In a humiliating public repudiation, for the first time in a century, Kevin McCarthy was rejected for Speaker of the House by his own party. He could not even get the most votes — losing the plurality to Democratic Party Leader Hakeem Jeffries three times. And the repudiation — the rejection — is personal. Republicans do not even have someone else in mind. They just do not want HIM.
The Republican Party in the Age of Trump has devolved into chaos, division and strife. They campaigned on offering competent governance (and lots, and lots of revenge), promised a Big Red Wave, lost governorships, lost state legislatures, lost a seat in the Senate (for the first time since 1934 Democrats did not lose a single incumbent governor, U.S. Senator or any state legislature) and in the House, where they had expected to gain 40, 50 or even 60 seats, they barely trickled into a tiny, tiny sliver of a majority. The Big Red Wave was a teensy tiny trickle, and the red was more like the result of bloodletting.
Now they have their miniscule House majority and, for the first time in exactly 100 years, boo hoo, they can’t get a majority to constitute House leadership, elect a Speaker, assign committees, or conduct any business of any kind except to keep on trying to confirm a Speaker. They can’t even swear in the members of the current new session. The only other time since the Civil War when the majority party could not form a government on the first ballot, 1923, it was the Republicans in chaos and it took them nine ballots.
Party of governance? They can’t even form a government when they have a majority. Even if Kevin McCarthy finally ekes out his long-coveted speakership, he is utterly humiliated — he is damaged goods. He is humiliated and so is his party.
In a humiliating public repudiation, for the first time in a century, Kevin McCarthy was rejected for Speaker of the House by his own party. He could not even get the most votes — losing the plurality to Democratic Party Leader Hakeem Jeffries three times. And the repudiation — the rejection — is personal. Republicans do not even have someone else in mind. They just do not want HIM.
The Republican Party in the Age of Trump has devolved into chaos, division and strife. They campaigned on offering competent governance (and lots, and lots of revenge), promised a Big Red Wave, lost governorships, lost state legislatures, lost a seat in the Senate (for the first time since 1934 Democrats did not lose a single incumbent governor, U.S. Senator or any state legislature) and in the House, where they had expected to gain 40, 50 or even 60 seats, they barely trickled into a tiny, tiny sliver of a majority. The Big Red Wave was a teensy tiny trickle, and the red was more like the result of bloodletting.
Now they have their miniscule House majority and, for the first time in exactly 100 years, boo hoo, they can’t get a majority to constitute House leadership, elect a Speaker, assign committees, or conduct any business of any kind except to keep on trying to confirm a Speaker. They can’t even swear in the members of the current new session. The only other time since the Civil War when the majority party could not form a government on the first ballot, 1923, it was the Republicans in chaos and it took them nine ballots.
Party of governance? They can’t even form a government when they have a majority. Even if Kevin McCarthy finally ekes out his long-coveted speakership, he is utterly humiliated — he is damaged goods. He is humiliated and so is his party.