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Day-to-day: A tragic death further stretches the GOP’s razor-thin House majority
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It was 1991. The Chicago Cubs were in Chavez Ravine for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully was at the mic.
Cubs outfielder and former National League MVP Andre Dawson was out of the lineup.
«Andre Dawson has a bruised knee,» the golden-throated Scully declared to his radio congregation, tuning in from Pasadena to the San Fernando Valley. «He is listed as day-to-day.»
Then Scully paused for a moment. It was as though Scully was in deep reflection. Perhaps seized by the spirit of the national pastime in one of baseball’s most hallowed cathedrals, Dodger Stadium.
HOUSE GOP REP DOUG LAMALFA DEAD AT 65
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., died Tuesday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
«Then again, aren’t we all?» added Scully.
Aren’t we all.
You.
Me.
Andre Dawson and his knee.
The late Vin Scully.
Even late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif.
REP LAMALFA’S DEATH FURTHER SHRINKS REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY
He died this week at age 65 during emergency surgery after an aortic aneurysm.
«It really shook us,» said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., of LaMalfa’s sudden death.
The speaker said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., whose northern California district borders LaMalfa’s, called the late congressman «the kindest man I ever knew.» Johnson noted that McClintock didn’t say «one of the kindest.» But the kindest.
Seven House members have died since April 2024. The previous six were Democrats. LaMalfa is the first Republican to die since then. In fact, there’s a runoff between two Democrats — Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards — in a special election to succeed late Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas. Turner died in March after only two months in office.
House Republicans have had a tenuous hold on their majority for a while now. LaMalfa’s death — coupled with Monday’s resignation of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — squeezes the GOP even further.
It’s about the math.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., resigned from Congress, leaving yet another vacancy and further thinning Republicans’ already scant majority. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Counting LaMalfa and Greene, the GOP margin shrivels to 218-213 with 431 members and four vacancies. The Republican majority thins again when either Menefee or Edwards wins the Texas special election later this month. It’s then 218-214 with 432 members and three vacancies.
The margin is four. But, on the floor, Republicans can only lose one vote and still pass something on their own without Democratic assistance. Losing two votes produces a 216-216 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House.
Word of LaMalfa’s death came as we learned that 80-year-old Rep. Jim Baird R-Ind., was in the hospital after a car accident. Baird is fine but not on Capitol Hill to vote this week.
Just how fragile is the GOP’s grip on power in the House?
«We are one flu season away from losing the majority,» said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.
By the way, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the U.S. is experiencing its worst flu season since 1997-98. The CDC just announced a new flu variant this week.
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A couple of points. The Constitution prohibits governors from appointing someone to the House. That only works in the Senate. Voters must elect House members. And control of the House of Representatives has never flipped in the middle of the Congress. The Senate has. But not the House.
It’s about the math.
«We’ve been working with a razor-thin majority since I became speaker. And, as you know, at many points in the last year, we had a one- or two-vote majority at any given moment,» said Johnson. «But this is the group that has demonstrated over and over and over and over that we defy expectations and make history.»
Conjecture still abounds around the Capitol that a few disgruntled House Republicans could resign. I asked Johnson about Burchett’s remark.
The speaker was philosophical.
«None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. None of us. We don’t know what’s going to happen. The Bible says you don’t worry about tomorrow. You focus on today,» replied Johnson. «I’m not worried about the numbers. I don’t get up in apprehension or anxiety in any day. I get up every day with hope.»
We’re all day-to-day.
So too is the House Republican majority. Things are day-to-day.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
As stated earlier, the House has never flipped in the middle of a Congress. Frankly, it’s a lot harder than the Senate. It has more people. For the House to switch control, the GOP must lose two more seats. But those seats must also be filled immediately. That doesn’t happen. Special elections take months, depending on the state.
But even at a prospective nadir of 218-214, it takes a lot to change control of the House in the middle of a Congress. Even if Republicans lost three more members, they’d still hold a 215-214 majority. Things could become very interesting if the split went to 214-214. And don’t forget, these numbers will evolve in the coming months.
There’s a special election to succeed Greene March 10. There will likely be a special election to succeed LaMalfa in the spring or summer. There’s also a special election in the spring to fulfill the term of Democratic New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who resigned from the House last year.
So, don’t count on the House switching any time soon.
HEALTHCARE, ECONOMY AND THE ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’: WELCOME TO THE MIDTERMS
But there is a historical anomaly.
Lawmakers are sworn in to begin the new Congress Jan. 3 of odd years of the election in November of the prior even year. However, the ratification of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution moved the swearing-in of the President to Jan. 20. Previously it was March 4. In those days, new Congresses began Dec. 7. Not a month after the election. But an astonishing 13 MONTHS AFTER the election.
In other words, you would have an election in November of an even year. But the institution wouldn’t seat the new Congress until December of the FOLLOWING ODD year.
And they complain about a two-month lame duck Congress now.
The 1930 midterms hit during the Great Depression and the broken administration of President Herbert Hoover. Republicans held the House majority but lost 52 seats, clinging to a narrow majority. The breakdown was 218-216 with one «Farmer-Labor» member.
However, during the 13-month interregnum before the start of the 72nd Congress in December 1931, 14 «Representatives-elect» died. Democrats won enough special elections to seize the majority, 219-213, with one third-party member. One of the casualties was even late House Speaker Nicholas Longworth, R-Ohio.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called LaMalfa a «great member of Congress.» (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
So, this wasn’t a mid-session switch. But the House would have changed hands in the middle of the Congress under the contemporary operating calendar.
Lawmakers are mourning their late colleague, Doug LaMalfa. He was beloved on both sides of the aisle. LaMalfa was the House classmate of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., both elected in 2012. Jeffries called LaMalfa a «great member of Congress» and led a moment of silence at a forum Democrats conducted about the Jan. 6 riot.
So, it’s doubtful the House could switch in mid-stream. But who knows?
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Andre Dawson was «day to day» with his knee injury.
And as Vin Scully would say, «Aren’t we all?»
congress,house of representatives politics,california,departed,politics
INTERNACIONAL
Iran covertly repositions strike drones amid Russia drills in Strait of Hormuz, expert says
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Iran repositioned strike drones and other military assets under the cover of joint drills with Russia in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday, a defense expert claimed.
In what he described as a «calculated escalation» amid rising tensions with the U.S., Cameron Chell said Iran’s latest move also followed reports of sightings of U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones with precision strike capabilities in the region.
«The Russian drills would cover for the Iranian forces to move their drones into strike position,» Chell, of defense firm Draganfly, told Fox News Digital. «They’ve gone under the veil of doing the military exercises, which happened to be along the coastline, and this is an escalation.»
UK BLOCKS TRUMP FROM USING RAF AIR BASES FOR POTENTIAL IRAN ATTACK: REPORT
Defense expert Cameron Chell has called Iran’s military moves with Russia a «calculated escalation.» (Iranian Army/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The combined exercises, reported by The Associated Press, also came as President Donald Trump pressed Iran further to make a deal to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions following indirect talks in Geneva.
«We’re going to make a deal, or we’re going to get a deal one way or the other,» Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday, signaling determination to secure an agreement.
MORNING GLORY: WHAT WILL PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP DECIDE TO DO WITH IRAN?
Iran’s latest moves reportedly follow sightings of U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, on Feb. 18, U.S. Central Command posted photos showing F/A-18 Super Hornets landing on the decks of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.
Flight-tracking data in recent days also showed U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton surveillance drones operating near Iran’s coastline.
One Triton was observed Feb. 14 and another on Feb. 18, conducting high-altitude maritime intelligence missions over the Gulf.
«The U.S. deployed an MQ Triton drone, which is a surveillance drone, so it does not have strike capability, and it typically flies at around 50,000 feet,» Chell said.
He added the drones would likely launch from land bases in countries such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar and provide real-time situational awareness to naval commanders.
TRUMP’S SPECIAL ENVOY WITKOFF AND KUSHNER VISIT US AIRCRAFT CARRIER AMID IRAN TENSIONS, TALKS
«The Russian drills would cover for the Iranian forces to move their drones into strike position,» Chell told Fox News Digital. (Iranian Army/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«These drones can guide the U.S. on Iranian forces performing exercises with the Russians and where they might be moving equipment to,» Chell said before describing how they fly them «at an altitude so that the Iranians can see it so they become a deterrent.»
Chell also said an MQ-9 Reaper drone was deployed, which he said can fly between 25,000 and 40,000 feet.
«This has strike capability, but Iranians do not have great capability to take these down,» he added.
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the second aircraft carrier Trump has sent to the Middle East, and its accompanying ships are heading across the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea.
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NATO country and U.S. ally Poland also warned its citizens Thursday to immediately flee Iran, with its prime minister saying the «possibility of a conflict is very real.»
iran,middle east,military,us navy,donald trump,ali khamenei
INTERNACIONAL
Qué leer esta semana: la desgarradora mirada de Gisèle Pelicot, cómo manejar el cortisol y el verdadero “Cumbres borrascosas” (gratis)
Leer es mirar a los otros y, siempre, mirarse. Entre las propuestas de esta semana, destacan Un himno a la vida de Gisèle Pelicot, una crónica testimonial que narra cómo la autora enfrentó el descubrimiento de un horror oculto en su propio hogar. A través de su relato, Pelicot expone la violencia sufrida y el proceso de reconstrucción personal, en un testimonio que busca trasladar la vergüenza al lugar correcto. La versión digital de este libro ya está disponible, y su llegada a librerías físicas está prevista para el 1° de marzo.
Junto a este título aparece una nueva oportunidad para leer o revisitar Cumbres borrascosas, la clásica novela de Emily Brontë, cuya adaptación cinematográfica reciente ha renovado el interés y el debate sobre su vigencia y complejidad. La obra explora las pasiones humanas, el resentimiento y las consecuencias del orgullo, manteniéndose como un referente literario que ahora se puede explorar fácilmente en formato digital.
A esta lista se suma Cortisol, la hormona que lo cambia todo, de Martha Bolívar, que invita a repensar el papel del cortisol en la salud integral. El libro combina divulgación y herramientas prácticas para comprender cómo el estrés impacta en el metabolismo y propone estrategias para la autorregulación.
Es conmovedor el arranque de Un himno a la vida, el libro donde Gisele Pelicot cuenta qué pasó con ella, la mujer a la que su marido, su buen marido de siempre, drogó e hizo violar por una cantidad de hombres durante diez años. Empieza así:
“Siempre dejo puesta la mesa del desayuno la noche anterior. Coloco las tazas, los platos, los cubiertos y las servilletas, y después la miel y los botes de mermelada. Es como saltarme la noche, que siempre temo, y decretar la armonía del día siguiente. Solo habrá que sacar la mantequilla, encender el hervidor de agua y dejar que suban los aromas del café y del pan tostándose. Todo irá bien.
Así que esa noche lo había preparado todo. Incluso había sacado la ropa de Dominique. Llamémosle Dominique. Yo nunca lo llamaba así, prefería la ternura de los diminutivos, Doumé, Mino, y después ya no supe cómo llamarlo. Lo llamé señor. Señor Pelicot. Para escribir nuestra historia elijo su nombre de pila. Yo había dejado listo su pantalón de pana verde botella y el polo Lacoste rosa que le habían regalado nuestros hijos. La mañana siguiente debíamos presentarnos en la comisaría.»
Cincuenta años habían vivido juntos, tenían tres hijos. Así que ella fue tranquila a la comisaría cuando la llamaron, fue calmándolo a él, a quien habían encontrado filmando bajo las polleras de unas chicas en un centro comercial. Un matrimonio de mucho tiempo, una confianza sólida, ¿qué le podía hacer el mundo?
En la comisaría le preguntaron cómo era el marido. Ella contestó con solvencia: “Un hombre bueno y amable. Un tipo genial, por eso seguimos juntos”.
Y ahí vino el mazazo. El policía la miró de frente y dijo: “Voy a mostrarle fotos y vídeos que no van a gustarle”.
No, no no le gustó. Más bien, no creyó cuando le dijeron que era ella. “Una mujer con liguero está acostada de lado. Un hombre negro tumbado detrás de ella la penetra”.
Pero sí, era ella. Y después de esa foto había otra, otro hombre. Y otra, y otra, y otra.
La vergüenza cambió de lado
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Estas imágenes fueron sólo el comienzo de un horror que terminó con él preso pero que no va a terminar jamás. Un horror en el que Gisèle Pelicot levantó la cabeza, miró de frente y dijo la frase que marcaría un rumbo: “La vergüenza tiene que cambiar de lado”.
Un libro imprescindible, que ya se puede leer en formato digital y llegará las librerías el 1° de marzo.
Y, es una tentación leer -o releer- el texto original de Cumbres Borrascosas, a partir del estreno de la película sobre esta novela que dirigió Emerald Fennell y que se acaba de estrenar. Más todavía, por la polémica que generó: opinaron en contra gente como la escritora Mariana Enriquez y la crítica Flavia Pittella. La novelista estadounidense Joyce Carol Oates postuló que la novela es de una complejidad que los lectores de hoy no pueden abordar. Que está mal, que está bien la película suscitó pasión. Pero ¿es fiel al original dentro de los límites razonables de una adaptación?
Cumbres borrascosas
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Brevemente, la novela narra la relación tormentosa entre Heathcliff, un huérfano adoptado por la familia Earnshaw, y Catherine Earnshaw, quien lo ama profundamente pero decide casarse con Edgar Linton para asegurar una posición social más alta. Humillado y herido, Heathcliff desaparece y regresa años después convertido en un hombre rico, decidido a vengarse de quienes lo despreciaron.
Su resentimiento destruye a las dos familias —los Earnshaw y los Linton— y afecta incluso a la siguiente generación.
Ambientada en los páramos sombríos de Yorkshire, la novela explora el amor pasional, el orgullo, la clase social y las consecuencias devastadoras del rencor.
“El cortisol no es el villano: es el mensajero que nos alerta cuando algo en nuestro entorno o en nuestra mente nos está sobrepasando”, afirma Martha Bolívar en su nuevo libro, donde redefine el papel de esta hormona en la salud metabólica desde la psiconeuroinmunología.
La autora desafía la visión clásica del cortisol como amenaza y plantea que el verdadero riesgo aparece cuando su presencia se vuelve persistente por la presión cotidiana. Bolívar analiza cómo hábitos como la autoexigencia, la exposición constante a pantallas y la falta de descanso alteran el ritmo natural del cortisol y desencadenan síntomas físicos: fatiga, insomnio, aumento de peso, inflamación y baja inmunidad.
Cortisol: la hormona que lo cambia todo
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La obra propone identificar estresores personales y comprender el eje hipotálamo-hipófisis-adrenal para diseñar estrategias de regulación individual. Bolívar sostiene que “el abordaje no es solo nutricional, sino integral, para devolverle al cuerpo su capacidad de autorregulación”.
A lo largo de sus páginas, Bolívar expone ejemplos de consultas clínicas en las que los síntomas metabólicos tenían como origen un estrés sostenido y poco reconocido. Explica, además, que el diagnóstico tradicional suele centrarse en la alimentación o el ejercicio, sin considerar el impacto de la activación crónica del eje del estrés.
El libro ofrece herramientas para que el lector aprenda a observar y modificar sus propios patrones de respuesta, priorizando el autocuidado y la gestión consciente de las demandas diarias.
Con un enfoque práctico, el libro orienta al lector a reconocer señales de sobrecarga y prevenir el impacto del estrés antes de que se traduzca en enfermedad, invitando a repensar la relación entre mente, cuerpo y metabolismo.
qué leer
INTERNACIONAL
Red state auditor’s report flags Democratic governor’s ‘concerning’ spending on ‘luxury’ expenditures
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Kentucky’s Republican auditor Allison Ball spoke to Fox News Digital this week about a report she put out flagging concerns about lavish spending in the state’s executive branch headed up by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who is widely believed to have presidential ambitions down the road.
Ball issued a report earlier this month outlining spending by the executive branch in fiscal year 2025 entered into the state’s system and flagging issues she believes demonstrate extravagant spending of tax dollars that «needs to stop.»
The «concerning expenditures» listed include $183,576 in out-of-state travel costs, including $7,632 for a limousine in Germany; a $17,013 dinner at a Kentucky distillery; and $360,000 for 75 people to attend a two-day conference within the Commonwealth.
DEM GOVERNOR IN DEEP-RED STATE CALLS FOR ICE PULLOUT, TRIGGERING CLASH OVER ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY
«We saw some really excessive, really worrying and questionable expenditures,» Ball told Fox News Digital.
«For example, one of the things we saw is that the governor and the tourism cabinet spent about $338,000 on a nonprofit called First Saturday in May. So, for people who are not from Kentucky, the first Saturday in May is when the [Kentucky] Derby happens. So, that money actually went to events for VIPs to come in and celebrate and observe the Derby.»
Gov. Andy Beshear responded to a report from the state auditor on potentially problematic spending as «political.» (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
Ball says the spending data was all entered by the executive branch into the Commonwealth’s eMARS system, and while she understands elected officials need to spend more on security than typical citizens, she categorized much of the spending she flagged as «luxury items.»
«I absolutely think the governor needs security. We want people to be safe. We don’t want anything to happen to our elected officials,» Ball explained. «But this is the time when you look at, OK, are you spending an excessive amount? And I think $7,000 for limo services in Germany, $5,000 to navigate the airport in Switzerland, hotels like in Beverly Hills, Aspen.
«We even found an expenditure in the hundreds of dollars for something called the Caribou Club, which is a private club in Aspen. So, these expenses are essentially luxury items when you’re looking at where they’re at and the amount of money that’s being paid.»
KENTUCKY GOVERNOR TAKES HEAT FOR CITING BIBLE TO DEFEND TRANSGENDER TREATMENTS FOR CHILDREN
The Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
Fox News Digital reached out to Beshear’s office for comment but did not receive a response.
«They never asked us any questions, and you have to do that if it’s an audit report,» Beshear recently told local media. «All they did was take lines, and they didn’t ask questions because if they had gotten the answers, they couldn’t have done the political attack that it was.»
Ball said it’s «no surprise» when elected officials push back on reports like hers, «but my job is about transparency.»
Ball’s report noted $39 million in spending by the executive branch’s advertising arms in various departments, over $7 million in out-of-state travel, over $23 million on in-state travel and over $16 million in trainings, conferences, food and trade shows.
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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear attends the Clinton Global Initiative 2024 Annual Meeting at New York Hilton Midtown Sept. 24, 2024, in New York City. (John Nacion/Getty Images)
«It’s a budget year, and this is when the General Assembly is actually crafting what money they’re going to appropriate through all levers of state government. And that’s why they asked us, this is early in the process, and they wanted to know, ‘OK, what is the executive branch spending its money on?» Ball explained.
«And they specifically asked us about travel. They asked about conferences. They ask us about food and beverage because those are the things usually that can get out of control quick if you’re not paying close attention. So, we’re here just to provide information.»
Beshear told CNN last summer he was weighing a 2028 presidential bid, and many predict he would be a formidable candidate given his popularity governing as a Democrat in deep red Kentucky.
In another CNN interview Thursday, The Hill reported that Beshear said he is still weighing a run but that he won’t make a final decision until his term as governor ends in late 2017.
«We have got to do more than just beat [President] Trump,» Beshear said. «We have got to end this division. We have got to restore the American dream. We have got to bring hope back to the American people about a brighter future.»
politics,kentucky,elections
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