Analysis by Paul Kane: For the entire 13-year arc of Kevin McCarthy’s House GOP leadership tenure, Republicans kept employing the same hostage-taking strategy. It never really worked. Now, he’s gone. https://t.co/yPfm1LesS5
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 17, 2023
Gonna drop this here, for perspective during the coming week… Paul Kane, at the Washington Post, “McCarthy’s exit changes little: House Republicans are still lost” [unpaywalled gift link]:
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had assembled a photo line Thursday morning just off the House floor for anyone who wanted a picture with the ex-speaker before he cast his last votes.
But after a few minutes, one of the House’s far-right conservatives forced a vote on a procedural motion designed to try to block a defense policy bill. The ex-speaker had to rush on to the floor to help tamp down another mini-rebellion.
It was a fitting end to McCarthy’s career, a 17-year arc that traced House Republicans’ path in helping the GOP move away from its conservative policy roots to instead focus on political stunts.
Rather than trying to work on policy through congressional committees and winning political support, they would find some looming fiscal deadline and threaten calamity unless their conservative demands were met.
For 13 years, the House GOP has cycled between a far-right group of about 15 to 30 conservatives first holding things hostage, and then the leadership team getting ahead of the next hostage-taking by declaring that that was the preferred strategy…
And now, as McCarthy heads for the exit, House Republicans are the driving force in another legislative hostage-taking. This time, following the lead of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), the House GOP is holding hostage a $110 billion national security package to help defend Israel and Ukraine, fearing support for Ukraine would draw the ire of their leading political figure, ex-president Donald Trump, and many of his supporters.
In terms of his legacy — tangible policy achievements — McCarthy has little to show. By some measures, this has been the least productive Congress since the Hoover administration…
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