Behind Kevin McCarthy’s frustration, one could almost detect some measure of relief: Sure, he’d just lost his dream job—but perhaps suffering one historic humiliation would be better than dealing with the daily embarrassments and indignities that come with leading this increasingly dysfunctional GOP. “I believe I can continue to fight, maybe in a different manner,” he said after his gavel was taken away Tuesday. “I will not run for speaker again.”
The question for the conference now: Who would?
“It’s one thing to burn the building down,” as Oklahoma Republican Frank Lucas put it to Politico. “It’s another to put it back together again.”
That “building,” as it were, was more of a house of cards, always on the verge of collapsing since its construction in January. McCarthy, desperate to secure the speakership that eluded him in 2016, cut a series of concessions to the far-right. That dramatically weakened his power, putting his job security in major jeopardy several times over the course of ten months. But on Tuesday, they finally did him in. “We are breaking the fever and we should elect a speaker who is better,” said Matt Gaetz, who led the motion to vacate against McCarthy.
But it’s unclear who that will be. Not only is it hard to say who actually wants this job; it’s difficult to imagine a candidate that this Republican madhouse could actually unite around. There’s McCarthy’s deputy, Steve Scalise, who has already started working the phones but is in treatment for blood cancer. There’s Jim Jordan, the far-right firebrand-turned-McCarthy ally, who is being courted by conservatives but has previously said he is not interested in the gig. There’s even been the obligatory talk, among some House extremists, about nominating Donald Trump for the role: “President Trump, the greatest president of my lifetime, has a proven record of putting America first, and will make the House great again,” Texas Republican Troy Nehls said. That would seem a remote possibility, considering Trump has said before that he would not want to be House speaker and suggested Tuesday that he was upset at the GOP “infighting.” But Fox News’ Sean Hannity—a close ally of the former president—has started beating the drum, reporting Tuesday night that “some House Republicans” were interested in drafting Trump, and that Trump himself “might be open” to it.
Could that actually lead to Speaker Trump? Presumably not, especially since his schedule is already jam-packed with presidential campaigning and court appearances for his various criminal and civil trials. But we’re also in uncharted waters here: No speaker until McCarthy has ever been ousted this way. Who can say with confidence where, exactly, this all goes next—for the now-former speaker, who continues to blame everyone but himself for his downfall, and for the chamber as a whole?
The only sure thing, perhaps, is that GOP will continue to be mired in dysfunction—a conference of extremists held captive by its most attention-hungry member. McCarthy assumed the position in January after a wild fifteen rounds of voting. Ten months later, the party will have to elect another speaker—but with even less consensus, and even more disorder. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen next, including all the people that voted to vacate,” as House Rules Chairman Tom Cole told CNN. “They have no alternative at this point. So it’s just simply a vote for chaos.”
Eric Lutz
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