In early January, when then-future and now-former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was in the middle of the political fight of his life, this column lambasted him as an “empty suit and quintessential Swamp Creature.” whose main guiding star is making deals and spending political capital to augment one’s political fortune.” This column supported House conservatives who forced massive concessions from McCarthy over the 15 painful votes he needed to secure the speakership in January. This column condemned those veteran commentators who supported McCarthy from the first ballot, unaware of the virtuous fight that Republican Chip Roy (Texas) and others were leading on behalf of good government.
That means I’m carrying zero water for Kevin McCarthy.
But honestly, I’m astonished by his unceremonious dethronement this week at the hands of the great Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who managed to unseat McCarthy along with seven other Republicans and every Democrat present in the lower house. At some point in the Donald Trump era, Republicans seem to have forgotten a lesson as aged as Edmund Burke’s seminal “Reflections on the Revolution in France”: It is highly imprudent to enact change or foment chaos unless one has some noble or critical goal in mind. .
But what was the noble and critical goal here? What was so critical to Gaetz that he orchestrated McCarthy’s historic coup despite his obvious hypocrisy – namely, that he (and others) criticized McCarthy for his collaboration with Democrats on September 30 to pass a last-minute standing resolution about financing the government, but Gaetz himself persuaded the entire current Democratic caucus to lend a hand him throw McCarthy overboard?
As of this writing, this goal remains elusive. Gaetz says he wants to see cuts to top government spending, an end to U.S. taxpayer funding for the war in Ukraine, and much stronger security measures for our outrageously porous southern border. I agree on all fronts. In September, leading members of the House Freedom Caucus like Roy convinced McCarthy to enter appropriations negotiations with the Senate, proposing an 8% cut in top-level government spending as well as the same cuts in Ukraine funding that Gaetz says he wants. But Gaetz helped end those negotiations before they even started. The result will be no spending cuts and likely continued funding of Ukrainian waste. Talk about yourself.
Or maybe it was?
After formally submitting the disastrous motion to vacate the speaker’s seat, Gaetz said of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (La.), who is currently running to replace McCarthy: “I have very high regard for Steve Scalise. I would vote for Steve Scalise.” This concession reflects Gaetz’s true game. Scalise has been part of the House Republican leadership since 2014; he is as much a part of the Republican establishment on Capitol Hill as McCarthy. In fact, Scalise doesn’t even agree with Gaetz’s alleged tough stance on continued funding for Ukraine. This therefore bears all the hallmarks of a deeply personal grudge against Gaetz, which he has now played out on a national stage. Perhaps Gaetz was simply seeking revenge for McCarthy’s failure to drop the House Ethics Committee’s ongoing investigation of Gaetz into allegations of sexual misconduct, illegal drug exploit and other improprieties – or perhaps he was simply trying to raise funds for nationally ahead of his expected run for Florida governor in 2026. Maybe – actually, probably – both.
If it was truly purely a personal grudge against Gaetz and a shameless fundraising opportunity that motivated McCarthy’s defenestration, then this is second-grade and reckless behavior. Rightfully, there could still be a good outcome from this – the House could still elect Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) or Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Oklahoma) as speaker, either of whom would represent a significant substantive improvement over McCarthy. But it’s strenuous to imagine either outcome when the leading rebel himself has publicly admitted his satisfaction with establishment darling Scalise.
Perhaps the most critical aspect of this saga, in the midst of a hotly contested Republican presidential primary and in the run-up to the fall general election against an aged and disastrously unpopular octogenarian incumbent, is the political fallout. Most independent voters (not necessarily wrongly) see this as Republicans airing their grubby laundry and fomenting chaos at a time when the average American continues to suffer from skyrocketing crime, an unprecedented onslaught of illegal immigration, and terrible inflation and other so-called carnage. called Bidenomy. This (possibly) senseless drama on Capitol Hill is the exact opposite of good governance – the antithesis of statesmanship.
Perhaps former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was right when he called on the GOP to “stop being the stupid party.”
To learn more about Josh Hammer and read articles by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
