McCarthy Flexes His Historic Weakness As Speaker

12:05 PM Posted by Jane Wilde

If you are not able to see this mail, click here

Friday, April 28, 2023

JOIN TPM

THE WEEKLY READ

McCarthy Flexes His Historic Weakness As Speaker

by KATE RIGA and EMINE YÜCEL

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) squeaked his $4.8 trillion grab bag of a debt-ceiling bill through the House Wednesday. The final vote was 217-215.

The prize: The House GOP seized the debt ceiling as a hostage in negotiations with the Senate and White House.

Last week, McCarthy didn't have a plan or the votes. He cobbled together a plan that threw nearly every far-right wish list item into a bill that didn't go through the regular committee process and then vowed to take it to the floor before he had the votes.

Along the way, despite repeatedly vowing he wouldn't, McCarthy once again bent to the pressure from extremists in his caucus and was forced to make changes to the bill to get it through the House Rules Committee.

With only a handful of votes to spare, McCarthy got the final holdouts to fall in line Wednesday morning.

The House-passed bill is DOA in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and President Biden has promised a veto. But passing something – anything really – was the barest minimum bar McCarthy, a historically weak speaker, had to overcome. He barely did so.

Where This Leaves Us

McCarthy managed to pass the world's easiest bill on the party line — barely. Woohoo. Expect the bad faith fonts to flow now. McCarthy is saying they they, Republicans (the only party contemplating not lifting the debt ceiling) have taken responsible action, and that Democrats are the wanton spenders who won't help save the economy. Many, many news outlets will repeat this.

That is not the case.

Republicans are refusing to raise the debt ceiling unless Democrats fork over political concessions. Now, those concessions are specified and written out — nothing else has changed.

This situation is as dangerous as ever — and the kidnappers are saying they're doing the responsible thing by handing over a ransom note. Don't buy it.

Why We Went To The Hill To Cover This In Real Time

Here's some editorial insight into why Emine Yücel and I are on the Hill today [Wednesday], risking life and limb in enormous House Republican scrums.

It's not because it really matters if this bill passes. It's not because this is some critical piece of legislative policy that could shape lives and change industries. It's not because whether Andy Biggs ultimately votes yes or no is of some huge, historic importance.

This is a fake issue that McCarthy made up to better blame Biden while Republicans blow up the debt ceiling. This bill is little more than a prop, stuffed with poison pills that McCarthy knows makes is absolutely radioactive to the Senate.

If this bill passes, it lets him a) shake around his peacock feathers, since he got his whole caucus on board with … something and b) start saying, safe in the knowledge that lots of reporters will faithfully echo him, that Biden won't negotiate (hand over concessions) and that's why Republicans are blowing up the debt ceiling. Don't let the horse race coverage distract you from the fact that this is fundamentally Republicans finding ways to embroider their financial recklessness.

All this being said — McCarthy being unable to pass a bill stuffed with right-wing policies that didn't have to be moderated at all because it's not meant to pass the Senate or get any Democratic votes? Comedic gold, the likes of which we haven't seen since the speakership circus.