What a godawful mess in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Jim Jordon came up 22 Republican votes short to become Speaker of the House. Why?

The GOP rebels fit into one or more of three categories: Members of the big-spending House Appropriations Committee (“The Favor Factory”), moderate members in districts won by Joe Biden, and New York State Republicans who are obsessed with overturning a $10,000 limit on the deductibility of State and Local Taxes (SALT) on federal tax forms.

Jordan reportedly offered to double the state-and-local tax deduction cap to $20,000, but the New Yorkers held out for more.

Appropriators were an even tougher nut to crack. Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri told us that “the Appropriators lost their mind on Jim Jordan because he had the audacity to suggest a one percent cut in federal spending” – an idea we at the Hotline have long supported and which Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has been pushing.  The Hill newspaper reports that several Appropriators opposed “a plan pushed by Jordan to prevent a shutdown next month, by freezing funding through April.”

It’s pathetic that at a time when we have to start chainsawing federal agency budgets by 10% or more, a 1% cut, or even just a budget freeze at last year’s level, is seen as draconian and voted down by a handful of Republicans.