Even Will Rogers, author of the famous quip about the disorganization of the Democratic Party of his day, would presumably be mystified and appalled by what’s been transpiring in the Republican-controlled House.
First, of course, a mere eight Republicans ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week by voting against him on the House floor together with every single Democrat. This move against McCarthy made zero sense — which is why 210 Republicans voted to retain him — but was led by attention-seeking backbencher Matt Gaetz, who measures his legislative success by how many cable hits he gets.
Then, this week, House Republicans held an internal meeting and elected their No. 2, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, as their nominee as speaker. Scalise won a narrow vote over the Trump-endorsed candidate Jim Jordan. But as soon as Scalise began to try to nail down the 217 votes he’d need to win the vote on the floor, he realized the votes weren’t there and withdrew.
There was at least a tissue of an ideological case against McCarthy, whom his critics accused, unfairly, of not fighting hard enough for spending cuts. But the Scalise meltdown is almost entirely the product of petty rivalries and hurt feelings. McCarthy supporters didn’t like how his support for McCarthy was tepid; Jordan supporters didn’t like the fact that he beat their man; and some members are generally in ill sorts after Gaetz and Co. dragged the party into this fiasco.
A low point was Representative Nancy Mace — who voted against McCarthy for no reason and seems to have learned that a key to fame and influence in the Republican House is acting ridiculous — saying that she couldn’t vote for Scalise either, peddling opposition research about him speaking to white supremacists over 20 years ago, a story with murky details that even several prominent black Democrats in Louisiana have said was overblown. Mace didn’t seem to have moral qualms about Scalise in 2020, when she met with him and touted his endorsement.
The answer to this mess is Republicans resolving to support whichever speaker candidate has the support of most of the conference. Whether that means a majority of the conference, or a two-thirds or three-fourths supermajority, the bulk of the conference should not be at the mercy of a small number of dissenters. Going forward, there should be rules that a speaker can’t be toppled during the session by anyone who doesn’t have more support and that members voting against the conference-endorsed candidate on the floor lose privileges. The conference doesn’t seem to be in any shape to adopt such rules, though, and will probably have to grow exhausted enough with the current chaos that everyone is finally willing to settle on a leader.
Until such time, House Republicans are going to continue to be an embarrassment even by the standards of disorganized political parties.