The pure theatre of events in the US House of Representatives this week is many things: a once-in-a-century impasse; a power struggle; a barometer of dysfunction; a gift to the Democrats. Joe Biden, the president, is right — even if entirely self-serving — to remark that it all looks “a little embarrassing” for the Republicans. Even if the matter is ultimately resolved, the humiliating, repeated repudiation of Kevin McCarthy’s attempts to be Speaker of the House — a role that is second in line to the presidency — represents an existential moment for the party. Its members and backers need to wake up.
It should have been smooth sailing for McCarthy, the majority leader who needs 218 votes to take the Speaker’s gavel. Instead, 20 rebels have blocked his nomination, despite his many desperate attempts to appease them. They are mostly on the far right of the Republican party, which won a wafer-thin majority in November’s midterm elections, and many are aligned with Donald Trump (though not following the former president’s call to back McCarthy). At the time of writing, no viable alternative to McCarthy has emerged. The House is constitutionally required to elect a Speaker and cannot start the business of governing until then.
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