That people even know Madison Cawthorn’s name might be the most surprising thing about the former North Carolina congressman. During his two-year stint in government, he managed to make a reputation for himself by missing more votes than any other new congressperson, throwing random temper tantrums, advising young men to drop out of school and get married shortly before announcing the dissolution of his own eight-month marriage (which may or may not have been to a Russian spy), claiming that drug-fueled orgies were a regular GOP way of socializing, and — after losing his reelection bid — threatening that there would be a Dark MAGA uprising. Whatever the f**k that means. But really, Cawthorn’s time in congress seems like it was all just a runup for him to officially become a true “Florida Man.” And it might very well be the case that he spent the rest of the time sharpening pencils and watching the clock to see if it was time to go home yet.
At least that’s probably what it seems like to Chuck Edwards, the newly sworn-in congressman who took Cawthorn’s place in the House of Representatives. According to the Associated Press, Edwards’ team is at a loss in terms of what Cawthorn was working on or any constituent requests they should be following up on. Because after repeated requests for Cawthorn’s team to hand off any unfinished work so that the incoming team could see whatever projects Cawthorn had started through to completion, Edwards has gotten zilch.
On Monday, Edwards’ office released an official statement that read something like a ransom letter. Essentially, it was a plea for anyone who was waiting on something from Cawthorn to reach out to his office — because chances are they are unaware of it. Though the transfer of casework was scheduled to be completed by December 23 (and is a practice that all outgoing congresspeople take part in), Cawthorn was basically MIA.
“Repeated attempts to reach Congressman Cawthorn and his staff were made over the past month, but no response or action was provided,” according to the release.
Cawthorn, who recently confirmed that he has relocated to Florida, has clearly been busy with other things:
Train to kill bad people because the world is increasingly full of them and no one is coming to save you.
You are your own first responder. pic.twitter.com/PnOhmscQf2
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) January 9, 2023
(Via AP)