It’s no surprise that Congressman Cline joined every other Republican in Congress to elect Mike Johnson of Louisiana as the new Speaker of the House.

After all Johnson, like Cline, is an election denier, a forced birth advocate and a Trump enthusiast who supports cuts in Social Security benefits.

But Cline did the right thing in 2022 when he voted for the PACT Act, which expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances.

But on the PACT Act, Mike Johnson voted NO. Democratic Congressman Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania– a Veteran– called him out on it.

It seems no Republicans are willing to do the same.

Pathetic indeed.

Apparently Congressman Cline decided he went too far when he called the majority of his House Republican colleagues cowardly Swamp creatures:

The post has vanished from his X feed. This is what you get when you click on the link:

As always, Cline Watch is pleased to preserve for posterity the social media posts that Cline wants us to forget.

Congressman Cline’s desperate effort to prove that Joe Biden did something illegal and corrupt shows no sign of ending. Here’s the latest:

But here’s the mundane truth:

That’s right. Even Steve Bannon calls House Oversight Committee chair James Comer a clown.

As a pal of Jim Jordan, Congressman Cline was strong and steadfast in his support for Jordan’s bid to be Speaker of the House. Until now, he has been fairly even-tempered with his Republican colleagues who opposed Jordan. He seemed to think they could ultimately be persuaded to support the hard-right Republican congressman.

He said, “I would never call my [Republican] colleagues silly for supporting somebody else.”

But after Jordan lost a third rollcall vote, and 112 House Republicans voted in secret to revoke his nomination as their candidate for Speaker, Cline let loose.

That is, Cline is accusing a majority of his fellow House Republicans of being cowardly denizens of the Swamp.

But at least he’s not calling them silly.

Shortly after the November 2020 election, in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump, Congressman Cline posted this on his campaign Facebook page:

Strangely, it disappeared from Cline’s Facebook feed, but thanks to the magic of screen capture, it’s part of the permanent record.

So here is the latest on Ben Cline’s friend whom he was proud to support:

Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell pleaded guilty Thursday morning in the Georgia election interference case just a day before jury selection in her trial alongside co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro was set to begin.

Powell pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit election interference in Fulton County Superior Court as part of a deal reached with prosecutors.

Powell agreed to serve six years of probation and pay a $6,000 fine and $2,700 in restitution to the state of Georgia. She also agreed to submit an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia and to testify at related court proceedings.

Perhaps Cline should choose his friends more wisely.

Of course.

Why wouldn’t Congressman Cline support the uncompromisingly hard-right, subpoena-dodging, election-denying, credibly-accused, Trump-defending Jim Jordan for House Speaker?

In recent weeks Congressman Cline repeatedly claimed that nobody wanted a federal government shutdown. (In fact, the Republican congressman for our neighboring district made plain that he did want a shutdown).

But when Cline had a chance on Saturday to vote to prevent a shutdown for at least 45 days, he joined 89 other House Republicans to vote NO.

(The bill to avert the shutdown passed with overwhelming Democratic support in the House and the Senate and was signed by President Biden.)

Unlike Cline, Sen. Tim Kaine worked hard to prevent a shutdown because he understood it would have grave consequences for people throughout Virginia– including Cline’s Sixth Congressional District, which includes most of Shenandoah National Park.

Ben Cline was willing to sacrifice the economic health of his constituents to suit his rightwing Freedom Caucus agenda.

Congressman Cline just can’t quit self-styled Leninist Steve Bannon.

Seven months after his last appearance, Cline was again a guest on Bannon’s conspiracy-friendly podcast “War Room.”

Cline stuck close to his far-right Freedom Caucus talking points.

Once again there was the irony of Cline complaining about the Biden administration’s alleged lack of cooperation with Congressional committees while on a podcast hosted by a man who was sentenced to four months in prison and a $6,500 fine after he was convicted for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Bannon is free pending appeal.)

Once again there were the reflexive digs at Nancy Pelosi (who is no longer in a leadership position in the House of Representatives) and complaints about “woke and weaponized” government.

To avoid a government shutdown which Freedom Caucus members are threatening, Cline said, the Commerce Department, the Education Department and the Labor Department “need to be defunded just a lot.” Someone needs to ask him what he means by “just a lot” and which programs need to be defunded.

On Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s announcement of an impeachment inquiry on President Biden, Cline claimed that the evidence of criminality by Biden is “overwhelming.”

But as CNN reported after fact-checking McCarthy’s claims: “House Republicans have not presented any proof that Joe Biden ever profited off his son’s business deals or was influenced while in office by his son’s business dealings.” Even many of Cline’s fellow Republicans in the Senate think it’s a bad idea.

Here is Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro talking about Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville’s hold on military promotions:

“For someone who was born in a communist country, I would have never imagined that actually one of our own senators would actually be aiding and abetting communists and other autocratic regimes around the world,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro — a Cuban-born Navy veteran — said Tuesday during an interview on CNN alongside Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.

“This is having a real negative impact and will continue to have a real negative impact on our combat readiness,” Del Toro added.

Tuberville’s eight-month hold has forced more than 300 officers to extend their current tours or be sent on temporary assignments to wait out the blockade, according to the Pentagon. It’s also stifled any movement up the ranks for junior officers, freezing the status of even more military members and leaving military families in limbo.

Despite criticism from members of his own party, Tuberville has pledged not to back down until the Pentagon overturns its new policy of reimbursing service members who travel to another state to obtain abortions and other reproductive care.

None of that criticism is coming from Congressman Cline, who in March– obviously inspired by Tuberville– demanded that no funds be used for military officers “until the Biden Administration reverses its agenda of making the Pentagon and the Department of Defense an abortion facilitator.”

I’m willing to take Secretary Del Toro’s word for it: Tuberville– who never served in the military– is willing to aid and abet communists to serve his pro-forced birth agenda. And given the identical position of Cline (who also never served), we can draw our own conclusions about him.

No, Congressman Cline. “They” are not coming for our ceiling fans. “They” are not coming for our cars or our gas stoves either.

In accordance with the law, the Department of Energy is proposing energy efficiency standards that would take effect in 2028 for new ceiling fans. These standards “would save hardworking taxpayers up to $369 million per year, while substantially reducing harmful air pollution” according to a DoE spokesman.

“We are not coming for your ceiling fans. Has anyone lost their gas stove yet?” Florida State Representative and Democrat Jared Moskowitz posted.