Morning Wire XX
[0] After three days of voting, the House of Representatives still has not elected a speaker.
[1] What's causing the gridlock within the GOP?
[2] And is there any hope of it breaking?
[3] I'm Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[4] It's Friday, January 6th, and this is Morning Wire.
[5] Several investment banks who boycott fossil fuel companies may find themselves out in the cold in several states.
[6] We have details on the growing backlash against ESG investing.
[7] And Buffalo Bill's player, Damar Hamlin, appears to be on track to make a miraculous recovery.
[8] We know that he's home, and that it appears that all the cylinders are firing when it's in his brain.
[9] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[10] Stay tuned.
[11] We have the news you need to know.
[12] Man, are you feeling less like your old self these days?
[13] Well, now there's something you can do about it.
[14] Nugentics Total T testosterone booster safely boosts free and total testosterone for better results in and out of the gym.
[15] No stimulants, no fillers, no watered down ingredients.
[16] Get a complimentary bottle of Nugentics Total Tea when you text Wire to 231 -2 -3 -1.
[17] Text now and you'll get a bottle of Nugentics Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator, absolutely free.
[18] Text Wire to 231 -2 -3 -1.
[19] Again, that's Wire to 231 -2 -3 -1.
[20] On Thursday, Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy once again failed to secure the votes necessary to become Speaker of the House, prolonging the longest such stalemate in a century.
[21] Here, the latest on the Speaker Power Struggle is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips.
[22] Cabot, a lot to get to catch us up to speed here, if you could.
[23] Absolutely.
[24] So on Tuesday, the new Congress officially convened for the first time, and their first order of business was to elect a speaker.
[25] By rule, nothing else can happen until that gets done.
[26] Committee assignments can't be handed out.
[27] Laws can't be voted on.
[28] Members can't even be sworn in.
[29] Nothing can happen.
[30] Now, usually the vote for speaker is nothing more than a boring procedural statement.
[31] step.
[32] But on Tuesday, after the first round of voting, no one had the 218 votes necessary, meaning for the first time since 1923, there would be multiple votes held for speaker.
[33] And that was really just the start of the chaos.
[34] Yes, it was, John.
[35] Because the Republican majority in the House is so slim, the presumptive speaker pick, Kevin McCarthy, could only afford to lose four Republican votes.
[36] Now, coming into the week, it was thought there would be at least four, maybe a dozen or so members who would support someone other than McCarthy.
[37] But after the first round, it ended up being 19 members.
[38] And by the third round, it was up to 20, with Florida rep Byron Donald's, the first member to switch to someone else after initially supporting McCarthy.
[39] And after that, Donald's himself actually became the anti -McCarthy nominee, though by the eighth ballot, GOP holdouts for casting their votes elsewhere.
[40] Florida's Matt Gates, for example, nominated someone who wasn't even a member of Congress.
[41] Gates.
[42] Donald John Trump.
[43] Trump.
[44] Anyone can technically be voted Speaker of the House.
[45] So what's causing the divide right now?
[46] Well, the anti -McCarthy Republicans essentially feel he's not conservative enough for the position.
[47] That faction, whose most vocal leaders right now are Florida's Matt Gates, Colorado's Lauren Bovert, and Texas Chip Roy say that he's an establishment Republican who will simply preserve the status quo in Congress.
[48] They feel he hasn't done enough to actually earn their support, and they say he's threatened to strip members of their committee positions if they don't support him.
[49] On that note, here's Lauren Bovert speaking to The Daily Wire's Michael Knowles.
[50] He stood up and said, your district elects you, your conference elects what committee you are assigned to.
[51] And so trust is broken.
[52] As it stands for me, I am a no on Kevin.
[53] And there are too many others who are there who don't allow him to get to 218.
[54] He doesn't have the numbers, Michael.
[55] Now, McCarthy supporters say that Republican holdouts are simply looking for attention and trying to tear down McCarthy without actually offering a solution.
[56] To that point, Texas representative Dan Crenshaw made waves by referring to them as terrorists.
[57] Yeah, that line caused us to her.
[58] Yeah, getting contentious.
[59] So what comes next?
[60] Well, given that this is already a once -in -a -century shake -up, trying to predict what comes next is obviously very difficult.
[61] There are a few possible outcomes, though.
[62] First, and probably the simplest, is that McCarthy is able to win over enough of the current holdouts and get to 218.
[63] He's reportedly had meetings with a group and is considering offering them spots on powerful committees.
[64] He promised them a vote on term limit.
[65] something hardline conservatives have long wanted, and even supported the idea of making it easier for a small group of members to call for a vote to remove the speaker.
[66] So making his position more precarious.
[67] Exactly.
[68] And if that doesn't happen, and he's not able to win over those members, McCarthy could step aside and allow another member at the chance to try and woo those 20 or so holdouts.
[69] From what we're hearing, the most likely member to step up would be Louisiana's Steve Scalise, but we could also see New York's Elise, or North Carolina's Patrick McHenry.
[70] There's also the slim possibility that McCarthy tries to work out a deal with moderate Democrats, where he would offer concessions like committee chairs in exchange for support on the speaker vote.
[71] That's not very likely, but again, it could happen.
[72] We just do not know where this is going to head from here or just how long this battle will rage on.
[73] Well, we knew a split Congress could result in some gridlock, but I think most people didn't expect inner party gridlock like this.
[74] Kappa, thanks for reporting.
[75] Anytime.
[76] That was Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[77] Coming up, another state warns financial firms to drop woke policies, or lose their business.
[78] Hey guys, producer Brandon here.
[79] It can be tough to stick to your New Year's resolutions, but here's one you can accomplish today.
[80] Complete your will with Epicwill.
[81] For just $119 and in as little as five minutes, Epicwill can help you create your last will in testament, living will, and even healthcare power of attorney.
[82] Their step -by -step online form makes it incredibly easy.
[83] All you have to do is fill in the blanks.
[84] Go to Epicwill .com and use promo code wire to save 10 % on your complete will package.
[85] That's epicwill .com promo code wire.
[86] Political leaders in Kentucky are warning 11 major financial firms that they could pull the state's public funds over, quote, woke investing practices.
[87] In particular, Kentucky wants the banks to stop boycotting energy investments.
[88] Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham joins us with the details.
[89] So, Megan, first off, what investment practices are Kentucky lawmakers labeling as woke?
[90] Well, you know, when they say woke investments, you need to think of sort of a shorthand for investment moves that are motivated by politically progressive ideals rather than their fiduciary duty to investors.
[91] So in this case, Kentucky is unhappy with decisions these financial firms are making because of the E in ESG, and that stands for environmental.
[92] Kentucky state treasurer Alison Ball said that after a review, the state found 11 firms that are actively boycotting energy stocks.
[93] And those asset managers included Black Rock, which is, of course, biggest in the world, along with J .P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup.
[94] And given that fossil fuel accounts for a significant portion of Kentucky's economy, Ball said the state plans to start divesting public pension funds away from those firms if they don't stop penalizing the energy companies.
[95] So the lawmakers are concerned that public pension fund money is being wielded by these banks possibly to further political goals.
[96] Yeah, exactly.
[97] Now, how have the banks responded to this?
[98] You know, they're not saying much.
[99] So far, only Black Rock has responded.
[100] And in that case, BlackRock said it doesn't discriminate against fossil fuel companies for political reasons.
[101] And it touted its investments in ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum.
[102] That's a little disingenuous, given that Black Rock was instrumental in 2021 in using its proxy voting power to oust three members of ExxonMobil's board.
[103] And those members were then replaced by candidates that were backed by an environmental activist hedge fund.
[104] Strive Asset Management founder Vivek Ramoswamy told me that BlackRock is trying to distance itself from ESG, but really it's just using different terminology.
[105] Just a couple of months ago said they're not going to talk about ESG so much.
[106] They're going to shift the language to sustainability.
[107] What word do you use matters less than the essential principle itself, which is that what you see today is large financial institutions are using other people's money to cultivate the appearance of virtue in which.
[108] ways that work to their own personal political and financial benefit.
[109] So there's a rebrand of ESG happening.
[110] Yeah, exactly.
[111] But the problem is ESG has forced these firms into a position where they've kind of now antagonized all sides of the political aisle.
[112] So critics on the left complain that it's just become a marketing gimmick.
[113] You'll hear that from Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York City's comptroller, Brad Lander.
[114] Both of them have slammed big asset managers for not going to.
[115] far enough in environmental investing.
[116] But then critics on the right claim that it's an end run around the political process.
[117] And they say these firms are trying to use the market to accomplish what they can't achieve at the ballot box.
[118] So really, the backlash all around is starting to reach a fever pitch.
[119] Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee recently issued a report saying that the big three investment firms, that's Black Rock, Vanguard, and State Street are, quote, proudly using the voting power gained from their investors' money to advance liberal social goals.
[120] And ultimately, the money they're managing does belong to clients.
[121] So if customers, like Kentucky and Texas, are unhappy with how their funds are being invested, it's reasonable to expect that they could decide to take it elsewhere.
[122] And they're not the only states looking at doing that.
[123] Louisiana and Missouri collectively pulled $1 .5 billion in pension funds out of BlackRock in October.
[124] And then Florida pulled another $2 billion in December.
[125] And that's not to mention House Republicans now promising rigorous oversight of private sector asset firms that are politicizing capital allocations.
[126] So Kentucky is really joining what is already some fierce blowback.
[127] Well, we'll see if it has an impact.
[128] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[129] Yeah, anytime.
[130] That was Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[131] Buffalo Bill's safety, DeMarie Hamlin, is reportedly awake and alert.
[132] after spending three days in a medical coma at the University of Cincinnati Hospital.
[133] Listeners will recall that Hamlin is the Buffalo Bill safety who went into cardiac arrest on the field on Monday during an NFL game after sustaining a blow to the chest.
[134] Joining us to discuss as Crane & Company co -host, David Cohn.
[135] So, David, some promising news here.
[136] What is Hamlin's status?
[137] It is very promising, John.
[138] The first update came yesterday from the Buffalo Bill's organization, and they released a statement saying that Hamlin had shown remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours and while still critically ill has demonstrated to be neurologically intact, unquote.
[139] That's huge.
[140] And less than two hours later, physicians at the University of Cincinnati Health inform the public that DeMarre had opened his eyes, was gripping the hands of loved ones, was even communicative through writing, you know, still not able to speak right now, but through writing, asking doctors if the bills won the football game.
[141] This is University of Cincinnati, Dr. Timothy Pritz, and Dr. William Knight speaking yesterday.
[142] When he asked, did we win, the answer is, yes, you know, Damari, you won, you've won the game of life.
[143] And that's probably the most important thing out of this.
[144] We really need to keep him at the center of everything else is going on.
[145] And we really want to ensure a good outcome for you.
[146] Oh, man, just an incredible quote there.
[147] Obviously, Hamlin is extremely lucky to be alive.
[148] What is his prognosis at this point?
[149] Well, the doctors sounded hopeful, as did family members who spoke on Wednesday.
[150] He has a lot of factors in his favor, John.
[151] Here's the doctor speaking about the fast medical response Thursday.
[152] I think it just speaks really to the immediate recognition that there was something significantly and seriously wrong by the bill's medical staff.
[153] We cannot credit their team enough.
[154] What they did was immediately marshaled the emergency action plan, meaning the emergency medicine services.
[155] That prompted the airway physician, the emergency physician that was out on the field to be at his bedside in less than a minute.
[156] As was mentioned in the press conference, he received immediate world -class medical attention right on the field, and that was huge here.
[157] That included high -quality CPR and defibrillation.
[158] He also had medical doctors on site as well as a respiratory therapist right on the sidelines when this catastrophe happened.
[159] As for prognosis, doctors have not revealed the cause of the event and without that information it's hard to know how serious it will be but the fact that he is awake and alert is extremely good news and you know another good thing is when asked what the best possible outcome could be for damar hamlin at this point the doctor's response quoting the best possible outcome is for demar to be the person he was before this happened as for the far less important question of the game it was postponed when hamlin left the field.
[160] Will the league reschedule?
[161] How is the NFL handling this?
[162] Another announcement came shortly after yesterday.
[163] The NFL will not resume the game between the bills and the Bengals.
[164] This comes from two people familiar with the decision.
[165] They told this to the Associated Press, and they did so on the condition of anonymity because the league is still figuring out how to determine the playoff seating.
[166] Keep in mind, the NFL Players Association must approve any of these changes.
[167] But this game did have.
[168] have major playoff implications.
[169] Buffalo was 12 and 3.
[170] They entered Monday night needing a win in order to maintain the AFC's number one seed, which would give them home field advantage.
[171] The Kansas City Chiefs currently hold that spot.
[172] And their opponent in that game, the Bengals, had a chance to earn that top seating.
[173] This news will likely put an end to that opportunity.
[174] I will stay up to date on the NFL's decision regarding any of the playoff seating.
[175] but the most important news coming out of this week is that Damar Hamlin is alert and communicating with his loved ones.
[176] Yeah, well said.
[177] Well, thanks for the reporting, David.
[178] Thank you.
[179] That was Crane Company co -host, David Cohn.
[180] Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
[181] We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
[182] If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five -star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
[183] Well, that's all the time we've got this morning.
[184] Thanks for waking up with us.
[185] We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.