Cross-Examination

• Jordan bows out: We may have House Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry as interim until January. Having failed to collect the necessary 217 votes needed for the speakership in Tuesday’s first floor vote, Ohio Republican and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan came up short once again on Wednesday, this time receiving just 198 votes from his GOP colleagues after having gotten 200 in the previous floor vote. The 22 House Republicans who voted against him voted instead for an array of others, including former speaker McCarthy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, former Congressman Lee Zeldin, and Jordan’s Freedom Caucus colleague Byron Donalds. One dimwitted colleague, Pennsylvania’s Mike Kelly, voted for lachrymose former speaker John Boehner, who last wielded the speaker’s gavel in 2015. Jordan opted to cancel the third scheduled vote today. Democrats in both chambers will continue to enjoy a hearty laugh at Republicans’ expense.

• Another big foreign aid package: In light of Hamas’s attack on Israel, the Biden administration is working on a major $100 billion foreign aid package. Yet of the $100 billion reportedly being considered, just $10 billion will go to Israel, while the bulk of the rest will go to Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to move it “as quickly as possible because the needs are great in both Israel and Ukraine.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, wants to make sure that it includes money for our own border — a novel idea. And, he said, “The border part of it needs to be credible.” As always, bundling more spending together is meant to attract votes — or at least make it harder to oppose.

• “Pay to Slay”: Speaking of money and Israel, the Palestinian Authority, which, as David Strom notes, “is recognized by the UN and officially recognized as the government of a Palestinian state by over 100 governments around the world,” is paying the families of “martyrs.” Ever wonder where “humanitarian” aid to the so-called Palestinians goes? Roughly $300 million annually goes to the families of jihadists killed while fighting Israel. That includes the terrorists killed during and after the latest assault.

• Semiconductor restrictions: Industrial policy is rarely made better by government regulation or interference, but there are some sectors of the economy that do have what Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo called “clear national security or human rights implications.” She’s referring to the Biden administration’s new restrictions on exporting artificial intelligence chips and manufacturing equipment to China. “The goal is the same goal that has always been,” she said, “which is to limit PRC [People’s Republic of China] access to advanced semiconductors that could fuel breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.” China is famous for intellectual property theft. Semiconductor production is hugely important for the United States, which is one of many reasons we must deter Chinese aggression in Taiwan, where a significant portion of such semiconductors are made.

• Good news: Arkansas kicks out the ChiComs: The troubling rise in American land purchases by Chinese firms has run into its first obstacle: Arkansas. The state became the first in the nation to order the divestment of a Chinese company, Syngenta Seeds, which must now get out of Arkansas. “We will make sure that every company operating in Arkansas is a friend to Arkansas and good to hard-working Arkansans,” said Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. That certainly isn’t true of Syngenta, a subsidiary of ChemChina, which is considered by the Defense Department to be a threat to the U.S. Other states are almost certain to follow Arkansas’s lead.

• Texas builds border wall with NEW Mexico: Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has prioritized his state’s southern border. How could he not? His state has borne the brunt of the intentional invasion caused by Joe Biden’s open-border policies. But it seems that Texas’s western border is also a problem, as illegals are crossing into New Mexico and then moving to El Paso. Abbott addressed that by ordering a concertina wire barrier along portions of the border with New Mexico. Democrats wasted no time decrying “harmful border stunts” instead of doing anything themselves to stop the crisis.

Headlines

• Far-left protesters with anti-Semitic group storm U.S. Capitol complex (Daily Wire)

• Biden administration announces new sanctions against Hamas (Axios)

• U.S. analysis shows Israel not responsible for hospital explosion (Reuters)

• Ilhan Omar tries to wiggle her way out of having promoted Hamas propaganda (Daily Wire) | Rashida Tlaib refuses to apologize for blaming Israel for Gaza hospital blast, attacks Biden (ABC News)

• “Truly disturbing”: John Fetterman scolds fellow progressives for buying Palestinian propaganda on hospital blast (National Review)

• Hamas terrorists likely used North Korean weapons during brutal attack on Israel (Fox News)

• Biden announces $100 million in aid that will likely go to Hamas (PJ Media)

• Top law firm rescinds job offers to Ivy League students who signed letter blaming Israel for violence (Fox News)

• A court just sentenced a man to seven months in prison for an election “prank” on social media (Not the Bee)

• Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell pleads guilty in Georgia election interference case (National Review)

• EPA takes step toward regulating small aircraft emissions (Washington Examiner)

• The housing market is so unaffordable that buyers need to make nearly $115K to afford the average home — that’s $40K more than average earnings (Fortune)

• “Transgender” fencer beats 14-time champ for women’s world title (Daily Wire)

• The FDA has approved a surprisingly cheap cancer treatment that “uses sound waves to disintegrate tumors” (Not the Bee)

• Satire: Liberals replace Star of David on “Coexist” sticker with Hamas paraglider (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.