented Lieutenant Governor, African American Mandela Barnes in 2022. Johnson is one of the worst figures in Senate history!

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, an obnoxious and unprincipled man who, sadly, is likely to become House Judiciary Committee Chairman in the 118th Congress in 2023!

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who won his third term as Governor in 2022, despite his horrendous policies and lack of compassion, and is likely to pursue a Presidential candidacy for 2024!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who won a vast reelection victory in 2022, and is seen as the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, despite his intolerant and authoritarian bent, and his high level of arrogance and cockiness, on a multitude of issues. These include the COVID 19 Pandemic; Gay and Transgender Rights; Racial and Religious Minorities; interference in the teaching of History and Literature, and Manipulating School Boards and Libraries; and extreme Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts, which took away two African American seats, and gave the Republicans the control of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress!

Arizona Republican Gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who used the same tactic as Donald Trump, promoting the “Big Lie” about her defeat in the recent elections in her state. She has just been repudiated in court in her attempt to reverse a clearcut victory by her opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Good riddance to the most obnoxious woman imaginable!

Finally, on this list, former President Donald Trump, the most dangerous and worst US President in American history, twice impeached, and a close ally of totalitarian dictators around the world, willing to overthrow the US Constitution, rule of law, and American democracy. He needs to be prevented from running again for President, and indictment and conviction on the four charges brought against him by the January 6 House Committee is essential, to prevent any future tyrant from taking the kind of actions that this most evil man took! He harmed so many Americans during his term, as well as having the responsibility for the deaths, destruction and violence, in the worst attack on the US Capitol since the War of 1812!

And now an Addendum:

The Supreme Court has become a disgraceful, power hungry, extremist right wing organization!

Chief Justice John Roberts has lost his desired reputation as the leader of his Court, and in particular, Clarence Thomas (appointed by George H. W. Bush) and Samuel Alito (appointed by George W. Bush) have been totally out of control, and both will go down as two of the very worst Supreme Court Justices in American history! The names and reputations of both Bush Presidencies are permanently besmirched as a result!

The 118th Congress Election Deniers: 19 Senators And 154 House Members!

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Shocking beyond belief: 19 US Senators and 154 House of Representatives members in the upcoming 118th Congress (2023-2025) are Election Deniers, in regards to the Presidential Election of 2020!

154 Congressmen and women, out of 222 Republicans, so 67 percent of the House Republican caucus!

19 Senators, men and women, out of 49 Republicans, so 40 percent of the Senate Republican caucus!

Among the Senators are:

Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee)
Ted Cruz (Texas)
Bill Hagerty (Tennessee)
Josh Hawley (Missouri)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
John Kennedy (Louisiana)
James Lankford (Oklahoma)
Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming)
Rick Scott (Florida)
Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)

and five newly elected Senators:

Ted Budd (North Carolina)
Katie Britt (Alabama)
Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma)
Eric Schmitt (Missouri)
J D Vance (Ohio)

So the states of Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Alabama have both of their US Senators as Election Deniers!

What a total disgrace!

Kevin McCarthy Remains In Limbo On Speakership Bid

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California Congressman Kevin McCarthy, who has for years lusted for the Speakership of the House of Representatives, is now facing the reality that he may not be elected by the Republican caucus on opening day of the 118th Congress, January 3, 2023.

It seems more likely that second ranking Republican Steve Scalise of Louisiana may become the alternative choice, seemingly acceptable to all elements of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives.

It certainly seems clear that McCarthy, even if elected, may not survive the entire two year term of the 118th Congress!

Major Week Ahead: Trump Facing January 6 Committee Prosecution Recommendations

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After 18 months of an exhaustive investigation by the House of Representatives January 6 Committee, this week, finally, the committee is wrapping up its work with expected recommendations for prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

The charges that will be recommended to the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland include:

Promotion of Insurrrection against the US Government

Obstruction of Justice, interfering with the counting of the Electoral Vote by Vice President Mike Pence and the two houses of Congress on January 6, 2021

Conspiracy to defraud the US Government

More than 1,000 people were interviewed and depositions taken.

It is a tribute to the committee how much effort they have put into investigation of this crisis, and it is essential that Trump be prosecuted, and prevented from running for President in the future!

And special tribute is appropriate to the two Republican members of the January 6 Committee, Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, both who will not be serving in the upcoming 118th Congress. Both sacrificed their careers to do the right thing, stand up for justice and truth and loyalty to the US Constitution!

Both are Profiles in Courage who will shine in the future as part of American history!

A Great Advantage For Democrats In Senate In The 118th Congress!

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With the gain of one seat by Democrats in the US Senate, the political equation changes dramatically!

Now there will be one more Democrat on every Senate committee, rather than an even number.

No longer will Vice President Kamala Harris be needed regularly to break Senate ties.

No longer will it be essential that both Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona be in on every vote, and with both of them facing reelection in 2024.

It will be easier to gain judicial confirmations, very important for the future of the courts, and were a Supreme Court Justice leave the Court, it could create a more balanced Court.

If there was a vacancy or party switch, the Democrats would still control the Senate.

Legislation will be easier to pass the Senate, although it likely would fail to gain support of the narrowly majority Republican House of Representatives.

Finally, keeping the control of the Senate will be very difficult in 2024, as only 10 seats are Republican controlled, and will be hard to gain, so the Democrats have to work to find a way to avoid more than a one seat loss.

Some of the Republicans running for reelection in 2024 are particularly despicable, and Democrats need to find viable candidates to fight them, and hopefully, defeat them, including

Ted Cruz of Texas
Rick Scott of Florida
Josh Hawley of Missouri
Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

It is time to start recruitment of Democrats in Texas, Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee to attempt to gain at least one or two Republican seats in 2024!

At the same time, at least 3 Democratic Senators are likely to have a rough time in 2024, including Manchin and Sinema, along with Jon Tester of Montana, and Sinema is likely to have an intraparty battle with Ruben Gallego, 7th District Congressman.

Raphael Warnock Wins Full Term In The Senate, Another Repudiation Of Donald Trump!

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Senator Raphael Warnock won a full term in the US Senate tonight, overcoming the challenge of former football player and Republican nominee Herschel Walker, and repudiating Donald Trump once again!

With a 51-49 Democratic US Senate in the 118th Congress, the committees will have a Democratic edge in membership, and this will make legislation and other actions much easier to accomplish, than the 50-50 Senate that was in play in the present 117th Congress.

So this victory added to the very successful Midterm Elections of 2022 for the Democratic Party!

From The Greatest Modern Speaker Of The House To A Total Disaster In The Making!

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Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (2007-2011) and (2019-2023) will go down as the greatest modern Speaker of the House, with so much accomplished under her leadership particularly in the first two years of the Barack Obama Presidency (the 111th Congress), and the first two years of the Joe Biden Presidency (the 117th Congress).

The only other Speakers of the previous 20th century who would rank on her level of greatness would be Sam Rayburn (1940-1947, 1949-1953, 1955-1961), and Thomas “Tip” O’Neill (1977-1987).

When Pelosi gives up the gavel on January 3, 2023, she will have been the fifth longest serving Speaker of the 54 individuals who have held that office, only outdone by Rayburn, Henry Clay, O’Neill, and John W. McCormack.

Now, sadly, a Republican will take over the Speakership of the 118th Congress, most likely Kevin McCarthy of California, who is a unmitigated disaster, totally subservient to the evil 45th President, Donald Trump, who is a Fascist authoritarian demagogue, who still threatens the survival of American democracy.

Kevin McCarthy Unable To Criticize Trump If He Is To Become House Speaker, So Morally Compromised!

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With five weeks to go until the new 118th Congress meets on January 3, 2023, Kevin McCarthy is “between a rock and a hard place!”

He cannot afford to alienate the House Freedom Caucus, the most extremist right wing Republicans in the House of Representatives.

So therefore, as all along for the past two years, McCarthy cannot criticize Donald Trump for his having white supremacist and Holocaust Denier Nick Fuentes and another anti semite, Kanye West, at dinner at Mar a Lago!

McCarthy has flirted with Donald Trump since January 6, 2021, and by all rights, should not be Speaker of the House, which should go instead to an honest conservative Republican who has condemned Donald Trump.

Liz Cheney or Justin Amash would be the more appropriate choice, but the Republican Party has been flirting with extreme right wing Fascism, and seems ready to self destruct!

New Membership Of Upcoming 118th Congress (2023-2025)

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The upcoming 118th Congress (2023-2025) will have 84 new members, 77 new Congressmen and women, and seven US Senators.

The number of US Senators since 1789 has finally reached over 2,000, with a total of 2,001, but when Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska resigns to become the President of the University of Florida, the number will rise to 2002!

The new US Senators replaced those who retired, and every Senator up for election won, except the Georgia Senate race is in a runoff between Senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican opponent Herschel Walker, the former football star from decades ago, who has clearly suffered brain damage and makes no sense at all in what he says!

Hopefully, on December 6, Warnock will win a full term, which he richly deserves!