The Republican majority in the House isn’t even two months old, but it’s already clear that Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s attempt to mollify his party’s extremist faction risks hurting the country without guaranteeing the thing he wants most: to keep his job as House leader. There might not be immediate consequences to McCarthy’s maneuvers, but the Republican leader is on the path to a painful government shutdown before the year is through, and he may even be on his way to a disastrous debt default.
McCarthy is facing the same no-win game that defeated Republican speakers John Boehner eight years ago and Paul Ryan a few years later. Far too many Republicans in Congress have a principled opposition to compromise. Far too many of them are interested mainly in symbolic victories rather than substantive policy change, and symbolism is inherently more difficult to bargain over than, say, dollars for district projects.
Recent GOP leaders also contend with constant jockeying by lawmakers seeking to differentiate themselves from (already very conservative) mainstream Republicans and appeal to the party’s right-wing base. But McCarthy also is dealing with a very narrow Republican House majority and a group of radical Republicans who might push for his ouster as speaker at any time.
