Showtime. After his cliffhanger win of the House speaker’s job, Rep. Kevin McCarthy today faced the challenge of winning enough votes for a rules package reportedly loaded with secret deals and disproportionate power for a group of 20 conservatives.
■ The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes: “McCarthy’s concessions have stacked the crucial Rules Committee with Freedom Caucus members … unlikely to allow sane compromises to come to the floor.”
■ Journalists Noah Berlatsky and Aaron Rupar: “McCarthy set the stage for two years of inaction, chaos, and, potentially, global economic catastrophe.”
■ Columnist and ex-U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich: McCarthy’s election demonstrates that “The Trump coalition … lives on, as dangerous as ever” …
■ … a coalition that includes Illinois Rep. Mary Miller, whose website brags that she’s “the only member of Congress from Illinois to oppose every aspect of the Biden-Pelosi agenda, including the disgraceful January 6th ‘witch hunt.’”
■ In what critics might consider a Freudian slip, McCarthy’s victory speech proclaimed: “There is no obstacle this body can overcome for this nation.”
■ The Bad Lip Reading social media channel had fun adding audio to video of a tense confrontation before the final vote Friday.
Insurrection, exported. In an assault stunningly similar to that employed by Americans on Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of supporters of Brazil’s reactionary ex-President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday stormed that nation’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace.
■ Bolsonaro’s son has been meeting with Donald Trump …
■ … and Bolsonaro himself has been hanging around Florida, prompting calls for President Biden to extradite him.
‘They haven’t had a raise since before the Great Recession.’ Gov. Pritzker’s not complaining about lame-duck lawmakers’ vote to raise their own salaries.
■ Meanwhile, legislators are conflicted about assault-weapon legislation—including whether owners of such guns should be required to report serial numbers to state police.
■ Pritzker and House Speaker Chris Welch say failure to do that would unacceptably water down the bill.
■ A Florida Virginia 6-year-old who shot a 25-year-old teacher Friday was the 17th student under the age of 10 involved in a school shooting since 1970.
Pritzker’s next act. The governor was be sworn in for another term today.
■ Cheering on the state’s moderate Republicans, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin—who’d previously announced plans to give up that role—is quitting the General Assembly altogether.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a Square advertiser.
Sidewalk savings. Hey Chicago explains how residents can save hundreds of dollars on sidewalk repairs subsidized by the city.
■ Milwaukee Avenue through Logan Square is in line for new zoning protections.
Apology. Friday’s Chicago Public Square carried a bad (private Facebook) link for the item revisiting an online video chat among Chicago-based political commentators—including your columnist—convened by now-Axios Chicago author Justin Kaufmann as the Capitol riot unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021. Fixed now.
■ Thanks to reader Mike Dessimoz for flagging the problem.
■ Sheila Solomon made this edition better.
■ And here’s one of the first things to have appeared there.