The McCarthy Era Ends

Kevin McCarthy thought he could ride the tiger, but he just got eaten by it, having been ousted from the position of Speaker of the House.

U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL), angered by McCarthy's deal with the Democrats to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open, made a motion to vacate the speakership, and while only a handful of hard-right Republicans voted with Gaetz, every Democrat voted the hardliners to throw McCarthy out - despite the possibility that his successor might be Jim Jordan.

Ironically, Gaetz had gotten the right to make a motion to vacate as part of the deal that made McCarthy Speaker in the first place.

A lot of commentators, including Michael Smerconish, thought the Democrats should have voted to save McCarthy in order to keep the House operating so that it can produce a permanent budget for the 2024 fiscal year.  Vote to save a guy who rightfully blamed Donald Trump for the January 6 insurrection and then turned around and embraced Trump to get his help for Republican support?   Vote to save a guy who named trouble-makers to the January 6 House committee to stymie the investigation?  Vote to save a guy who chose to save George Santos?  Vote to save a guy who said he wouldn't start an impeachment inquiry against President Biden and then started one?  Vote to save a guy whom they just . . . couldn't . . . trust?

What happens next is anyone's guess.  The chaos the Republicans find themselves in may put them at a disadvantage, but it doesn't mean they will regroup and cause even more havoc.  McCarthy, as Speaker, did no more than try to appease the hardliners in the House Republican conference, but he gave them so much power in his agreement with them to become Speaker that all he had to do was fail to live up to 0.5 percent of their agreement and he would be out on his rear. That's precisely what happened.

And it couldn't have happened to a guy who deserved it more.