Trump “open” to being the next Speaker of the House – National & International News – WED 4Oct2023

Trump “open” to being the next Speaker.

75,000 healthcare workers walk out in largest healthcare strike in US history.

UN approves Kenya-led police force to combat Haiti gangs.

NATIONAL NEWS

Trump “open” to being the next Speaker

A day after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), serving as Speaker pro tempore, announced that the House would begin the process of electing a new Speaker next week. This will starting with a candidate’s forum, and two hardliners, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), have already thrown their hats in the ring. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) is also considering a run.

But another familiar name has also been floated for the job: Donald Trump. There’s never been a Speaker who wasn’t a seated member of Congress, but there’s no constitutional requirement that they have to be in Congress to be Speaker. Reps. Troy Nehls (R-TX) and Greg Steube (R-FL) have promised to nominate him next week.

Fox News Host Sean Hannity says that “President Trump might be open to helping the Republican Party, at least in the short term, if necessary”, according to his sources. Today, outside the Manhattan courthouse where he’s on trial for fraud, Trump told reporters he was “focused” on his White House run. However, he didn’t shut the door entirely on the possibility of serving a stint as Speaker. “My focus is totally on [the presidency]. If I can help them during the process, I’ll do it. But we have some great people in the Republican Party that could do a great job as speaker,” Trump said.

Whoever becomes Speaker next will have the unenviable task of wrangling quarreling factions within the House GOP, which proved McCarthy’s undoing. There will also be only a few short weeks to pass a spending bill by November 17 to avert a government shutdown.

75,000 healthcare workers walk out in largest healthcare strike in US history

Over 75,000 workers at forty Kaiser Permanente facilities in Washington State, Oregon, California, Virginia and Washington, D.C., have staged a walkout. Kaiser Permanente is nonprofit health system that includes 39 hospitals and over 600 medical facilities nationwide, serving nearly 13 million people.

Kaiser’s management failed to reach an agreement with the unions representing their workers by the time their current agreement expired on Saturday. Numerous professions were represented in the strike including nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, various medical technicians and even housekeepers. The grievance uniting all of them is chronic understaffing at all of Kaiser’s facilities. Workers say staffing shortages have caused patient care to suffer and increased overwork and burnout among providers. Despite repeated promises from management, workers say they have been permanently short-staffed since the pandemic.

Workers are also calling for wage increases, saying Kaiser’s non-competitive pay has exacerbated staffing shortages and turnover. Talks are ongoing, but the unions have accused Kaiser of bargaining in bad faith. Kaiser’s most recent offer gave little in the way of pay increases and also called for cuts to bonuses and increased outsourcing. Unions say Kaiser can afford a decent pay increase, pointing to the $24 billion in profit that the “non-profit” health chain has brought in over the last 5 years, as well as$ multi-million pay packages for executives.

Kaiser has had several weeks to prepare for the strike and has replacement staff on hand at facilities. The system’s hospitals, emergency rooms and pharmacies will remain open during the strike, which will last up to three days in some areas. However, non-emergency care at the affected facilities is likely to be delayed.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UN approves Kenya-led police force to combat gangs in Haiti

Years of political breakdown has left Haiti at the mercy of violent gangs that have brought chaos and death to the country. Over a year ago, Haiti’s acting President Ariel Henry called for an international peacekeeping force to come help restore order in Haiti. Since then, there have been few takers. The US and most European countries have shied away, citing a troubled history of foreign intervention in the country.

A few months ago, the East African country of Kenya volunteered to lead a peacekeeping force. The UN Security Council voted yesterday to approve Kenya’s leadership of the mission, which could begin later this year or early next year. Other African nations have also volunteered to contribute both personnel and resources.

Within their own country, Kenya’s police force has a troubling record of brutality and a lack of oversight and accountability.

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