Thursday marks the first anniversary of House Republicans’ defining moment this term: removing the speaker they’d spent 15 rounds of voting to install just nine months earlier. The decision to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., wasn’t something that makes for a great campaign ad — not for GOP members trying to earn second terms. But there’s not much on the books from the last two years that makes a great case for granting Republicans another shot at the majority next year.
And yet, that’s exactly what House Republicans are doing right now, taking a break from the hard work of failure to spend the next few weeks campaigning. Irrespective of what an abject catastrophe the last two years have been, roughly two dozen swing-seat Republicans are trying to convince Americans that they deserve to be the majority in the 119th Congress, as well. It’s a level of audacity that should be disqualifying, not rewarded with another two years of, at best, mediocrity and, at worst, enabling the end of democracy in a second Trump administration.
It’s a level of audacity that should be disqualifying, not rewarded
While McCarthy’s undignified boot from the speakership was a lowlight, the House majority hasn’t exactly spent the rest of the time covering itself in glory. With only a lame-duck session awaiting after the election and another spending fight along with it, no major legislative push is planned to take advantage of those final weeks. Accordingly, the 118th Congress will go down in history as having enacted the fewest laws in modern history.
The best thing you could say for the House the last two years is that it kept the lights on in Washington — barely. There have been five shutdown threats in that time as Republicans spent more time arguing among themselves about spending levels than debating with Democrats in the Senate and President Joe Biden in the White House. That total includes the one that got McCarthy booted after agreeing to a short-term spending bill his right flank opposed. He was on thin ice already with it, though, thanks to his decision to avoid a default by agreeing to raise the debt ceiling in April 2023.
The outrage over protecting the full faith and credit of the United States was centered in a cluster of far-right MAGA members I’ve dubbed the “chaos caucus.” Their maximalist posturing was a headache for both McCarthy and his successor as speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who both have tried to appease their capricious whims. As a result, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., was at times left struggling to pass even routine measures to clear the path for what were essentially messaging bills.
In fact, most of the credit for even the simplest tasks belongs to the minority Democrats, who were willing to swoop in and save the GOP from itself. One of the few major pieces of legislation to pass this term was a funding package providing aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. It was brought across the finishing line without a majority of the GOP caucus’ support to even have the bills be debated. It also lacked the immigration bill that Republicans first insisted be included in any aid package, then it tanked at the urging of former President Donald Trump.
Even things that were nominally in Republicans’ control failed to coalesce into anything substantive. Their promise to restore “regular order” and pass all of the 12 annual spending bills on time has once again hit a wall, without any real effort from Democrats to hinder them. Likewise, their efforts to find some sliver of pretense to impeach Biden ended with a sad fizzle, in the form of a lackluster report released after he’d ended his campaign. But, seemingly lacking anything better to do, the House Oversight Committee has pivoted to trying to find dirt on Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
This new fishing expedition against the Democratic ticket is taking place in a leaky boat with nothing but frayed lines and almost no bait to dangle. If something truly damaging does turn up as a result, it will be more due to coincidence than cunning on the part of Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. That said, the House did manage to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on bogus charges, but he remains in place. The same can’t be said for former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., whom the House did manage to expel after considering the multiple crimes he committed in the process of running for his seat.
This is the absolute mess that Republicans slunk back to their districts to sell to voters when the House recessed last week.
This is the absolute mess that Republicans slunk back to their districts to sell to voters when the House recessed last week. It’s only thanks to partisan gerrymandering and the rightward drift of the GOP primaries that most of those who chose to run for re-election will find themselves back in Washington next year. Those few who represent swing districts are essentially on their own to figure out what messaging to offer old-fashioned voters who expect their members of Congress to show results.
Beyond their general lack of interest in governing, Republicans have good reason to feel comfortable in their audacity. As The New York Times recently noted, “lawmakers benefit from the bar being very low: For years, the vast majority of voters have said they hold a dim view of Congress and think it is already broken, according to polls.” It stands to reason then that the GOP’s core voters not only are OK with the current state of play but want members who continue to enact the same fumbling playbook. How fortunate for the House Republican caucus — and how unfortunate for anyone hoping to see Congress get anything done next year.
Hayes Brown is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He focuses on policymaking at the federal level, including Congress and the White House.