Kevin McCarthy Paid a High Price for the Gavel

Punchbowl News: “McCarthy may have significantly weakened his ability to govern en route to the speaker’s chair, empowering conservatives with plum committee assignments, new budgetary restrictions and the ability for one member to call a vote to boot him from the speakership.”

“In other words, the price McCarthy paid for this power has not been fully accounted for yet.”

“But McCarthy’s theory has long been that putting people at the decision-making table gives them buy-in to the governing process and makes it harder for them to oppose the agenda.”

New York Times: “Economists, Wall Street analysts and political observers are warning that the concessions he made to fiscal conservatives could make it very difficult for Mr. McCarthy to muster the votes to raise the debt limit. That could prevent Congress from doing the basic tasks of keeping the government open, paying the country’s bills and avoiding default on America’s trillions of dollars in debt.”