Kevin McCarthy is ousted as speaker
Iowa's delegation backed a speaker who couldn't even hold onto his job
It’s tempting to lay the blame for Tuesday’s fiasco in the US House of Representatives on Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida.
He and a small number of Republican rebels have plunged Congress into chaos by insisting on the removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The House voted 216-210 on Tuesday to vacate the chair. The New York Times reported that this is “without precedent” in US history.
As expected, all four Iowa Republicans in the House backed McCarthy. Rep. Ashley Hinson even launched an attack on Gaetz.
Now what?
Who knows?
As I say, it’s tempting, as Hinson did, to heap blame on Gaetz. But Kevin McCarthy isn’t some innocent victim in this mess. Nor is he as competent as he was portrayed by his supporters Tuesday. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former Democratic speaker, held a small majority, too, but she never got the boot.
I doubt this will engender any respect among Republicans for Pelosi’s abilities, but it should. Being a leader is hard.
In the leadup to Tuesday’s vote, there were plenty of stories suggesting that moderate Democrats could ride to McCarthy’s rescue. And, no doubt, you will see conservative media grouse that Democrats are partly responsible for the chaos now unleashed upon us. (Democrats were united Tuesday in their opposition to McCarthy.)
I confess, I wondered myself whether a handful of Democrats might just derail this farce.
I’ve generally believed that if moderates in both parties were to unite, more would get done and fewer of these dramedies would happen. But that belief has waned as moderates in Congress — particularly in the Republican caucus — have gone the way of the flip phone.
The fact is, McCarthy catered, enabled and empowered the very forces that have laid him low. He groveled to Donald Trump; he threatened against all good judgment to throw the US into economic chaos by demanding concessions in order to allow payment of the country’s existing debts; he’s launched a thoroughly specious impeachment inquiry against President Biden; and, even as Ukraine fights for its life against a Russian invasion, he demanded over the weekend that the Biden administration submit to blackmail on the border before holding a vote to help fund the fight against Vladimir Putin.
After the 15 votes it took to confirm McCarthy as speaker in January and the concessions that he made to get the job, it wasn’t surprising the most radical members of his caucus would turn against him. It was only a matter of time.
For those of us in Iowa, I think it teaches a valuable lesson: One of the most under-appreciated issues Americans face when choosing their member of Congress is who, once elected, they will support to be Speaker of the House.
In Iowa, the Republicans cast their lot with McCarthy. On Tuesday, he couldn’t even keep his own job.
On the House floor, we heard Republican after Republican — regardless of whether they backed McCarthy or not — complain about inflation, the crisis at the border, the debt and all manner of other ills that our nation faces. They targeted much of their ire at the president. But it’s the formerly McCarthy-led House that’s now in disarray, and none of those issues are getting addressed while we wait for the GOP to put itself back in order.
We witnessed history on Tuesday. Nobody should be happy about it. But we shouldn’t forget how it happened.
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There was absolutely no reason for Democrats to bail out Kevin McCarthy. He has been carrying Donald Trump's water for years, even after Trump tried to subvert the peaceful transfer of power following a free and fair election. He didn't stick to the deal he made just a few months ago to avoid a debt default. Who could trust him to keep any promise?
Personally I wouldn't give any more consideration to the Democrats than I will to the Republicans. The reality we are dealing with is a butt load of wealthy and often ancient people who have little to do with taking care of business. Especially the People's business. I often wonder how the voters are left with such poor candidates and incumbents to chose from. Most of us have little to do with any of that really, we are expected to vote on the two choices we are given and that is it. It is so predictable that in a month we are going to be faced with yet another financial crisis and whoever leads Congress as Majority leader will be just as unlikely to get anything done and that assumes there is even a Majority leader chosen by that time! Saving the tax payer money is not even on their radar, or they would actually get something done!