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Another rat flees the sinking ship.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kevin-kiley-leaves-republican-party-becomes-independent/
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malaise
(295,285 posts)Rep. Kevin Kiley of California said Monday he was immediately leaving the Republican Party to become an independent.
"I'm also today asking the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives to have that reflected in the official roster," Kiley said in a call with reporters.
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217 to 214, three vacancies and 1 independent.
IMPEACHMENT is coming sooner than he thinks.
Cattledog
(6,654 posts)This is just because of redistricting. Let's see how he votes.
malaise
(295,285 posts)so he can’t be trusted 😀
Javaman
(65,610 posts)that's all this is about.
Rec
GoCubsGo
(34,869 posts)His district was re-drawn, and now leans Democratic. I can't see the switch doing anything other than splitting the vote with the GOP candidate.
Lovie777
(22,752 posts)his district was somewhat changed, therefore running Indy he would have a better shot of winning.
At heart, he's still a ugly republican and a ass kisser for shithole.
no_hypocrisy
(54,763 posts)
jfz9580m
(16,895 posts)I hate it when these players (i.e. not ordinary voter/actor types who undergo the slow and organic process of human evolution where your mind changes and starts to genuinely feel more enlightened or civilized as opposed to these cynical and disgraceful scrambles) turn just when they realize their rears are also on the line and then come and throw their weight around with people who never backed or exploited any shady shit and bore the brunt of it and then want to hog and corrupt other spaces.
I saw it put in a way I really liked in an article about Peter Putnam who I really hope is not a Comrade Ogilvy made up by net destroying types filling the net with 3-Body alien and 1984 style bs. I have very recently become slightly warier of the net. Not very but..lots of these creeps who use deception or Facebook emotion contagion style experimentation and with ai and algorithms as I can now see giving the net a weird schizophrenic feel (apophenia, delusions of references ..engineered coincidences due to all this trash ai talking to other ai..those things are detestable…they have this thing in Guildea like mindless persistence..the companies that polluted spaces beyond a threshold that cannot be considered the web should face criminal penalties):
https://nautil.us/finding-peter-putnam-1218035
That really struck me and stayed with me from the time I read it a few months ago, though now it seems from another lifetime.
no_hypocrisy
(54,763 posts)
BlueWaveNeverEnd
(13,917 posts)Rep. Kevin Kiley of California said Monday he was immediately leaving the Republican Party to become an independent.
"I'm also today asking the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives to have that reflected in the official roster," Kiley said in a call with reporters.
The move complicates House Speaker Mike Johnson's narrow majority, though Kiley said he plans to caucus with the Republican Party "for the remainder of this term."
LetMyPeopleVote
(178,624 posts)With Rep. Kevin Kiley going independent, the House GOP majority is down to 217 votes — in a chamber where 218 is a majority.
When 2026 got underway, there were 220 House Republicans.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-09T20:07:33.811Z
Then MTG resigned.
Then Doug LaMalfa died unexpectedly.
Now Kevin Kiley has left the GOP to become an independent, creating a 217-214-1 chamber.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gop-member-becomes-an-independent-narrowing-the-house-republicans-edge-again
This rarefied company now numbers three. The Hill reported:
Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calif.) announced Monday that he will formally leave the Republican Party this week to become an independent. […]
‘I will be the sole independent member of the House of Representatives,’ Kiley told reporters Monday during a virtual press conference.
Kiley had already indicated that he intended to run for re-election as an independent, instead of a GOP incumbent, though there have still been questions as to his party affiliation between now and Election Day.....
At that point, the GOP had 218 House members to the Democrats’ 214, which, as a matter of legislative arithmetic, meant Republican leaders could only afford to lose one vote in any major floor fight. But with Kiley becoming an independent, the House Republican majority is now down to 217 votes — in a chamber where 218 is a majority.
To be sure, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana probably isn’t panicking, or at least not any more than usual, for the simple fact that Kiley has vowed to continue to caucus with the GOP (a necessary move to maintain his current committee assignments).
That said, Kiley will likely be looking for new ways to prove his independent bona fides in the coming weeks and months, which suggests Republican leaders shouldn’t count on his support. What’s more, as more members retire or lose primary fights, attendance is likely to make matters even more difficult for GOP leaders hoping to pass anything meaningful between now and the midterm elections.
By any fair measure, 2025 was exceedingly difficult for Johnson and his party. Every day seems to bring fresh reasons to believe 2026 will be worse.