Kevin McCarthy did the right thing for his country — and it cost him his job.
Eight Republican rebels booted the speaker from his office, as opposed to the 210 GOP members who backed him. That lopsided vote was nonetheless enough to plunge the House into chaos, no one is coalescing around another candidate. And McCarthy — who got no help from the Democrats — told his caucus last night that he would not try again to win the job back.
VOTE TO OUST MCCARTHY AS SPEAKER COULD HAPPEN AS EARLY AS TUESDAY
But while McCarthy, who averted a government shutdown, was the first speaker in American history to suffer this fate, what happened Tuesday goes way beyond the increasingly bitter politics of his caucus. It is a collapse of faith in institutions, which goes far beyond the halls of Congress, on the part of the power brokers and a major portion of the public.
The point of running for Congress, in what seems like eons ago, was to accomplish something, whether conservative or liberal, and that required compromise, which is now treated as a dirty word. And lawmakers with policy goals patiently rose through the ranks to become leaders. As messy as the process was, there was an end product. And party leadership enforced discipline against anyone going too rogue, with the ultimate sanction of cutting off the money spigot during the next primary.
But now, with the rise of social media, politicians can become celebrities, raise buckets of cash online, and wield substantial clout, even if they are backbenchers. It’s telling that Matt Gaetz, leader of the rebels in pursuing a personal grudge against McCarthy, followed that route in becoming a star of the Hill. AOC set off on the same path, but then decided to work with Nancy Pelosi and play more of the inside game.
The GOP rebels, who wanted deeper spending cuts, would have been perfectly happy with a federal shutdown. They don’t, after all, have much use for government. And McCarthy was always a hostage of sorts, having given his opponents a loaded weapon — that any single member could trigger a vote on his ouster — as part of the 15-round marathon that won him the job in January.
HERE ARE THE 5 GOP LAWMAKERS TRYING TO OUST MCCARTHY
Whatever his missteps, McCarthy is an institutionalist, but he was brought down by a tiny minority that doesn’t care much about the reputation of Congress. That’s why he accused his rivals of wanting to burn the whole place down.
After Jan. 6, McCarthy talked tough about Donald Trump’s responsibility, but then he went to Mar-a-Lago to patch things up. Yet, Trump made no effort to dissuade any of the eight hardliners to stick with Kevin, when just a handful of votes would have made the difference.
MATT GAETZ INTRODUCES MOTION TO VACATE AGAINST HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY
Trumpism has also produced a decline in respect for institutions. The former president has attacked the Justice Department, the FBI, the judges handling his cases, the prosecutors bringing the cases, all out of a conviction that he’s being persecuted that is shared by the MAGA base.
Yesterday was a prime example. He had already ripped New York Justice Arthur Engoron, presiding over his civil fraud trial, as a deranged Trump hater. But on Truth Social, he posted a picture of the justice’s law clerk with Chuck Schumer and ridiculed her as "Schumer’s girlfriend" in arguing that the case should be dismissed. He later took it down (Schumer says he doesn’t know the woman).
Engoron delivered tough remarks that he said should be considered a "gag order" — special counsel Jack Smith had urged one — and that any further remarks about his staff would lead to serious consequences.
"Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances," he said.
The plummeting popularity of government, fueled by incompetence, scandal and other malfeasance, didn’t begin with Trump. The credibility of the media, the Supreme Court and other institutions has also been in serious decline. Kevin McCarthy paid the price yesterday, but there will be many others to come.
