How to lose a gavel in 269 days
Fourteen experts on the roots of Kevin McCarthy’s ouster and why Republicans keep destroying their own leaders.
The historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker this week wasn’t exactly surprising — hard-right Republicans’ ability to take his gavel was written into his precarious position from the start — but it was, nonetheless, shocking. It’s also part of an undeniable pattern of GOP leaders falling to conservative rebels. John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan — all have faced the wrath of their own party.
But why?
That’s what we asked 14 of the smartest political observers this week, along with fundamental questions about the turbulent present and uncertain future of the GOP. Why has politics become so dysfunctional? Is this solely an issue with the party, or a symptom of a deeper sickness in Congress? And, most importantly, can we fix it?
Some of them blamed the MAGA-fication of the GOP, while others took issue with the premise of the question, saying that smooth sailing in politics isn’t necessarily a sign of healthy democracy. But few of them had any words of hope for improvement:
“Our infatuation with the two-party system … has always been balky.”
“There had to be payback against McCarthy.”
“This isn’t democracy. It’s the heartbeat of authoritarianism.”
He’s a “Republican running with scissors.”
Can you guess who said this about Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz this week? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
New Cold War Panda-monium … In 1972, China made the most adorable diplomatic gesture in history, gifting two panda bears to the United States, where they made their debut at the Smithsonian National Zoo to crowds of thousands — including President Richard Nixon. But as the geopolitical relations between China and the U.S. have soured, cuddly bamboo eaters have been caught in the middle, and now Washington’s pandas are heading back to the motherland. Michael Schaffer breaks down the fuzzy-wuzzy foreign policy in this week’s Capital City column.
The race to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker has already begun, with a forum scheduled for Tuesday and a vote expected as soon as Wednesday. Not exactly up to date on intra-House GOP dynamics? Use these talking points to make your way through the inevitable speaker race handicapping this weekend (from POLITICO’s Nicholas Wu):
- As House majority leader, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise is the heir apparent, but his prior speakership aspirations caused tensions with McCarthy in the past. McCarthy is obviously in a weakened position, but remember that 210 of his GOP colleagues supported him in the vote to take his gavel. He and his allies still hold a lot of sway in the conference.
- If you’re hanging with a MAGA crowd, put your money on Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the Trump loyalist and conservative firebrand whose anti-establishment ethos could win over the critical hard-right votes that toppled McCarthy, though he may face skepticism from more moderate Republicans.
- Your Democratic friends might be entertaining fantasies of a Hakeem Jeffries speakership. You’ll have to be a party pooper and point out that the 212 House Democrats can’t make it to a 218-vote majority. No way they’re convincing six Republicans to vote against their own conference.
- Your conservative friends might be entertaining another fantasy: Speaker Donald Trump. Technically, he’s constitutionally eligible — there’s never been a non-member speaker, but there’s no rule against it. The GOP does have a rule that leaders with felony indictments that could turn up a sentence of more than two years’ prison time must step aside, though. Trump currently faces 91 felony charges.
Don’t Get Trump? Listen to Taylor Swift … Fans of Taylor Swift and Trump might be the two most dissimilar groups in the U.S. But if you’re one of the many liberals or moderate conservatives utterly mystified by Trump’s enduring appeal, despite scandal after scandal and indictment after indictment, Swift’s devotional fandom will offer you answers. “Fandom isn’t usually a concept applied to politics,” writes Joanna Weiss. “But like Swift and other musical superstars, Trump has managed to cultivate not just a base of support, but a tribal identity with a culture of its own — a community that can even transcend the man at its center.”
Don’t Bring (Young) Guns to a Tea Party … Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy were once hotshot “young guns” about to remake the GOP. But 13 years later, two of them are out of politics, and the other just lost the speaker’s gavel. How’d we get here? According to Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol, it was the tea party wave they rode to power that ultimately swept them under. “I call it the bottom-up radicalization of the Republican Party, and I think it caught a lot of these Koch network darlings, including all three of these Young Guns, by surprise,” she tells Ian Ward in this Q&A.
The defenestration of Kevin McCarthy made history this week, sending the House GOP scrambling to unite behind a new leader. In the meantime, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry is serving as interim speaker — and boy, can he bang a gavel. One more hammering like he gave it on Tuesday, and he might just need a replacement. Lucky for him, there are dozens floating around eBay, like this one bearing the signature of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, priced at just $2.99. (From historian Ted Widmer.)
**Who Dissed answer: It was Republican Rep. Mike Garcia from California, who responded to the removal of McCarthy with this barbed line, according to the Washington Post.
