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Enticing #ConstitutionalConservatives to Flip the House to Dems and Be Future Heroes [1]
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Date: 2025-06-19
[add your take via the detailed poll at bottom]
Two years ago, Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Labor Robert Reich posed an idea that could flip power in Congress, right in the midst of the scrum between Kevin McCarthy and the rabid MAGA loyalists for House Speaker confirmation.
Back then it was the suggestion that Dems could make an arrangement with Ohio’s Republican Rep. David Joyce as a way to freeze out both factions, nominating him with full Democratic support as Speaker with clinching votes coming from other members of, as I called them, the #SecretSaneGOPCaucus along with MAGA McCarthy haters.
Here’s the link to Prof Reich’s Substack post:
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/david-joyce-for-speaker-of-the-house?r=13imj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
When McCarthy was booted from the Speaker’s chair that October, I revisited the notion with a few of my own twists. Here’s the link to that take in 2023:
https://toddtelford.substack.com/p/dems-can-kneecap-maga-by-supporting
There’s no way that I could’ve conceived of an America where the stakes for proposing a third iteration of the Joyce Gambit could involve losing democracy itself to #RepubloFascism, which is what we are staring into right now.
In the wee hours of yesterday morning, Prof Reich posed this question: How the Hell Will This End?
And being a glass-1/8th-full kind of guy, here are my answers including a major fork in the road:
Trump finishes his term with nearly all of his transgressions rolled back. With Miller, Vought, and other Project 2025 crafters removed from his administration, Trump just coasts through his remaining years raking in the spoils and staying within nice new guardrails. The House passes a vote of presidential censure, forcing Trump to roll back his travesties as noted above, but with the caveat that if he breaches his oath of office or the law again, impeachment will be forthcoming. He fails, and is extracted.
Of course there are many other options, such as Trump resigning for health reasons and/or taking all his loot and family to the United Arab Emirates or Hungary.
But how could this happen in a Republican-controlled House, you wonder. And that’s where the Joyce Gambit comes back into the picture.
With a half-dozen House representatives leaving the Republican Caucus and declaring themselves independents caucusing with Democrats, the House majority would flip. I think that this small group soon to be vilified by MAGA as turncoats should brand themselves as #ConstitutionalConservatives, thereby demonstrating actual patriotism while maintaining some of their less divisive conservative roots.
Why would they take this step? Whether it’s pragmatism, exhaustion, or conscience doesn’t matter. But like perhaps dozens of GOP House members, their careers will go down the drain on Trump’s lead coattails eventually. Why not be a hero for the history books instead?
And with a Trump implosion, the entire party as it exists now will be toast. Then the new #ConstitutionalConservativeCaucus (#CCC?) will be the only political survivors once Dems are at the helm and investigations pop up like a bad case of acne on the #CORPservatives that have done nothing but serve their corporate and billionaire donors for years.
What would each side get in this gambit?
New Speaker Hakeem Jeffries could assign several of the CCC members committee chairs and DNC Chair Martin could vow not to support or fund opponents in the 2026 general election. Heck, Dems could even offer up their offices and in that way help them fight Republican opponents out for blood.
There’s another factor here too. When the current GOP goes kablammo, the Republican Party will be out of power at the national level for a good long while. As the rising leaders of GOP 2.0, this new batch will have bipartisan leverage to get at least a little of what their base might want, like keeping the Bush/Trump tax cuts intact for those making, say $8 million or less in gross receipts a year. That would keep most of their current donors happy. And when taxes go up, perhaps way up on their box store competitors, they’ll be happier still.
Dems would get the Speakership (can’t we have Jamie Raskin, please?) and start investigations on Trump and throughout all the cabinet’s overreach. Even committees now chaired by CCC members will want to go along because the more they destroy the party that they left, the less there will be in long-term resistance to their political ascent.
The presidential censure agreement that Trump would be forced to sign would include reinstalling all the Inspectors General and restoring all DOGE cuts including the most sadistic: ending USAID and PEPFAR. And all those government agencies run by power-crazed lunatics would see their figureheads referred for all their criminal actions and/or impeached by Congress.
Other requirements of the censure agreement could be:
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 as possible, including punitive acts against Harvard and other institutions. Also reversed would be the senseless ending of funding for medical research.
Similarly, the extra-legal activities, security breaches, and illegal firings by Elon Musk must be reversed, and DOGE ends now. All firing and defunding by DOGE must be reevaluated, and reversed if documentation cannot justify actions taken.
The government contract with Palantir must be cancelled, and the sharing of all private information between agencies shall not move forward. Any privacy breaches that do harm to individuals can be grounds for civil suits directed at Musk specifically, being that he acted as a consultant outside of government and simply took data without any congressional approval.
ICE can no longer detain and/or deport anyone without due process, and blanket sweeps without warrants focused only on specific individuals end immediately. Also, records of arresting officers must be released by badge number, with identities subject to subpoena in civil suits against those using excessive force or punitive cruelty.
All Cabinet and governmental agency choices put up for Senate confirmation MUST be reevaluated, mandating the previous higher standards for competency, experience, and familiarity with the roll. Also, more weight given to FBI vetting should be done with critical weaknesses released to the public. Those already violating those standards as cited by reinstated Inspectors General will not be reconsidered.
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.
The beauty of presidential censure can be in how it is written, knowing that Trump’s greed, vanity, laziness, and willingness to abandon allies abruptly when some of his skin is in the game can all be weaponized for the good of the nation. Tell Trump he has to boot Stephen Miller along with Vought and his Project 2025 brethren if he wants to keep his presidency - and most of his current abilities to profit on it - and he’ll be happy to oblige.
Trump will toe the line to keep the green, and when a very blue Congress steps in in 2027, Trump will be a feckless stooge, perhaps facing a Congress that can override any vetoes. But the deal will include no new charges or threats of forfeiture from past emoluments violations. That’s how to keep Donald from straying; all that would change if he ventures into impeachable territory after the deed is done.
Of course there will be a huge cost in letting Trump stay in office beyond his perpetual milking of taxpayers through trips to his golf courses. Petty isolationism and lost opportunities with traditional partners will continue, although those allies will soon understand that we’ll be back on their side in 2029. Divisive and destructive domestic policies may still be in play, albeit at that point subject to coloring between the lines.
The good news is that our economy will take a step away from uncertainty with tariffs no longer in Trump’s hands, instead back in Congress where they should be constitutionally. The “Big Beautiful Bill” would see the billionaire enrichment tax cuts carved out, or perhaps the whole thing will be scrapped if by the time the Senate version is ready, the new House leadership will render it DOA.
But impeaching Trump could be even more dangerous and long lasting. VP Vance owes his entire political career to mega billionaire Peter Thiel with divisive libertarian (and South African apartheid) roots. He’s set things up to run the show through Vance, and executing the Project 2025 fever dreams of full-on RepubloFascism will be far more efficient under him than with Trump’s erratic and irrational blunderbuss approach.
So who might be the initial members of the CCC?
There’s a metric in play here. Every election this year has shown a 15 to 20% shift away from Republican candidates and causes, and that’s likely to grow a bit more before the MAGA base numbers hold for a specific candidate. Therefore, House GOP members who won last time with less of a margin than that may see their careers ending soon anyway, particularly if they feel that the fuse is lit on the Trump administration.
Most vulnerable might be the suburban legislators, as well as communities with a high hispanic population. But if I were a strong player in Democratic politics, I’d be looking at California’s Central Valley Republicans. Turning back the ICE escapades now, before disappearing labor forces major crop loses this year, will be crucial for large farm owners that have been consistent political donor/allies. They have a tangible need for this Trump travesty to end now.
And soon there might be even more damning news for Trump, as evidence is unearthed regarding manipulation of elections last November. Jessica Denson has been tracking election irregularities that have specific patterns, and yesterday on her YouTube channel cited this evidence to be used in a lawsuit brought by Smart Elections:
“That is why Smart Elections, and through their litigation arm Smart Litigation, has pursued hand recounts,” Denson said. “Smart Elections, for their part, brought a lawsuit in Rockland County (NY). As stated in their complaint according to their press release, more voters have sworn they voted for independent US Senate candidate Diane Sarah than the Rockland County Board of Elections counted and certified, directly contradicting those results. “Additionally, the presidential election results exhibit numerous statistical anomalies that include multiple districts where hundreds of voters chose the Democratic candidate Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate but where zero voters selected the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.”
Here’s the link to her video with these quotes around the 18:30 mark:
When this goes to trial and a myriad of these anomalies come to light nationally, the entire election itself will come into question. The mechanisms and validated conspiracies behind election theft will be all over the media.
If you’re a GOP House member on the fence, wouldn’t that be the right time to NOT be still left parroting Trump’s hollow talking points?
Remember, those who jump ship first will be future leaders of GOP 2.0 as stated above. And as CCC members that Dems won’t contest next election, being a hero for a generation through flipping the House should feel like a no-brainer.
All of this is doable for savvy Republicans with bipartisan planning, the desire to lead not follow a madman, and the immediate on-the-streets support available starting with the next #NoKings rally.
If you live in a Democratic legislator’s district, please call his or her office and announce an email arriving with a link to this post. Same goes for those in Republican districts, although the phrasing of the phone call should focus on the upside possibilities including those potential new supporters already planning to be in the streets.
While it’s a real hoot dancing around holding signs with friends, it’s time to also build on what we’ve made of our foundation. And taking a direct hand in shaping the future of our politics, and our planet, has already proven to be part of our growing playbook thanks to Indivisible and the 50501 Movement.
Let’s make this happen, shall we? Let’s use #NoRepubloFascism in the next few weeks on the streets. Heck, we can call July 4th our #OriginalIndependenceDay with a #2ndIndependenceDay TBA. We’ll know it when we see it. There will be an inflection point when RepubloFascism crumbles and American democracy, in a more fair and protected form, again becomes the beating heart of America’s greatness.
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