Brace for a House in Perpetual Disarray

“Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s historically long slog to become speaker of the House has made one thing abundantly clear: The United States should brace for the likelihood of a Congress in perpetual disarray for the next two years,” the New York Times reports.

“The recipe for the chaos already existed: A toxic combination of the Republicans’ slim governing majority, an unyielding hard-right flank that disdains the normal operations of government and a candidate for speaker who has repeatedly bowed to that flank in his quest for power.”

“But to see it play out repeatedly on the House floor this week, as Mr. McCarthy tried and failed repeatedly to win the speakership before prevailing, has left little doubt that Congress as an entity would struggle to carry out even its most basic duties in the coming two years, such as funding the government, including the military, or avoiding a catastrophic federal debt default.”

Wall Street Journal: “House Republican infighting plunged Congress into disarray this week. The larger risk is that fractiousness could imperil some basic functions of government in the coming year.”