Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the weakest leader of the United States House of Representatives that I have ever seen.
He is probably one of the weakest Speakers in the august history of the United States House of Representatives.
This comes from a former House staffer who holds the institution in high regard, if not always the elected leaders there.
It’s sad to see the office of the Speaker having been put through the wringer it has been over the last few years—especially in the wake of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) odious tenure there.
To compound matters for McCarthy, much of the reason for his historical weakness relative to previous Speakers is because, in order to get the Speakership, McCarthy ceded tremendous amounts of his office’s power to an unruly caucus.
Nevertheless, McCarthy has presided over some excellent (if sloppy) wins. Most recently, he got the nauseating Rep. Adam Schiff (R-CA) censured for his obvious and repeated lies during the Trump Administration.
Of course, that’s just red meat to throw to the base (although, the censure of Schiff almost did not happen, which was a sad thing to see). McCarthy has led the House GOP in a shockingly successful tenure thus far as Speaker.
Far Right Republicans in the House Approve of Kevin McCarthy
According to solidly Right-wing Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who is doggedly pursuing Hunter Biden and the alleged corruption of the Biden Family, “He’s doing great.” Another solidly conservative House member, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), believes that McCarthy has “proven that he can fight.
“McCarthy has proven that he’ll stick it out. Well, that should terrify the White House and terrify the Senate. The House [of Representatives] is in control.”
Even more praise from unlikely sources comes from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), one of the biggest detractors of McCarthy before he became Speaker – and a noted skeptic of him after McCarthy was made Speaker. According to Biggs, “He performed better than I thought he would.”
And that is key here.
Because, in order to become Speaker of the House, McCarthy gave away power. Something he did that was astounding was that he made it easier for his perennially unsatisfied fellow House Republicans to vote to begin proceedings to remove him from the Speakership if he said or did anything at least one member disliked.
Thus, from the start of his uncertain tenure, McCarthy had ceded any strength he may have had to some of his most vociferous detractors.
Despite this, though, McCarthy has persevered. As Ben Franklin is believed to have quipped during the Revolutionary War, “Politics is the art of the possible.” McCarthy is the living embodiment of that necessary pragmatism during an insane time.
The Far Right, which appears to be ascendant along with former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, insists on absolute fealty to the most extreme vision for the future. This group wants McCarthy to be a fire-breathing ideologue who will brook no compromise and offer no quarter.
Kevin McCarthy Fights
Yet, this is not simply the reality of McCarthy’s existence as Speaker. Not only is the House GOP divided amongst itself, making any hope of doing the things that need to be done tenuous at best, but the overall government—and the country it represents—is severely divided.
Even with his surrendering of key power and influence in order to gain the Speakership, McCarthy has racked up a multitude of legislative successes that will cement his time as Speaker as far more successful than anyone had previously believed.
For example, dozens of bipartisan bills have been passed since Kevin McCarthy became Speaker. These bills were not your usual milquetoast pieces of bipartisan legislation either.
On the contrary.
The legislation McCarthy shepherded through include things like significant anti-crime bills, which President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party were deeply opposed to – but they couldn’t garner the votes to stop these bills from passing.
Kevin McCarthy is doing as well as any Republican can expect to do as Speaker, given the internal contradictions of the House Republicans. While not my first pick for Speaker, McCarthy has done the best he can with the hand he was dealt. Now, however, the Republicans are doing what they do best: devouring their own.
Far Right media outlets and members of the House are leading the crusade against what they view as the weak Speakership of Kevin McCarthy. What so few of these critics appear to comprehend is that McCarthy’s Speakership is only weak because they brought about that reality by holding up his rise as Speaker in January unless he agreed to concede this important power to them.
Taking the Bitter with the Better
The Republicans did not do well in the 2022 Midterm Elections that they were supposed to sweep through. Despite this, the GOP holds the House—barely. They should be counting their lucky stars that McCarthy has been able to be as effective as he has been, given all the limitations his own short-sighted party has imposed upon him.
The question remains, sadly, as to whether McCarthy can maintain a tenuous grip on power, with the kind of enemies he’s amassed on the Far Right putting the proverbial squeeze on him.
What Republicans really should be asking themselves is: if not McCarthy then who? Which Republican would willingly sign up to become the whipping boy or girl for the agitated Right-wing?
Not many.
And of those who would, their motivations should be suspect in the eyes of the voters.
Therefore, Kevin McCarthy is the best man for this job at this time. He’s far from perfect. But our political moment is far from perfect. Whatever failings he may have, McCarthy is a step up from what came before.
Further, McCarthy has proven he can still get things done, despite the resistance he’s experienced and the weakness he has as Speaker.
The Right should be careful what they wish for: they just might rid themselves of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. Alas, that might put them in a weaker, less advantageous position. I doubt any of the hardened partisan warriors on the Far Right have thought that through.
For them, after all, what matters only is getting those all-important clicks for their various tweets, books, and media interviews they will inevitably give excoriating Kevin McCarthy for his supposed quisling nature.
Don’t buy the pessimism, though. He’s done well for someone holding as weak of a hand as he is.
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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