Until yesterday, it had been around 100 years since a party leader had failed to win the first ballot for the position of Speaker of the House. As of today, House Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has lost his sixth vote, waiting until 8pm EST where he is expected to lose again.
The last three votes are especially shocking after McCarthy received an endorsement from President Trump. This comes after Representative McCarthy preemptively moved into the Speaker’s chambers, a move that was looked down on by Democrats and fellow Republicans.
The rise of Donald Trump into prominence and the Presidency is finally starting to show the internal decay of the Grand Old Party. Some establishment Republicans might look at this and say “I told you so,” with a smirk. Some of these people, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for example, have paid the price by going against the Freedom Caucus (20 members who still vehemently support Trump). Now, it is Kevin McCarthy’s turn to face the wrath of the GOP’s own doing.
Rep. McCarthy may have dug his own grave. After the GOP narrowly secured the majority in the House, McCarthy had weeks to whip up the votes to secure his own victory. However, as the nation has observed, McCarthy was too certain of his victory for the Speakership, and one could assume that the effort to secure the position previously held by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not replicated by McCarthy. After the first three votes on January 3rd, McCarthy received an endorsement from President Donald Trump, which was expected to hand McCarthy the Freedom Caucus and secure his victory. However, that is not the case.
The problem that McCarthy faces now is one that he created. After January 6, when McCarthy laid himself at Trump’s feet and provided his absolute loyalty to the former President, he lost all of his power with fellow members of the House. When pitching yourself as House Speaker, you basically have to bribe your fellow members to gain their votes. However, with his submission to Trump, he emboldened the Freedom Caucus, and gave them a taste of power that had been stripped of them after Jan. 6.
As McCarthy now aligns with the MAGA Freedom Caucus on policy, he cannot make deals based on policy concessions and bill promises. He must now make promises that involve power and PR: committee seats, chairman positions, and potential placement promises down the line. The problem with these guarantees is that establishment GOP reps currently hold these positions, and replacing Michael McCaul with Marjorie Taylor Greene as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for example, will not gain votes and might cause him to lose more.
On the other side of the aisle, members are celebrating, and there is a real chance that Hakeem Jefferies becomes the Speaker in a GOP majority congress. Unlike McCarthy, House Dems can create policy concessions, and have a chance to elect Jefferies as House Speaker or potentially make a deal with a moderate GOP caucus to elect one of them. The possibilities are endless for the Democrats, who I am certain are overjoyed with GOP infighting.
As we sit and watch the House of Representatives, we can only hope that this is resolved soon, as legislative stagnation can do nothing but harm the United States. This infighting is a disaster for the Grand Old Party, and unfortunately for them, might just be a sliver of what may come in the next few years.