The Western Journal

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s quest to become speaker of the House has run into new headwinds as the lower chamber of Congress prepares for a leadership vote on Tuesday.

Republicans gained control of the 435-member House in the November elections, with 222 seats. To be elected speaker over Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona — the only other Republican who has publicly said he wants the post — McCarthy needs 218 votes. That means any more than four Republicans opposing him, assuming all Democrats do, could sink his chances for the post.

On Sunday, nine Republicans signed a letter saying that McCarthy’s efforts to woo conservative Republicans have been, in essence, too little, too late.

“[T]he times call for radical departure from the status quo — not a continuation of past, and ongoing, Republican failures,” the letter said.

Republican Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Chip …

“No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session,” American lawyer, politician and newspaper editor Gideon T. Tucker wrote in 1866.

How could the Honorable Mr. Tucker have known about 21st-century Illinois way back then?

Most of that state’s SAFE-T Act went into effect on Sunday, putting new constraints on law enforcement and giving new freedom to criminals.

Thankfully, a last-minute ruling Saturday by the Illinois Supreme Court suspended one of the worst aspects of the new law: elimination of cash bail, similar to what has occurred in New York state.

But it’s still a bad law, described by one of its opponents as the “most dangerous” he’s ever seen.

And Democratic Illinois Speaker of the House Emanuel “Chris” Welch has been aggressively pushing it, despite protests by Republicans of the 750-page bill crammed through both the state House and Senate in three days, …

House staffers can expect a hefty pay increase in 2023 — courtesy of outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives would raise its maximum annual salary for staffers to $212,000 in a Friday “Dear Colleague” letter to fellow lawmakers.

Pelosi previously established a new minimum annual salary of $45,000 for congressional staffers, a policy she touted in the letter announcing the maximum salary increase.

The outgoing speaker pointed to the House’s need to “retain and recruit the best talent in our nation.”

The maximum pay is considerably more than the salary of most elected House members and senators, which is set at $174,000 a year.

NEW: Pelosi boosts max staff pay to $212k/year. That’s a lot more than members make, and part of a longstanding push to help retain Hill staff. pic.twitter.com/t0sB7APu2n — Chris Cioffi (@ReporterCioffi) December 30, 2022

In March, Bloomberg reported that staff turnover rates …