On, no. It looks like House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has lost control of his Republican colleagues and could be about to go down in flames.
Politics :
You may recall that earlier this year, GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy endured a contentious and publicly embarrassing ordeal to become Speaker of the US House of Representatives. The combative contest went down to the 11th hour. In fact, McCarthy only crossed the finish line by agreeing to almost impossible demands from the right-wing/MAGA “Freedom Caucus” of the party.
Republicans finally won back control of the House and Speaker Kevin McCarthy finally seized the title (and sweet corner office) he’d always dreamed of having. Yes, the GOP held all the power in the lower chamber of Congress and all was right in their world — until they were reminded of an old saying: “Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.”
Infighting between the old and new guard of the GOP, MAGA members focusing all their attention on getting revenge rather than actually governing, combined with Republicans already calling in all their IOUs and demanding that McCarthy pay up or get out has since created a political catastrophe in the halls of Congress.
Or, in other words, Speaker Kevin McCarthy can’t control his troops, finally realizes he was set up to fail, and is close to being sent back to a regular office among the general membership.
According to The Associated Press, McCarthy’s collision course began this week when he negotiated with fellow Republicans to come up with a plan to avert an imminent government shutdown. The plan would have cut spending at all domestic agencies (excluding the Dept. of Defense) by 8%. It would have also revived several Trump-era border restrictions and even renewed construction of sections of Trump’s beloved border wall.
McCarthy’s plan meant that the government would have been able to run for a month past the September 30th deadline, which would have bought time for Republicans to work out a long-term deal. However, as soon as McCarthy unveiled the proposal, at least a dozen far-right members of the GOP shot it down and refused to support it.
McCarthy appeared shocked at the pushback from his membership, particularly since he had already attempted to satisfy resistant right-wingers last week by giving in to their demand to start impeachment inquiries against President Biden.
Too bad he was the last to know there were still major hurdles to overcome.
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida accused McCarthy of taking too weak of a stance in the spending fight. He also blamed McCarthy for being behind an Ethics Committee inquiry that could threaten his political future. Now, Gaetz and other members of the Freedom Caucus are preparing to introduce a motion to force McCarthy out of the speaker’s chair if he pushes a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at current levels while negotiations continue.
The threat prompted McCarthy to use a few select “f” words and ended with him shouting to members: “If you run for office, you should be willing to govern.”
In short, it’s clear McCarthy has lost complete control of his party (if he ever had it at all), and political observers are going public with predictions that a Republican civil war is on the horizon.
“This shutdown debacle proves McCarthy is powerless,” said Alex Shephard of The New Republic. “The GOP’s far-right flank holds nearly all the power, and they’re using it to launch pointless investigations and make demands for draconian cuts.
“The government shuts down in less than 2 weeks if this keeps up, and Republicans are such a mess they can’t even fund the military — arguably the easiest thing House Republicans have to do when they’re in the majority,” he added.
McCarthy is facing some “brutal math,” said Rachael Bade in Politico. “He can’t afford to lose more than 4 votes if he wants to pass a spending fix, assuming all Democrats oppose whatever he proposes — which is all but certain.”
Siobhan Hughes and Eliza Collins pointed out in The Wall Street Journal that McCarthy “made a series of promises to conservative Republicans to win the House speakership and keep legislation on track”
“Even for a politician who has made his name and reputation on wriggling out of tight spots, this might be a Houdini act too far,” they concluded.
Last week, McCarthy had to pull an $826 billion defense spending bill because he realized he didn’t have the votes — despite the fact that his own party is in the majority.
With so little control, it’s hard to see how Speaker Kevin McCarthy can avoid a shutdown or hold onto the speaker’s gavel much longer.
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
Is Speaker Kevin McCarthy already a failure?
DJ there you go again being much to kind! 🙂
Now you know, good-N-well McCarthy has “Neva” had control of the Crazies and the Not-too-bright in his party…smh!
The Republican controlled House has actually been a Catastrophe since BEFORE he even struck a deal with those creatures to become Speaker.
Dangerous children in adult bodies. That’s who they are. That’s who they will always be.