The Republicans of the United States House of Representatives set themselves on fire yesterday. With no one to blame but themselves, they fired Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker. They don\u2019t have a replacement, but the remains of the McCarthy caucus took the temporary chair, led by little Patrick McHenry in his bowtie. His first actions: lash out at Democratic leadership, particularly Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, by throwing them out of their \u201cprivileged\u201d hide-away offices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t get it together enough to control their own caucus, something Pelosi deftly did with similar fractions two years ago. And they couldn\u2019t convince four of their own eight \u201crebels\u201d to rejoin the fold. But that\u2019s the Democrats\u2019 fault, of course. Democrats did what every \u201cgood\u201d neighbor does when they hear the couple next door screaming at each other. They stayed out of it, hoping not to hear something that would require dialing 9-11. Sure it\u2019s embarrassing, but if you make the call, then the whole world gets involved, and the couple say \u201cnothing happened\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just like the fighting couple on the day after; the Republicans are uniting in blaming Democrats for their own self-destruction.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Funny, the rebellious Gaetz faction blamed McCarthy working with Democrats as the reason for firing him, then the McCarthy faction blamed Democrats for not saving McCarthy\u2019s\u2026 well, him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And McCarthy himself felt perfectly comfortable blaming Democrats for all of the drama of the near shutdown, even though they stepped into save the country from closure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See what happens when you call the police? So, what\u2019s the next move?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It depends how long the Republicans let the fire go. The obvious \u201ccandidates\u201d for Speaker: Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, Tom Cole, Elise Stefanik; are never going to agree to the deal that McCarthy made. Why would they take the job if any Matt Gaetz (don\u2019t worry, he\u2019ll get what\u2019s coming soon) can call for removal. To accept those \u201chostage\u201d terms means to, like McCarthy, be a Speaker in name only. That was good enough for Kevin; a lifetime of Mr. Speaker, but not for anyone else (except maybe Newt Gingrich). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There may not be a \u201creal\u201d Speaker of the House for a while. And meanwhile, the nation faces two time bombs. The first is obvious: the deal that brought down McCarthy expires the week before Thanksgiving. It takes three: the House, the Senate, and the President, to get the budget deal done. If there remains no leadership in the House, then the Nation is heading to a cliff of closure, right before we carve up the turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, more importantly, the United States is committed to support Ukraine.\u00a0\u00a0Literally the whole world is \u201cwatching\u201d and asking:\u00a0\u00a0will the United States keep its commitment, or will we return to the Trump era of withdrawing from world affairs, by crying \u201cAmerica First\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Support for Ukraine takes all three political bodies as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If any potential Republican leader wants to become Speaker without the Gaetz caucus, then their only choice is to make a deal with the Democrats.\u00a0\u00a0That makes Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies a potential king (or queen) maker.\u00a0\u00a0It takes only five Democrats to neuter the crazies, if only a Republican leader would make a deal with the Dems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what would that deal be? Aid for Ukraine, perhaps with increased Southern Border spending as well. A budget resolution through the November 2024 elections, perhaps with a freeze on increases, but without the Republican fever dream of slashing social programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the future Speaker of the House has a decision to make.\u00a0\u00a0He, or she, can give the power to their own party\u2019s \u201ccrazies\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Or they can give-in to some of the Democrats\u2019 needs.\u00a0\u00a0If politics is the \u201cart of compromise\u201d; we need an artist to step forward and lead the Republicans in Congress.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps Nancy Pelosi would give them some lessons. They\u2019ll need to take a walk; they kicked her out of her office in the Capitol. You can find her in her main office, 1236 Longworth House Office Building (I worked in that building back forty-six years ago). It\u2019s just across Independence Avenue. There\u2019s even a subway you can take from the Capitol basement; get on-board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"