The House GOP’s Mercenary Caucus
null By Kimberley A. StrasselOct. 19, 2023 6:29 pm ETJournal Editorial Report: Rifts emerge among the Republican presidential candidates. Image: Mohammed Saber/ShutterstockThe House remains speakerless, the chamber’s Republicans mired in a humiliating standoff. It might be tempting to think those blocking Rep. Jim Jordan from the top post are more high-minded in their opposition than those who ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Think again. Different nominee, different holdouts—same grandstanding, same parochialism. Same mess.Top blame for this embarrassment still rests with Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and his unmerry band of exhibitionists, who gutted Mr. McCarthy’s speakership and left their party in a slow bleed. They had no follow-up plan to the McCarthy ouster beyond also blocking his obvious replacement, Majority Leader Steve Scalise. One notable joke is that the Gaetz crew claimed the putsch necessary to stop House “chaos” and return to regular order. Two weeks into this spectacle and st
Oct. 19, 2023 6:29 pm ET
The House remains speakerless, the chamber’s Republicans mired in a humiliating standoff. It might be tempting to think those blocking Rep. Jim Jordan from the top post are more high-minded in their opposition than those who ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Think again. Different nominee, different holdouts—same grandstanding, same parochialism. Same mess.
Top blame for this embarrassment still rests with Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and his unmerry band of exhibitionists, who gutted Mr. McCarthy’s speakership and left their party in a slow bleed. They had no follow-up plan to the McCarthy ouster beyond also blocking his obvious replacement, Majority Leader Steve Scalise. One notable joke is that the Gaetz crew claimed the putsch necessary to stop House “chaos” and return to regular order. Two weeks into this spectacle and standstill, how’s that going?
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About this article
Kimberley Strassel is a member of the editorial board for The Wall Street Journal. She writes editorials, as well as the weekly Potomac Watch political column, from her base in Alaska.
Ms. Strassel joined Dow Jones & Co. in 1994, working in the news department of The Wall Street Journal Europe in Brussels, and then in London. She moved to New York in 1999 and soon thereafter joined the Journal's editorial page, working as a features editor, and then as an editorial writer. She assumed her current position in 2005.
Ms. Strassel, a 2014 Bradley Prize recipient, is a regular contributor to Sunday political shows, including CBS's "Face the Nation," Fox News Sunday, and NBC's "Meet the Press." She is the author of "The Intimidation Game: How the Left Is Silencing Free Speech," which chronicles recent attacks on conservative nonprofits, businesses and donors.
An Oregon native, Ms. Strassel earned a bachelor's degree in Public Policy and International Affairs from Princeton University. She lives in Alaska with her three children.
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