It’s Not About Kevin

Jonathan Last: “At some point, the House will name a speaker. Maybe today. Maybe over the weekend. Maybe next week. Maybe two weeks from now.”

“That speaker might be Kevin McCarthy. Or Steve Scalise. Or someone else. At that point, a bunch of people will say, ‘Phew. We got it done. Let’s move on.'”

“And here is the essential, foundational problem: This fight over the speaker’s gavel is exactly what every important vote in the House over the next two years is going to look like. The speaker’s fight is the debt ceiling fight is the budget fight is the Ukraine aid fight.”

“Meaning: One half of the federal legislature will be mostly non-functional for the next two years.”