Tues: The "Never Kevins" vs the "Only Kevins".

Plunging Tesla News

Two adults and two children were rescued from a Tesla that plunged 250 feet off a cliff Monday morning in San Mateo County, California, officials said.

The car was traveling southbound on the Pacific Coast Highway when it went over the cliff at Devil’s Slide, south of the Tom Lantos tunnel, and landed near the water’s edge below, the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit said.

More Plunging Tesla News

Shares of Tesla dropped 13% on Tuesday morning, a day after the electric auto maker reported fourth-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers for 2022.

The "Never Kevins" vs the "Only Kevins".  Grab Some Snacks and Settle Back.

For months, there have been five hard ‘no’ votes against him—the “Never Kevins”—who have committed to voting as a bloc. But on top of those five—which would already be enough to stymie McCarthy if everyone voted—there are nine votes that appear to be leaning against McCarthy.

That group of nine, led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), argued in a letter this weekend that McCarthy has not met their demands for proposed rule changes.

“Thus far, there continue to be missing specific commitments with respect to virtually every component of our entreaties,” the group wrote on Sunday.

“Nothing changes when nothing changes, and that must start from the top,” one of the signees, Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), tweeted. “Time to make the change or get out of the way.”

Getting out of the way is more complicated than Perry suggests. In contrast to the five members who are “Never Kevin,” there are dozens of Republicans who’ve declared themselves “Only Kevin,” meaning they will only vote for McCarthy to be speaker—or so they say.

Extradite His Ass (and the Rest of Him, Too.)

As Political Wire points out, it’s probably not a great idea to run for Congress if you have an outstanding warrant for your arrest in another country. Brazil, under the new Lula administration, is going to reopen the theft case against George Santos. 

The NY Times says that Brazil is preparing to reimplement the 2008 fraud charges against Santos that were suspended because Santos left the country and the authorities could not find him to continue the case.

Per the Times…

“The matter, which stemmed from an incident in 2008 regarding a stolen checkbook, had been suspended for the better part of a decade because the police were unable to locate him.

A spokeswoman for the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor’s office said that with Mr. Santos’s whereabouts identified, a formal request will be made to the U.S. Justice Department to notify him of the charges, a necessary step after which the case will proceed with or without him.”

IMO, the irony is that a crime committed before one enters Congress would be a way for the Biden Administration to get rid of a really annoying new congressman for very legitimate reasons that could not be interrupted by Congress.

Is "I Earned This Job" the Best You Have, Kevin?

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and his top supporters erupted at the dozen-plus conservative hardliners vowing to block his speakers bid in a closed-door meeting Tuesday, just hours before the vote.

In a fiery speech to his conference, McCarthy underscored the extensive concessions he has made to those who have vowed to oppose him, largely those in the House Freedom Caucus, according to multiple members in the room.

But he also told members that there are about 20 GOP lawmakers who plan to vote against him, far more than the five who have publicly opposed him — underscoring the likely chaos that awaits the GOP as they seek to elect a speaker at noon. Less than an hour before the vote, at least five Republicans publicly stated that they were opposed to McCarthy's speakership, enough to tank his bid on the floor.

“I earned this job. We earned this majority, and God dammit we are going to win it today," McCarthy said to a standing ovation, according to lawmakers in the room.