1/ House Republicans pushed through a rules package for the new Congress over concerns about the concessions Kevin McCarthy made to 20 far-right conservatives in order to secure his job. The rules packages passed 220-213, with one Republican joining the Democrats in unified opposition. Aside from the standard rules on decorum, the package includes a provision allowing lawmakers to reduce or eliminate federal agency programs, and reduce the salaries of individual federal employees. Another rule, known as “cut-go,” would require any new spending to be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget. While Democrats opposed the rules, they were more concerned about what other “back-room deals” McCarthy had agreed to in exchange for votes from the House Freedom Caucus. Meanwhile, a “secret three-page addendum” that only some House Republicans have see contains “the most controversial concessions” that McCarthy made to secure the speaker’s gavel. Anyway, after adopting rules, House Republicans used their first legislative vote on repealing more than $70 billion — or nearly 90% — in new funding for the IRS to customer service, taxpayer assistance, and criminal investigations. The bill, however, is unlikely to pass the Senate. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Axios)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2023/01/10/day-721/