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What scares me right now is the McCarthy is willing to give the Crazy 20 even more power than they already have, just to get the speakership.

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Originally posted by wtg:
Too funny, Dol.

From a friend:

"The only upside to this fiasco is I just realized I haven't had to read anything about Musk for 3 days."

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It had been three days of one failed vote after another for the Speaker of the US House, and the roomful of lawmakers were worn down into weary resignation. As Representative French Hill of Arkansas stood up to once again nominate Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, he started with a thank you.

"Let me express my deep appreciation, and appreciation of everybody in this room, for the work you're doing Madame Clerk," he said.

The House responded with a standing ovation - a rare display of bipartisanship and even rarer enthusiasm after a grinding few days in the chamber. Someone shouted: "Johnson for Speaker!" to rousing laughter.

Standing in position at the front of the chamber, House Clerk Cheryl Johnson clasped her hands, smiled politely and carried on.

Ms Johnson, the 117th US House Clerk, has become an unlikely celebrity in the political drama paralysing the House. And with her calm and firm demeanour, Ms Johnson and her gavel have at times felt like the only defence against total dysfunction.

Some House members this week have accidentally called her Madam Speaker, instead of Madam Clerk.

And Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California tweeted Thursday: "She's been extraordinary without any rules passed and in having some sense of fairness and order."