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Could a Handful of Reps from the #SecretSaneGOPCaucus Kneecap Trump’s Overreach Via Censure? [1]
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Date: 2025-02-05
[after reading, please voice your opinion on how this all could happen in my poll at the bottom]
Imagine if you are a Republican incumbent in the House and you saw all the dubious or ludicrous cabinet choices floated on a whim by Donald Trump in early January. You saw many of the architects of Project 2025 lining up behind him, ready to dismantle a functional government and exploit every new opportunity to accelerate the secret billionaire/GOP mantra:
“Move all the money to us!”
You’d played along before, quiet and non-controversial in your support. And then on Day 1 Trump pardons ALL Jan 6 criminals, throwing out his “not the violent ones; case by case” pretense.
You’ve always been part of Trump’s playing his supporters for fools, parroting the prepared rhetoric. But now he’s played you. Trump cares nothing about preserving the party’s power, and support is clearly now one-sided. And in just three weeks, he’s dragged the GOP brand to the shredder.
You know that your district in the suburbs will be un-winnable in 2026. There is fallout and buyers’ remorse lying ahead from gutting helpful social programs, ending insulin discounts, and the Trump tariffs currently on pause. And once ending Obamacare hits home, your career, and that of many other Republicans throughout Congress, is toast.
And if the stock market tanks, your donors not only won’t support you next time, they’ll blame you for not stepping in soon enough to save the economy.
Over half of your solid supporters will be calling to chew you out, and you’ll only be able to parrot Trump’s feeble talking points which only work coming out of one mouth.
It’s going to be a rough two years. Unless you’re Marjorie Taylor Greene or Jim Jordan, lying that emphatically takes a toll. And if you do ride it out, a cushy lobbying job might not be an option if Congress goes as blue as is likely in 2026. No clout, no cash.
This is not how you want your career to wind down; with a whimper and a scarred reputation as an enabler of #RepubloFascism which will tarnish our nation badly before a long, messy extraction.
You started in politics holding principles in high regard. But as moderates were primaried out around you, you saw the GOP leaders push the envelope on lying and hypocrisy to the point where neither was a liability anymore.
The survivors around you weren’t conservative, they were #CORPservative - in servitude to their corporate and billionaire donors. Your seat was safe so you didn’t have to take the quid for the quo pro. You were never compromised to their level.
And you now know that the trajectory of the party of your birth is truly unsustainable. Unless elections are banned completely, a GOP sticking with its old modus operandi will be insignificant for a generation.
Maybe you don’t want to see that. Maybe you don’t want our country to go through all this unnecessary heartbreak. Maybe you’re not comfortable with riding out the next two years and seeing the huge cost of Trump/Musk overreach on crippled towns in your district.
Somewhere inside you, there’s a leader that never quite got the chance to achieve his rightful destiny.
Another chance - another door - might be available.
And it closes in about a week.
If ever there is a time for a Republican House member to stand up against Trump and all that he has wrought over the GOP during his twisted reign, it is NOW so you can send a signal to the Senate not to confirm all Trump’s #ClownCabinet and other lizard-brain sociopath picks.
Why not be a hero, not a compromised zero? And you know what else, there are a lot of billionaires and CEOs who dread what Trump could do to their portfolios in just a few months time. Double-digit inflation, a stock market crash, an international trade war with lasting implications; they’re all on the radar too among those with ten or 11-digit bank accounts. They’d want you to pull in the reins on Trump a little if you could.
And with a little planning and a cunning strategy, the whole world could be changed in a few weeks with YOU as the voice of reason among your peers. Not only that, but you could be vaulted into prominence, even becoming Speaker with the help of Democrats who would be so, so grateful.
The process starts with calling all other potential members of the #SecretSaneGOPCaucus. You’ve heard their fears and reservations in private conversations from the beginning of Trump 2. But now that Elon Musk has started his scorched earth strategy for governmental hari-kari, the good side of you knows it’s time to act.
You and a handful of like-minded yet timid fellow Republicans can set the table, propose a deal that reaches out to Hakeem Jeffries and the entire Democratic Caucus.
It’s time to hatch a plan for #PresidentialCensure, one that includes stipulations that Trump must follow or #ImpeachmentNumber3 will commence. Here are a few points to cover:
Trump must adhere to all laws and norms in the future and align with his oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution
All acts outside of those bounds up to this point must be corrected, such as firing without cause 18 Inspector Generals, the ethics watchdogs within all government agencies.
Similarly, the extra-legal activities and security breaches by Elon Musk must be stopped, and DOGE ends now. If Musk had taken an oath of office, he’d have violated it every day. Musk’s influence on governmental operations will no longer be allowed.
All Cabinet and governmental agency choices put up for Senate confirmation to this point MUST be reevaluated and the previous higher standards for competency, familiarity with the roll, and more stringent FBI vetting should be done with critical weaknesses released to the public.
President Trump must secure an agreement with VP Vance to adhere to these same guidelines, even if he were to eventually become President himself. Failure on Vance’s part once in the Oval could immediately trigger similar censure or impeachment proceedings.
One question is, though, how do we get all these demands to the House floor with Speaker Johnson wielding the gavel?
There are two ways to do this. One is to invoke a discharge petition to circumvent the House rules, and through a simple majority bring the concept of Presidential Censure up for a full House debate.
The second is for the #SecretSaneGOPCaucus members to work a deal. If they all change their party affiliation to independent and caucusing with Dems, then Democrats would have the majority and could choose a new Speaker. The deal would be to name one of the bolting SSGC legislators as Speaker. In return Dems could get a couple of key committee chairs while #MAGAlogmaniacs like Jordan and Taylor-Greene lose all committee assignments.
Bipartisan considerations from this arrangement could grow, perhaps even to include passage of the No Kings Act proposed by Sen. Chuck Schumer. This would override the ridiculous presidential immunity ruling by the Supreme Court and add many more guardrails to Trump’s presidency.
That might stall in the Senate, but let’s look at this from their side of the Capitol.
The day that Presidential Censure comes to the House floor, the leverage that Trump has over Senate Republicans changes. With only around a third of them seeking reelection in 2026, the others can look longterm towards what the strength of their careers might be. Four years of capitulation and universal despair will be on their shoulders.
Wouldn’t they benefit from taking the similar high ground, and taking credit for the inevitable Trumpism implosion? Because at this rate, we all know that the MAGA hat came with this preamble:
“After Trump, It Will Take a Decade to…”
Both Democrats and clever Republicans will have plenty of ammo for the Censure arguments to bring Trump back to reality. It could and should start with the decision to stop the USAID funding immediately around the world.
In all corners of the globe, the humanitarian aid that the US has provided for decades not only helps those in dire need, it also supports our perception as a great nation. This is proof that America’s greatness is of no consequence to Trump and Musk.
The salvaging of our democracy depends on inter-party interpersonal relationships. Dems know Republicans that can’t wait for Trump to fail because of all the harm that our nation and planet are set up to endure.
John McCain was our last Republican hero. Is the next one about to be hatched, with a similar legacy for the history books?
If anybody knows who these potential heroes might be, please put them in your comments below.
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/5/2301773/-Could-a-Handful-of-Reps-from-the-SecretSaneGOPCaucus-Kneecap-Trump-s-Overreach-Via-Censure?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
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