The House still has no Speaker, which is leaving the legislative chamber procedurally paralyzed, even though government funding deadlines are now less than a month away — again!
The problem traces to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) having agreed around the time he first became Speaker in this Congress to allow individual members to bring a motion to boot the Speaker — an opportunity later taken by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). When that dispute then emerged, McCarthy rebuffed the idea of working with Democrats to keep both himself on as Speaker and the House functioning. Fast forward to what’s approaching three weeks later and the failures of multiple formal picks from the GOP conference, including Reps. Steve Scalise (La.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio), and the seriousness of this problem is clear.
Republicans are refusing to agree in sufficient number with anybody, whether themselves or the other party. Some of those who’ve driven the show at key stages are in Gaetz’s corner. Sunday on CBS, former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming called the recent chaos among Republicans and in Congress “a direct result of the decisions that Kevin McCarthy made to embrace Donald Trump, to embrace the most radical and extreme members of our party.”
“I think it’s important somebody not be an election denier,” Cheney added, discussing who might next take key roles. “And I also think everybody should be asked tomorrow night at the candidates forum about this issue of Ukraine assistance, and they should be asked from the perspective of — we face a global challenge, an existential threat, and how in the world could anybody defend at this moment surrendering to one of our adversaries by walking away from Ukraine?” Figures pushing for that outcome — meaning the U.S. stepping back from its support of that targeted Eastern European country — include Gaetz (again) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Meanwhile, most of the latest declared candidates for Speaker voted against the full certification of Biden’s 2020 win, so that’s not a great start!
.@Liz_Cheney says the dysfunction among House Republicans now is “the direct result” of Kevin McCarthy embracing Donald Trump and the GOP’s “most radical and extreme members.”
She says that for the next Republican leader, “it’s important somebody not be an election denier.” pic.twitter.com/DXcGphQlJZ
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 22, 2023
