Sarenium wrote:Imperial Esplanade wrote:I'm deciding I will port over Emily Davenport, make her operate out of California as she was previously and merely editing out her character to make it applicable for this roleplay, as well as creating an establishment-heavy Democratic Senator from Connecticut, and likely a Tea Party/Wolfist Republican from Georgia. It'll take some time for me to flesh them out, but I am going to be active this time around, I hope.
Welcome back bestie <3
Greater Arab State wrote:(
Image)
Character Information Sheet
NS Nation Name: Greater Arab State
Character Name: Thomas Volker
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 58
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 196 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2021-Present), House Minority Leader (2019-2021), Leader of the House Republican Conference (2019-Present), House Majority Whip (2015-2019), Chair of the Tea Party Caucus (2010-2015), Chair of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (2005-2007), Representative for Missouri’s 8th Congressional District (1995-Present), Representative for the 145th District of the Missouri House (1989-1995)
Appearance: (
Image)
Character State of Origin: Missouri
Character State of Residence: Missouri
Character Party Affiliation: Republican (1976-Present)
Main Strengths: Knows where the bodies are buried, strong support in supporting downballot candidates, viewed positively by Wolfists on account of his unflinching support for the 45th President.
Main Weaknesses: Controversial on account of his early career and primary endorsements, has an uncertain level of influence with the new administration, weak on economic policy, finds himself with a tenuous majority.
Biography:
Thomas Volker was born on the 22nd of December 1962 in the small town of Leopold, Missouri. The firstborn of Rudolf Volker (1938-Present), a then-Captain serving in the United States Army and Grace Volker (née Dare) (1940-Present), Thomas enjoyed a comfortable upbringing steeped in discipline and a strong emphasis on the family’s Lutheran faith, unusual in the largely Catholic community of Leopold.
Academically, the sole Volker son performed well, albeit not to any extent significant from that of his peers. Politically, Thomas’ convictions, naturally Conservative due to his upbringing, were firmly consolidated by the influence of his maternal grandfather, a retired attorney who whilst studying at the Washington University in St Louis’ Law School, led the University’s chapter of the America First Committee, and who was currently serving the first of two terms as Prosecuting Attorney for Bollinger County after his election in 1960. This culminated in Thomas joining the Republican Party at the earliest date he could. It was also during his schooling that the young Volker met Torrie Barnes, who had recently arrived to the state. The two developed a close relationship, culminating in marriage in 1985.
After graduating high school in 1981, Thomas proceeded to study Political Science with a minor in Legal Studies at Washington University in St Louis, where he continued to show a strong academic performance whilst also actively involving himself in the university’s College Republicans, during which he secured an internship with then-White House Communications Director (Not-Pat Buchanan) in the months prior to his graduation in 1985, enabling the Missourian to develop a nascent political network within the conservative movement. After graduating, Thomas enrolled in the University’s School of Law, studying a joint JD/LLM in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, where he was noted for being particularly skilled in terms of preparation during mock trials, a matter which the law student used to compensate for what was generally an otherwise dull presentation.
Having graduated in 1987, Thomas found work at the small law practice which counted amongst its founding partners his late grandfather. Although the work the young attorney took on was for the most part unremarkable, it enabled Thomas to network further within his little corner of southeastern Missouri, something which would prove a substantial benefit within the next year.
Come 1988, the incumbent Republican State Representative for the 145th District was term-limited, thus leaving the seat open. Seeing his opportunity, Thomas ran for the Republican primary, emphasising his social conservative credentials as well as the commitment to moral standards shown during his time in private practice. After winning the Republican primary with 46% of the vote, Volker easily won the general election.
Representative Volker’s tenure in the Missouri State House was one that saw attention drawn to the freshman, largely as a result of the Republicans being in a minority throughout his time in Jefferson City. Nevertheless, Thomas was able to achieve some legislative success through sponsoring a bill seeking to strengthen community banks by cutting regulation on them at the state level, with the bill being signed by Governor (Not-John Ashcroft) in 1991. However, the State Representative garnered some controversy in the state after endorsing the insurgent campaign of his mentor (Not-Pat Buchanan).
As 1994 approached, and now in his own third term, Thomas Volker announced his campaign for Missouri’s 8th Congressional District after (Not-Bill Emerson) declined to run for another term. Running as a “trade-sceptical” conservative, and emphasising his own credentials on family values, State Representative Volker handily won the primary with 53% of the vote. Despite now being the Representative-Elect in all but name, Thomas continued to run an active campaign during the general election, emphasising his conservative credentials on family values and law and order in traditionally Republican areas whilst at the same time using his “trade-sceptic conservatism” in an attempt win over traditionally Democratic and union voters in the Lead Belt region. And so, Thomas Volker was duly elected to represent the 8th Congressional District of Missouri with 64% of the vote, a narrow gain from that won by his predecessor in the previous cycle.
His freshman term in the House saw Congressman Volker draw little attention initially, with him regularly voting the party line on legislation. However, that changed when the Missourian endorsed (Not-Pat Buchanan)‘s primary campaign in 1996. Thomas’ stumping for the candidate within his district enabled his ally and mentor to win the states delegates. Nevertheless, Volker’s support for the candidate would prove to be troublesome after his endorse dropped out during the convention, leaving the freshman Congressman to deal with a displeased House leadership.
As a consequence of his support for the insurgent candidate, Thomas was denied a seat on the House Judiciary Committee and was instead placed at what was perhaps the worst place for an ambitious legislator to find themselves, the House Administration Committee. Nevertheless, Congressman took to his committee assignment as well as one could with such a committee, whilst also working his way back into favour with the GOP leadership by doing the rounds of news outlets during the impeachment of (Not-Bill Clinton) in which he defended the impeachment on the grounds of the presidency requiring only those individuals with the “highest moral fortitude and sense of public service, capable of representing the fundamental values and hopes of the American people”. As the new millennium, and with them, a new set of primaries, drew in, Volker’s chance finally came.
Despite initially endorsing (Not-Gary Bauer) out of a sense of conviction, Thomas endorsed the campaign of (Not-George W. Bush) following the results of the New Hampshire primary and actively stumped for the Governor during both the primary and general elections. Finding himself now in favour, Thomas was moved up from the Administration Committee to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, where the Missourian was able to apply his own emphasis on morality within Congress. However, his new found favour was overshadowed by the beginning of the War on Terror in response to the attack against the United States on September 11th 2001. Despite his scepticism towards foreign interventions, Thomas was for the most part supportive of US troop deployments in both Afghanistan and later, Iraq, on the grounds that the United States was the direct victim of an attack by its enemies.
In February 2005, Representative Volker chaired the Standards of Official Conduct Committee in what would be his final term there. Despite his efforts however, the committee was unable to take effective action in a number of cases due to a boycott of its activities by the Democratic members, notably when the committee’s own Ranking Member, (Not-Jim McDermott), revealed ethics violations by former Speaker (Not-Newt Gingrich) to the press without prior authorisation. Fortunately for the Missourian, the Democrats flipping control of the House in 2006 enabled him to vacate the chair. Setting aside his committee work in Congress, Thomas now endeavoured to focus on recruiting candidates that would enable the House Republican Conference, and hopefully Congress at large to move into a more conservative direction in the long-term.
Despite seeing relatively little success at first, particularly after the Democrats increased their House majority in 2008, opportunity struck for Volker after the nascent Tea Party movement slowly started to gain steam. During this time, the Congressman proved to be a staunch ally of the movement on the Hill and became something of a regular speaker at their events. This culminated in Thomas forming and becoming the inaugural Chair of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus in the midst of the 2010 midterm campaign. During the campaign, Thomas actively recruited candidates seeking the Tea Party’s support in their primary campaigns, with many of those who the Caucus endorsed going on to win the nomination for their district and contributing to the GOP regaining control of the House.
Now that the Republican Party had once again returned to the House majority, the Tea Party Caucus, claiming that its own successes had largely driven the GOP’s triumph at the midterms, made a push at implementing its own policy. Consequently, with the announcement that (Not-Mike Pence) was standing down from the position of House Republican Conference Chair, Volker proceeded to run as his replacement in what was widely seen as a test of how the Tea Party movement’s leaders would be treated by the Republican establishment. During his candidacy, the Missourian emphasised the fact that he had successfully managed to maintain Tea Party voters within the Republican Party and therefore was well qualified to “act as a bridge between the leadership of the House Republican Conference and those who we have the utmost honour and privilege to represent.” However, Thomas was unsuccessful in his leadership campaign, being passed over during the transition into the 112th Congress. Following the failure of his candidacy, the Congressman returned his energies to managing his still embryonic caucus, being one of four sponsors on a bill that would repeal the Dodd-Frank Act. Nevertheless, as the 2012 electoral cycle slowly drew into view, Thomas Volker, a man whose ambitions of establishing the foundations of a more authentic conservatism, ran for the Republican presidential nomination.
Running on a platform that was described by most commentators as “paleoconservative” stressing a broad commitment to non interventionism as well as support for tougher policies on law and order as well as stronger precautions and enforcement against illegal immigration, notably through the strengthening of facilities on the US-Mexico border, and an expanded use of E-Verify on a federal level. Nevertheless, in spite of running an active campaign, and having won the 2011 Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, the Missourian was only able to attract 5% of the vote in the Iowa caucuses, with his campaign being suspended following similar results in both New Hampshire and South Carolina. The result itself did not come as a great shock to Thomas however, with his main aim having been to place public pressure on the GOP to adopt a tougher line of immigration and trade, as well as re-emphasise its support for family values and morality within the United States. To that end, Thomas endorsed and actively campaigned for (Not-Rick Santorum), and was considered for his running mate should he have won the Republican nomination. Despite these efforts however, the more moderate (Not-Mitt Romney) was successfully nominated as the Republican candidate for the presidency in that year, leaving Volker to tend to his own re-election campaign for the House.
The next three years proved to pass quite uneventfully for the Congressman, who spent much of the time focusing on leading the Tea Party Caucus despite its gradually declining membership, for which he was rewarded with the position of Majority Whip following the 2014 midterms. That changed however with the announcement that Arnold Wolf was running in the Republican primary and advocated for similar positions to those the Missourian had four years prior. Sensing an opportunity to place his worldview into ascendency amongst the Republican electorate, defied contemporary political wisdom and was one of the first congressional Republicans to endorse the upstart campaign, helping the insurgent candidate win a narrow victory in Missouri and gain the Republican presidential nomination. With a man who shared his ideological sympathies and worldview now leading the GOP into the general election, Volker did his utmost to ensure that the campaign would run as smoothly as possible, notably by being amongst those advising Wolf on his Vice Presidential selection, during which Thomas advocated for his predecessor as Majority Whip, Richard Tawney, for the nomination, on the grounds that selecting him would enable Wolf to hold the support of more conventional Republican voters as well as the Republican leadership on the Hill. Needless to say, Tawney was soon selected as the Republican vice presidential nominee for the 2016 election. Throughout the general election, Thomas proved to be amongst the most loyal congressional Republicans towards Wolf, consistently defending the candidate in spite of the accusations of impropriety that emerged in October. On November 9th, Thomas’ work paid off, Arnold Wolf had defied the odds and was elected as the 45th President of the United States, and with a Republican Congress to boot. It seemed as if the world was now for the Missourian’s taking, and he was going to make sure he got as much as possible.
Despite the Majority Whip’s initial hopes, the Wolf administration faced a number of difficulties implementing its legislative agenda, notably of all the repeal of the ACA, which despite passing the House faltered into the Senate. Thomas did manage however to pass through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 as well as retaining his reputation as one of the President’s staunchest allies in the House, and perhaps the most loyal in the House Republican leadership, for which he drew the ire of both the Speaker and Majority Leader. The failures to implement Wolf’s legislative agenda soon came back to haunt the House Republicans in 2018, with them losing control of the House in what would turn out to be the largest gain by Democrats since 1974. During the transition, Volker, sensing an opportunity to strengthen the hold of his particular conservatism in the Republican Party due to (Not-Paul Ryan) not running for re-election to the 116th Congress, managed to successfully oust the Majority Leader in the Conference’s vote for the new leader of the House Republican Conference on the grounds of insufficient support for the Wolf administration in implementing its legislative agenda.
The initial period of House Minority Leader Volker’s leadership saw little of note, what with no opportunity for Republican legislation passing the House. However, things heated up after President Wolf announced that he would not be running in 2020 due to a diagnosis of brain cancer, thus leaving the primary field open. Thomas remained silent regarding which of the candidates he would support for the nomination, although he did provide behind the scenes support for Governor Richardson on the grounds that it would be easier to flip the House with him at the top of the ticket. After Governor Richardson became the presumptive nominee, Volker went to work ensuring that those elements previously opposed to Richardson in the primary would support the Republican Party’s campaign in the general, thus ensuring a united front against the Democrats. This was combined with the launch of an aggressive campaign to retake the House which saw the use of candidate recruitment in a number of target districts as well as an emphasis on law and order issues in the suburbs following a number of riots by BLM caused by the death of (Nit-George Flloyd) in May. This, along with the benefit of Richardson at the top of the ballot, enabled the Republicans to over-perform expectations in the House and win a narrow majority, a mere cycle after it had been lost.
And now Thomas Volker, the Missourian who in spite of the efforts of his opponents to hold him back each step of the way, finds himself at the political summit of Capitol Hill. With a Republican President, a House that he was presiding over, and a party that was to some extent now of a similar mould to his conservatism, the Speaker has the opportunity to shape policy over the next Congress and complete the agenda of Arnold Wolf, and with 2022 edging closer and closer by the day, he finds himself facing what will be the greatest challenge of his political career up to this point.
Other Info: Devout Lutheran, resides in Leopold, Missouri with his wife of 35 years, Torrie by whom he has five children: Thomas Jr (Born September 1989), Sarah (Born April 1991), William & John (Born January 1993) and Robert (Born November 1998)
I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Greater Arab State
Do Not Remove: DRAFT84721
Ew I hate him, so he's pretty good. I kindly ask for a line or two describing his relationship with each aspect of the Republican Congressional Caucus; the last two centrist/moderate Republicans; the hundred or so mainstream Republicans, the principles warhawky conservatives who sank the initial ACA repeal bill, and finally the emerging GQP caucus of MTG.
Character Information Sheet
NS Nation Name: Greater Arab State
Character Name: Thomas Volker
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 58
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 196 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2021-Present), House Minority Leader (2019-2021), Leader of the House Republican Conference (2019-Present), House Majority Whip (2015-2019), Chair of the Tea Party Caucus (2010-2015), Chair of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (2005-2007), Representative for Missouri’s 8th Congressional District (1995-Present), Representative for the 145th District of the Missouri House (1989-1995)
Appearance:
Character State of Origin: Missouri
Character State of Residence: Missouri
Character Party Affiliation: Republican (1976-Present)
Main Strengths: Knows where the bodies are buried, strong support in supporting downballot candidates, viewed positively by Wolfists on account of his unflinching support for the 45th President.
Main Weaknesses: Controversial on account of his early career and primary endorsements, has an uncertain level of influence with the new administration, weak on economic policy, finds himself with a tenuous majority.
Biography:
Thomas Volker was born on the 22nd of December 1962 in the small town of Leopold, Missouri. The firstborn of Rudolf Volker (1938-Present), a then-Captain serving in the United States Army and Grace Volker (née Dare) (1940-Present), Thomas enjoyed a comfortable upbringing steeped in discipline and a strong emphasis on the family’s Lutheran faith, unusual in the largely Catholic community of Leopold.
Academically, the sole Volker son performed well, albeit not to any extent significant from that of his peers. Politically, Thomas’ convictions, naturally Conservative due to his upbringing, were firmly consolidated by the influence of his maternal grandfather, a retired attorney who whilst studying at the Washington University in St Louis’ Law School, led the University’s chapter of the America First Committee, and who was currently serving the first of two terms as Prosecuting Attorney for Bollinger County after his election in 1960. This culminated in Thomas joining the Republican Party at the earliest date he could. It was also during his schooling that the young Volker met Torrie Barnes, who had recently arrived to the state. The two developed a close relationship, culminating in marriage in 1985.
After graduating high school in 1981, Thomas proceeded to study Political Science with a minor in Legal Studies at Washington University in St Louis, where he continued to show a strong academic performance whilst also actively involving himself in the university’s College Republicans, during which he secured an internship with then-White House Communications Director (Not-Pat Buchanan) in the months prior to his graduation in 1985, enabling the Missourian to develop a nascent political network within the conservative movement. After graduating, Thomas enrolled in the University’s School of Law, studying a joint JD/LLM in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, where he was noted for being particularly skilled in terms of preparation during mock trials, a matter which the law student used to compensate for what was generally an otherwise dull presentation.
Having graduated in 1987, Thomas found work at the small law practice which counted amongst its founding partners his late grandfather. Although the work the young attorney took on was for the most part unremarkable, it enabled Thomas to network further within his little corner of southeastern Missouri, something which would prove a substantial benefit within the next year.
Come 1988, the incumbent Republican State Representative for the 145th District was term-limited, thus leaving the seat open. Seeing his opportunity, Thomas ran for the Republican primary, emphasising his social conservative credentials as well as the commitment to moral standards shown during his time in private practice. After winning the Republican primary with 46% of the vote, Volker easily won the general election.
Representative Volker’s tenure in the Missouri State House was one that saw attention drawn to the freshman, largely as a result of the Republicans being in a minority throughout his time in Jefferson City. Nevertheless, Thomas was able to achieve some legislative success through sponsoring a bill seeking to strengthen community banks by cutting regulation on them at the state level, with the bill being signed by Governor (Not-John Ashcroft) in 1991. However, the State Representative garnered some controversy in the state after endorsing the insurgent campaign of his mentor (Not-Pat Buchanan).
As 1994 approached, and now in his own third term, Thomas Volker announced his campaign for Missouri’s 8th Congressional District after (Not-Bill Emerson) declined to run for another term. Running as a “trade-sceptical” conservative, and emphasising his own credentials on family values, State Representative Volker handily won the primary with 53% of the vote. Despite now being the Representative-Elect in all but name, Thomas continued to run an active campaign during the general election, emphasising his conservative credentials on family values and law and order in traditionally Republican areas whilst at the same time using his “trade-sceptic conservatism” in an attempt win over traditionally Democratic and union voters in the Lead Belt region. And so, Thomas Volker was duly elected to represent the 8th Congressional District of Missouri with 64% of the vote, a narrow gain from that won by his predecessor in the previous cycle.
His freshman term in the House saw Congressman Volker draw little attention initially, with him regularly voting the party line on legislation. However, that changed when the Missourian endorsed (Not-Pat Buchanan)‘s primary campaign in 1996. Thomas’ stumping for the candidate within his district enabled his ally and mentor to win the states delegates. Nevertheless, Volker’s support for the candidate would prove to be troublesome after his endorse dropped out during the convention, leaving the freshman Congressman to deal with a displeased House leadership.
As a consequence of his support for the insurgent candidate, Thomas was denied a seat on the House Judiciary Committee and was instead placed at what was perhaps the worst place for an ambitious legislator to find themselves, the House Administration Committee. Nevertheless, Congressman took to his committee assignment as well as one could with such a committee, whilst also working his way back into favour with the GOP leadership by doing the rounds of news outlets during the impeachment of (Not-Bill Clinton) in which he defended the impeachment on the grounds of the presidency requiring only those individuals with the “highest moral fortitude and sense of public service, capable of representing the fundamental values and hopes of the American people”. As the new millennium, and with them, a new set of primaries, drew in, Volker’s chance finally came.
Despite initially endorsing (Not-Gary Bauer) out of a sense of conviction, Thomas endorsed the campaign of (Not-George W. Bush) following the results of the New Hampshire primary and actively stumped for the Governor during both the primary and general elections. Finding himself now in favour, Thomas was moved up from the Administration Committee to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, where the Missourian was able to apply his own emphasis on morality within Congress. However, his new found favour was overshadowed by the beginning of the War on Terror in response to the attack against the United States on September 11th 2001. Despite his scepticism towards foreign interventions, Thomas was for the most part supportive of US troop deployments in both Afghanistan and later, Iraq, on the grounds that the United States was the direct victim of an attack by its enemies.
In February 2005, Representative Volker chaired the Standards of Official Conduct Committee in what would be his final term there. Despite his efforts however, the committee was unable to take effective action in a number of cases due to a boycott of its activities by the Democratic members, notably when the committee’s own Ranking Member, (Not-Jim McDermott), revealed ethics violations by former Speaker (Not-Newt Gingrich) to the press without prior authorisation. Fortunately for the Missourian, the Democrats flipping control of the House in 2006 enabled him to vacate the chair. Setting aside his committee work in Congress, Thomas now endeavoured to focus on recruiting candidates that would enable the House Republican Conference, and hopefully Congress at large, to move into a more conservative direction in the long-term.
Despite seeing relatively little success at first, particularly after the Democrats increased their House majority in 2008, opportunity struck for Volker after the nascent Tea Party movement slowly started to gain steam. During this time, the Congressman proved to be a staunch ally of the movement on the Hill and became something of a regular speaker at their events. This culminated in Thomas forming and becoming the inaugural Chair of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus in the midst of the 2010 midterm campaign. During the campaign, Thomas actively recruited candidates seeking the Tea Party’s support in their primary campaigns, with many of those who the Caucus endorsed going on to win the nomination for their district and contributing to the GOP regaining control of the House.
Now that the Republican Party had once again returned to the House majority, the Tea Party Caucus, claiming that its own successes had largely driven the GOP’s triumph at the midterms, made a push at implementing its own policy. Consequently, with the announcement that (Not-Mike Pence) was standing down from the position of House Republican Conference Chair, Volker proceeded to run as his replacement in what was widely seen as a test of how the Tea Party movement’s leaders would be treated by the Republican establishment. During his candidacy, the Missourian emphasised the fact that he had successfully managed to maintain Tea Party voters within the Republican Party and therefore was well qualified to “act as a bridge between the leadership of the House Republican Conference and those who we have the utmost honour and privilege to represent.” However, Thomas was unsuccessful in his leadership campaign, being passed over during the transition into the 112th Congress. Following the failure of his candidacy, the Congressman returned his energies to managing his still embryonic caucus, being one of four sponsors on a bill that would repeal the Dodd-Frank Act. Nevertheless, as the 2012 electoral cycle slowly drew into view, Thomas Volker, a man whose ambitions of establishing the foundations of a more authentic conservatism, ran for the Republican presidential nomination.
Running on a platform that was described by most commentators as “paleoconservative” stressing a broad commitment to non interventionism as well as support for tougher policies on law and order as well as stronger precautions and enforcement against illegal immigration, notably through the strengthening of facilities on the US-Mexico border, and an expanded use of E-Verify on a federal level. Nevertheless, in spite of running an active campaign, and having won the 2011 Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, the Missourian was only able to attract 5% of the vote in the Iowa caucuses, with his campaign being suspended following similar results in both New Hampshire and South Carolina. The result itself did not come as a great shock to Thomas however, with his main aim having been to place public pressure on the GOP to adopt a tougher line of immigration and trade, as well as re-emphasise its support for family values and morality within the United States. To that end, Thomas endorsed and actively campaigned for (Not-Rick Santorum), and was considered for his running mate should he have won the Republican nomination. Despite these efforts however, the more moderate (Not-Mitt Romney) was successfully nominated as the Republican candidate for the presidency in that year, leaving Volker to tend to his own re-election campaign for the House.
The next three years proved to pass quite uneventfully for the Congressman, who spent much of the time focusing on leading the Tea Party Caucus despite its gradually declining membership, for which he was rewarded with the position of Majority Whip following the 2014 midterms. That changed however with the announcement that Arnold Wolf was running in the Republican primary and advocated for similar positions to those the Missourian had four years prior. Sensing an opportunity to place his worldview into ascendency amongst the Republican electorate, defied contemporary political wisdom and was one of the first congressional Republicans to endorse the upstart campaign, helping the insurgent candidate win a narrow victory in Missouri and gain the Republican presidential nomination. With a man who shared his ideological sympathies and worldview now leading the GOP into the general election, Volker did his utmost to ensure that the campaign would run as smoothly as possible, notably by being amongst those advising Wolf on his Vice Presidential selection, during which Thomas advocated for his predecessor as Majority Whip, Richard Tawney, for the nomination, on the grounds that selecting him would enable Wolf to hold the support of more conventional Republican voters as well as the Republican leadership on the Hill. Needless to say, Tawney was soon selected as the Republican vice presidential nominee for the 2016 election. Throughout the general election, Thomas proved to be amongst the most loyal congressional Republicans towards Wolf, consistently defending the candidate in spite of the accusations of impropriety that emerged in October. On November 9th, Thomas’ work paid off, Arnold Wolf had defied the odds and was elected as the 45th President of the United States, and with a Republican Congress to boot. It seemed as if the world was now for the Missourian’s taking, and he was going to make sure he got as much as possible.
Despite the Majority Whip’s initial hopes, the Wolf administration faced a number of difficulties implementing its legislative agenda, notably of all the repeal of the ACA, which despite passing the House faltered into the Senate. Thomas did manage however to pass through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 as well as retaining his reputation as one of the President’s staunchest allies in the House, and perhaps the most loyal in the House Republican leadership, for which he drew the ire of both the Speaker and Majority Leader. The failures to implement Wolf’s legislative agenda soon came back to haunt the House Republicans in 2018, with them losing control of the House in what would turn out to be the largest gain by Democrats since 1974. During the transition, Volker, sensing an opportunity to strengthen the hold of his particular conservatism in the Republican Party due to (Not-Paul Ryan) not running for re-election to the 116th Congress, managed to successfully oust the Majority Leader in the Conference’s vote for the new leader of the House Republican Conference on the grounds of insufficient support for the Wolf administration in implementing its legislative agenda.
The initial period of House Minority Leader Volker’s leadership saw little of note, what with no opportunity for Republican legislation passing the House. However, things heated up after President Wolf announced that he would not be running in 2020 due to a diagnosis of brain cancer, thus leaving the primary field open. Thomas remained silent regarding which of the candidates he would support for the nomination, although he did provide behind the scenes support for Governor Richardson on the grounds that it would be easier to flip the House with him at the top of the ticket. After Governor Richardson became the presumptive nominee, Volker went to work ensuring that those elements previously opposed to Richardson in the primary would support the Republican Party’s campaign in the general, thus ensuring a united front against the Democrats. This was combined with the launch of an aggressive campaign to retake the House which saw the use of candidate recruitment in a number of target districts as well as an emphasis on law and order issues in the suburbs following a number of riots by BLM caused by the death of (Nit-George Flloyd) in May. This, along with the benefit of Richardson at the top of the ballot, enabled the Republicans to over-perform expectations in the House and win a narrow majority, a mere cycle after it had been lost.
And now Thomas Volker, the Missourian who in spite of the efforts of his opponents to hold him back each step of the way, finds himself at the political summit of Capitol Hill. With a Republican President, a House that he was presiding over, and a party that was to some extent now of a similar mould to his conservatism, the Speaker has the opportunity to shape policy over the next Congress and complete the agenda of Arnold Wolf, and with 2022 edging closer and closer by the day, he finds himself facing what will be the greatest challenge of his political career up to this point.
Other Info: Devout Lutheran, resides in Leopold, Missouri with his wife of 35 years, Torrie by whom he has five children: Thomas Jr (Born September 1989), Sarah (Born April 1991), William & John (Born January 1993) and Robert (Born November 1998)
In terms of the Speaker’s relationship with the numerous factions of the Republican Party, they can be described as follows:
Moderate Republicans: Vehemently opposed on account of both Speaker Volker’s previous endorsements in his early career as well as his reputation as a staunch ally of the 45th President. However, their opposition is to some extent mouthed by their limited number and the trajectory of the GOP.
Republican Study Committee: Quite supportive of the new Speaker on account of his conservative social policies and his reliance on the group, which is the largest ideological caucus in the House Republican Conference, during the campaign to flip the House.
Warhawky conservatives: Although strongly opposed to the Speaker in terms of foreign policy, as well as their sinking of the ACA bill that he pushed as Whip during the Wolf administration, the Speaker has a number of personal relationships with members due to the longevity of his House career.
Wolfist/America First Republicans: Although relatively few in number on account of their recent development in the GOP, the Speaker has attempted to make inroads with the group through emphasising his own similar ideological sympathies as well as his position to implement elements of their policy with a Republican President at the helm.
I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Greater Arab State
Do Not Remove: DRAFT84721Edited.
Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:12 am
