Kevin McCarthy, the newly installed speaker of the U.S. House, no doubt is feeling smug this morning as he begins his first week in Congress’s most powerful political office.
I mean, the Republican congressman was able to take the gavel after 15 votes among his colleagues in the House. He set a record for the number of tries he needed to cross the finish line. Is this the beginning of a new era in Congress? I doubt it … seriously!
Therefore, I feel compelled to warn the speaker against getting too far ahead of himself as he seeks to organize the legislative chamber. He gave away a lot — too much, in my view — to the right-wing radical wing of the Republican Party House conference to attain the office he coveted.
The most startling concession allows just one House member to call for a vote to remove the speaker. What, then, could happen if McCarthy pisses off one of the House members who held out until the last minute to approve his nomination? Could they call for a vote within the House to boot him?
Moreover, it should be obvious to Speaker McCarthy that voters sent a clear message to Congress in the November 2022 midterm election: They want Congress to govern, not obstruct; voters aren’t interested in these “investigations” into Hunter Biden’s laptop. Maybe most GOPers have such an interest, but they don’t comprise the bulk of the voting population.
I couldn’t help but think of the classic definition of insanity as McCarthy kept bringing the speakership up for a vote time and again. It is that insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
To be fair, Speaker McCarthy eventually got the “different result” he sought … but it was on the 15th try.
Wow! What a sh** show!